‘Come and sit down.’ I lead her over to a chair by the window, as per Jennifer’s instructions earlier – The more people who see her in here the better, my boss had said. ‘Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee or a glass of Prosecco?’

‘Do you have any Perrier?’

‘No, but we’ve got Hildon. Still or sparkling?’

‘Sparkling please.’

I send Lily, one of our juniors, to fetch her drink while I swallow my nerves and face Cassie in the mirror. I’m braced for a lightly mocking smile or some faintly passive-aggressive comment, but her demeanour is open, her smile genuine.

Cassie became semi-famous after she starred in a reality TV show back when she’d just turned twenty. Now she’s an occasional TV presenter who also writes a regular column in a magazine, as well as appearing on various panel shows.

She leans back in her chair. ‘I can’t believe we lost touch for so many years, Zo. But seeing you here again feels like it was just last week that we used to hang out at each other’s houses. I really miss that.’ Her voice seems to catch with emotion, but I can’t imagine how she could be that choked up to see me. Not after how she more or less ditched me as a friend after she got what she wanted.

The emotions are all so fresh in my mind – how she treated me back then: so casually, as though my own life was secondary to hers. How I was always the one who had to stand aside to make way for her life.

Of course, as I half expected, Cassie was offered that wonderful PR job at the college. She didn’t exactly steal it from me, but it was pretty damn close. Looking back, I guess if I’d really wanted a career in PR, I could have pursued it more aggressively. I could have looked for another position and I could have turned down the job at Waves. But I was young, with no idea about how to go about finding another opportunity like that. And Dad wasn’t focused on helping me with my education or career – he just let me get on with whatever it was I was doing at the time.

When I discovered that Cassie had got the job, my initial reaction was extreme disappointment and disbelief, followed by a strange sort of relief that I could carry on with my existing plan to work for Jennifer. And, as it turns out, I love my hairdressing career. It’s fulfilling and creative and I’m bloody good at it.