But that’s not the point. The point is that my then best friend shafted me. She manoeuvred her way into a fantastic opportunity at my expense. Cassie got the job, but only stayed for a year until she had enough experience to land a PR job in London, leaving the college without a backward glance. Then she used her PR contacts to get a place on a reality TV series.

A couple of years afterwards, I ran into Sally Bennett from the college and she confided that she wished she’d given me the job instead. But her boss had been won over by Cassie’s apparent confidence. Sally told me that after an initial month of enthusiasm (which coincidentally was the same length as the trial period) Cassie had been terrible at her job – lazy, constantly late, and always taking sick days. After she quit, there had been no more appetite or money to develop a PR department, because Cassie had driven the job into the ground.

With Cassie here sitting in front of me, I try to put all that out of my head, but it’s not easy. ‘So how did you end up coming back to Shaftesbury for a haircut? I thought you’d have a posh London hairdresser.’

‘Well, I did, but annoyingly he’s gone off travelling for a year with his girlfriend – how dare he, right?’ She gives a short laugh to let me know she’s joking. ‘I’m back here to visit the parents so I thought I’d make an appointment for old time’s sake – and catch up with you, of course.’ Lily returns with Cassie’s sparkling water and sets the bottle and glass on the little shelf in front of the mirror. Cassie thanks her and then refocuses her attention on her flawless reflection.

‘So what are we doing with these locks today?’ I take a section of her hair in my hands and examine the ends. ‘It’s in amazing condition and the colour looks great. So… a trim?’

‘Well…’ She tilts her head and gives me a mysterious smile. ‘I was thinking of something a little more drastic.’

‘Oh?’

‘Like a pixie cut.’

‘Very funny.’ I look at her luscious long blonde waves and think there’s no way on earth she can be serious.

‘I’m not joking. All this hair is driving me mad. Plus I need to shake up my image, get people talking about me again, you know?’

Actually, I don’t know, but I guess that’s the nature of her work. She has to constantly stay in the forefront of people’s minds to maintain her profile. ‘I see what you’re saying, but a pixie cut is pretty extreme. There are so many other styles that would look incredible on you and still make people sit up and take notice.’

She gives a little pout. ‘But why do half measures when we can go all out?’