And now Julie is here, wearing a pink woollen dress with matching lipstick, brightening up our ivory office. She hugs me too and surrounds me with the scent of gardenias.

‘It’s so good to be back, Saffron. I have missed all this so much.’ She steps back.

‘How’s Miles?’ she asks.

‘Still pretty cut up about his mother.’

‘And what about Aiden? He didn’t even talk to me at the funeral.’

‘He’s more philosophical about his mother’s death. But I think he’s still finding it difficult.’

‘You’d think it would be the other way around,’ Ted quips, ‘since Miles is the philosophy professor.’

Julie raises her eyes to the ceiling. ‘That’s enough, Ted. Save your jokes for our trip out to celebrate, tonight.’ She pauses. ‘Let’s get down to business. What are your plans for the day, Saffron?’ she asks.

‘Well, this afternoon I’ve a marketing agency coming in to pitch. And at 4 p.m. Aristos is popping in. He’s getting divorced again,’ I tell them with glee. ‘Every cloud has a silver lining, sometimes even gold. Surely our business can only go from strength to strength now?’

181

Hayley

You texted. You want to meet me for lunch. I feel like dancing on the ceiling, or walking on sunshine; any cliché you can think of.

182

Miles

You are having your first day back in the office. You were so excited about it; like a child at Christmas. I am working from home. Husband. Nanny. I have dropped Ben and Harry off for their first day at school of the new term. Being polite to the school gate mums was a struggle. One of them was boasting about her son’s IQ. Another asked me whether I wanted to be on the PTA Committee and seemed most perturbed when I refused. Then I spent two hours at home working on my research project. Modus tollens again. My brain is aching thinking about P and Q.

And now I’m in The Bear waiting for Hayley to join me for lunch, a year after she first started with us, sitting at a small table pushed against the wall, in the corner. I’m nervous. I don’t want anyone I know to see us. Saffron, what will you say if you find out I’m having lunch with Hayley? We will have one of our terrible arguments. I will end up sleeping in the spare room, because I won’t be able to tell you the truth. It would make you worry too much. That is why I have chosen this uncomfortable table, with no leg room, right in the corner. So we are tucked away, out of sight of prying eyes.