Anger pulsates through me. I storm out of the kitchen, up the stairs, into our bedroom. I strip off and head for the shower. In an attempt to relax, I turn the hot water on full blast so that the flow pummels and almost scalds me. A voice whispers in my head. You caught him texting her last week and he wouldn’t tell you why. If what Caprice says is true would he admit it to you? If you loved another man would you tell him the truth?

As I dress and leave the house, the words in my head become louder and louder. By the time I am driving to work, they scream inside my mind. If Miles loves Julie, would he tell you? You need to find out for yourself.

Walking into the office, a headache pounding across my forehead, my lips stretch into a forced smile for Julie and Ted.

‘I need to talk to you, Julie. Please step into my office.’

I march into my office and Julie follows me.

‘Please sit down,’ I say, tight-lipped.

Julie frowns and slips into my visitors’ chair, looking as appealing as ever with her neat features and shiny shoulder-length chestnut hair. Her simple toffee-brown cashmere dress emphasises her willowy figure. The woman I thought was my friend. The woman my husband might be in love with.

‘What’s the matter? What’s happened?’ she asks.

‘I need to know why you were texting Miles.’

She smiles and shakes her head. ‘It’s a secret. I can’t tell you why.’

My insides tighten. ‘Just between the two of you?’ I ask. ‘And I am out of the loop?’

‘Yes.’

Anger burns inside me. I want to slap her. ‘I think he’s cheating on me, with you.’

She turns ashen. ‘What’s the matter with you, Saffron? How can you possibly think that?’

‘Quite easily, I can assure you.’

Her eyes widen. ‘That’s ridiculous. You know Miles and I are only friends. And work isn’t the time or place for conversations like this. Come out to my new place at the weekend and we can talk about Miles’ and my relationship.’

Miles’ and my relationship. Her words spill across my mind like acid. Burning. Scalding.

There is a knock on my office door. I walk across and open it. Ted stands before me, bristling with worry.

‘I need to speak to you, right now, in private.’

Julie stands up. ‘I was just going.’

She scuttles across the room, eyes to the floor, embarrassed. She pushes past Ted and leaves the office. I return to my chair, hands and mind trembling. Ted enters looking as if he is on the way to a funeral. Body stiff, face elongated. He sits in my visitors’ chair. I have known him twenty years and I have never seen him look so intense.