‘Ruby?’ Her voice had grown smaller somehow.

‘Thank you.’ I’d swallowed hard. ‘I’m just – I’m praying this might sort things out once and for all. Because if Zach – if he has to go to trial, if he gets locked up—’ I couldn’t keep the sob from my voice.

‘None of us want that to happen,’ she’d said quietly. ‘Whatever did go on between them.’

Honestly, I didn’t know how much more I could take.

And how disloyal did that feel to admit?

Then, together, we’d hatched our sort of half-baked plan.

I’d looked up his office, but it was in the City, and in the end, that seemed like an elaborate waste of time. I had too much to do at work today; I still needed to earn a living, whatever else was going on. Food doesn’t grow on trees, I’d heard my dad say, halfway down a bottle of whiskey.

Well, it does actually, I’d joke and my dad, depending on his mood, and the amount he’d imbibed, would either laugh or lunge at me.

Plan B: I’d driven to his house and waited over the road, in the van.

Around 7.25 a.m., Melissa arrived, walking smartly from the other side of the square, carrying two big bags. She gave a wink as she passed, not wearing shades for the first time in days.

A short time later, Marcus came out of the house, suited and booted. He paused to check that shiny watch and then strode towards the station.

I trailed him in the van until he got to Holland Park Tube, where I’d parked haphazardly on a defunct meter, and jumped out.

‘Marcus!’

He’d crossed the road though already, striding away from the station, fiddling with his phone, and my shout was lost in the whirr and hum of the morning rush hour.

He was outside the café now and then he went down the alley next to it. A man in a dark parka was waiting at a side entrance. They shook hands.

‘You could catch flies, love,’ an old man with a knobbly walking stick commented as I stood there, trying to work out what was happening.

Marcus cast one look behind him and disappeared inside.

Melissa

Halfway through the second round of sun salutations, I heard Willow’s voice outside the room. Talking to her father, I thought, by the sounds of the pitch and vibration.

I waited until I heard the front door slam, and then I suggested Nella get into Shavasana, and gave her some complicated breathing to do.

‘I’m just going to pop to the loo, hon. Too much coffee this morning. This breathing is the thing though. Amazing for your endorphins.’

‘No worries.’ She gave me a thumbs up from her yoga mat. ‘Anything for my endorphins. Especially right now.’

Was she looking for an ear? I smiled pleasantly and slipped out. If she was, it wasn’t going to be mine.

The hall was empty, so I hurried towards the stairs.