Minnie nodded. She didn’t understand fashion but everyone else in the front row was looking immensely impressed.

‘I’m not in love with him, we just get on really well,’ she said.

Leila turned to look at her friend – a piercing, interrogatory look.

‘OK, I know that face,’ Leila frowned. ‘I’m being serious now. If you love your love twin and if he’s not interested in you in that way, then it’s only going to mean heartache for you, Min.’

Minnie made a ‘tsk’ sound and crossed her legs, bobbing her top foot rapidly up and down.

‘The other weird thing is that our mothers are spending all this time together. It’s like my mum’s taken on Tara as this project. She wants to fix her like my dad fixes his clocks. She’s always over there helping with the gardening or the shopping or something. It’s kind of sweet, I guess; I don’t think my mum’s ever had many friends.’

‘Right, answer these questions truthfully,’ said Leila, looking down at her programme as though she was finding the questions on the page. ‘Do you think about him when you go to bed at night?’

All the time – he was the first person she thought of when she woke up.

‘No, not every night. Occasionally,’ said Minnie.

Leila frowned. ‘Has anyone else asked you out in the last few months and you’ve said no because they’re not Quinn?’

‘No … well.’ Had she told Leila about that guy Tino from the catering firm? Shit, it was a trick question. ‘There was that one guy, but I said no because he had weird sideburns, not because of Quinn.’

‘Um, weird sideburns have not put you off before. OK, question three, would you be fine with it if he brought his girlfriend along to your little swim club?’

‘How do you know he has a girlfriend?’ Minnie bolted forward in her chair, leaning into her friend, ‘Have you seen him with someone?’ her voice sounded strangled and urgent.

Leila turned to her and moved her hands apart like a performer preparing to take a bow.

‘I rest my case.’ Then she quickly pointed a hand back at the catwalk. ‘Oh look, this is one of the most exciting designers – what do you think?’

On the catwalk were seven models each dressed in a different colour of the rainbow; they wore strange ballgowns that looked both rigid and graceful at the same time. ‘It’s all made out of plastic reclaimed from the sea,’ Leila explained.

‘Wow, incredible, Bev would approve,’ said Minnie. The dresses were genuinely spectacular, but she pulled her attention back to the conversation in hand. ‘Seriously, though, have you seen him with someone? I don’t care if you have.’

Leila turned to look closely at her friend.