‘Van’s been clamped,’ Alan said, his feet skipping from side to side.

‘You are kidding me?’ Minnie said wearily. ‘Where did you park it?’

‘On the double yellow,’ he said with a frown, ‘but double yellows don’t count on a bank holiday, it’s a parking amnesty.’

‘A – they do count. And B – it’s not a bank holiday today,’ said Minnie, closing her eyes in despair.

‘Oh,’ said Alan, his mouth stretching into a long, slow grimace.

How could all this be happening on the second of January? Maybe the jinx knew she’d tried to cheat it by sleeping through her birthday? Maybe the bad luck had been paid forward? Minnie thought for a minute. There was only one person she knew who had a car they could borrow at such short notice. She walked out onto the street for some privacy and made the call.

‘Greg?’ she said, as he picked up.

‘Finally.’ His voice was quiet on the phone. ‘How’s the migraine that’s so bad you can’t answer the phone?’

‘Much better, thank you.’ Minnie paused. ‘How was the party I missed because I was trapped in a bathroom and no one came to find me?’

‘How was I to know you were stuck somewhere? Some waiter said he saw you leave. I walked up and down the street looking for you for at least half an hour; it totally ruined my night.’

‘Why would I have left without telling you?’

‘Some kind of jinx-related paranoia, I don’t know why you do half the things you do, Minnie.’ Greg paused, ‘I mean, if you only kept your phone charged … ’

‘Well I didn’t leave, I was stuck in the loo, all night.’ Minnie took a deep breath, tempering her irritation and reminding herself that she was calling Greg for a favour. ‘Listen, I’m sorry the night was such a disaster. Are you at home? I’m having a nightmare at work. Please can I borrow your car?’

‘No Minnie, you can’t borrow my car … ’

Greg sounded annoyed. The phone made a noise like screws in a blender and then the line went dead. Had he hung up on her, or had she just lost the connection? Minnie pawed at the keypad, trying to call him back. Greg had a thing about people hanging up on him. Maybe he had tried looking for her – whatever the truth, right now she needed to swallow her pride and get him back on side for the sake of today’s pies. Her phone screen looked as if it was resetting some temporary glitch. Minnie started to sweat as she desperately thumbed the keypad again, and finally it started to ring.

‘Hello?’ he said.