‘He’s fast asleep and not going anywhere,’ she told him, now utterly deflated. Jack regarded her for a moment and then said brightly, ‘Wait there!’

He dashed off up the stairs leaving Sophie alone in the kitchen, miserable and wondering how long she should hang around for before going home and making some beans on toast. Five minutes later he emerged, wearing a dinner shirt and tie over his grey jogging bottoms.

‘Jack, why are you half dressed for a formal?’

‘If you can’t go to the restaurant, I’m bringing the restaurant to you,’ Jack said. He opened a kitchen drawer and riffled through some takeaway menus.

‘We’ve got Indian, Chinese or pizza, take your pick.’

‘Jack, you don’t have to do this.’

‘I know, but I want to. Now sit down and I’ll fix you a cocktail.’

He turned some music on and started mixing ingredients. Ellie drifted in wearing her pyjamas, in search of a hot chocolate.

‘You look nice, Sophie,’ she said, giving her a cuddle. Sophie squeezed her tightly back. She had a soft spot for Ellie. ‘Thank you, darling,’ she replied.

She ordered a couple of pizzas and watched Jack expertly mix cocktails while simultaneously making two hot chocolates with marshmallows for Ellie and Freddy without even breaking a sweat. He headed upstairs to read them a bedtime story and then returned to the kitchen and rummaged around for some olives and crisps.

‘Where are Benji and Indie?’ Sophie asked.

‘Indie’s at a sleepover and Benji’s at some drama weekend camp thing.’

‘This is really sweet of you, Jack,’ she said. ‘I feel a bit embarrassed.’

‘Don’t be silly, it’s nice to have some company. I had a date with some cheese on toast and a computer game. This is far more fun.’

They clinked glasses and Sophie took a sip of her cocktail. It was delicious but utterly potent. ‘You’re going to get me sozzled,’ she warned him.

‘Good,’ he replied, drinking his with alarming speed. He put his glass back down and said, ‘Don’t be upset about Angie. It’s not about you, she just has a habit of losing herself in work sometimes and everything else goes out of the window.’

‘I thought she was supposed to be addressing that,’ Sophie said a little snarkily, and felt bad straight away. ‘Sorry, Jack, I didn’t mean that, I’m just a bit grumpy about being stood up.’

‘I know, I’ve been in your shoes myself.’

‘You have?’

‘Absolutely, like I said, when Angie is working on a big case, she’s very single-minded. It’s why she’s so good at her job. But sometimes the rest of us can be collateral damage. I don’t think she even realises that she’s doing it.’

‘That must be hard.’

‘It is,’ Jack said. ‘You can’t help but feel second to her career sometimes.’

This was the first time that she and Jack had talked about Angie like this and Sophie knew that she was being disloyal, as was he. But the effect of the cocktail, combined with her disappointment over their aborted night out, was making her careless.