‘It has its downsides, darling. I’m getting fatter and fatter the amount of Michelin-star dinners I’m being forced to eat. I feel like a foie gras goose being stuffed to bursting,’ said Lucy.

Minnie glanced down at Lucy’s svelte, gym-toned figure in the skin-tight look-how-thin-I-am dress.

‘Oh diddums, such a hardship,’ said Greg, nudging his elbow into hers. ‘Smart, beautiful girl force-fed fine food – Human rights campaigners on standby!’

Lucy threw her head back and gave a half-snorting, half-silent laugh, then she clutched Greg’s arm, as though she might fall over.

‘You must have an absolute hoot with this one, Minnie.’

Minnie nodded, though she wondered if Greg’s hilarious newspaper headlines might be starting to get annoying.

‘Mins is in the food world too,’ said Greg, standing a little taller. ‘Runs her own catering business in the charity sector.’

‘That sounds interesting,’ said Lucy, looking over Minnie’s shoulder and waving to someone behind her.

‘I don’t think making pies for the elderly counts as being in the “food world”, but thanks for bigging me up, hun,’ Minnie said, rubbing Greg’s back.

‘Do you cater events? Maybe I’ve come across you?’ asked Lucy, turning her attention back to Minnie.

‘No, we just do pies for the elderly. The company’s called No Hard Fillings, it’s a bit like Meals on Wheels.’

Lucy blinked her eyes a few times.

‘No hard feelings?’ she said.

‘No,’ said Minnie, ‘No Hard Fillings, as in pie fillings. It’s um, supposed to be funny.’

‘Oh, I see. Ha-ha,’ Lucy said, wrinkling her nose and giving another silent laugh. ‘Well that must be very … fulfilling.’

Greg let out a snorting cackle. ‘Good one Luce,’ he tapped his elbow to Lucy’s. ‘See, the thing is, Minnie’s company would be a lot more successful if she didn’t keep giving stuff away for free and employing a load of time bandits with zero work ethic.’

‘I don’t, and that’s not true,’ Minnie said, bowing her head.

‘Well, it sounds jolly rewarding,’ said Lucy. ‘I find old people so sweet, don’t you?’

‘Some of them are sweet, some of them are total knobs, same as the rest of us,’ said Minnie. Greg coughed loudly and Minnie gave him a firm pat on the back.

‘But you’re planning to branch out, aren’t you Min?’ Greg said, recovering his composure. ‘That’s her current customer base, but she could easily expand; do weddings, corporates, high-calibre events, all sorts. Maybe Lucy could hook you up with some contacts?’

‘Sure, sure, happy to help,’ Lucy said, waving at someone across the room and starting to move away. ‘Listen, I must go mingle. Make yourselves at home; drink our champagne – we ordered way too much. And don’t worry about arriving late, the party’s hardly started.’