‘What star sign is Greg if his birthday is twenty-fifth of April?’ she asked Fleur.

‘Taurus,’ said Fleur. ‘Perfect for you, Minnie.’

14 January 2020

Alan pulled the van into the next address on their delivery list, a private car park just off Old Street.

‘Private car park, très fancy,’ said Alan, buzzing the intercom through the driver side window.

Minnie looked out of the window at the silver plaque which listed the businesses in the building. They were delivering to Tantive Consulting on Level Four.

‘Huh,’ Minnie made a nondescript noise.

‘What’s that?’ asked Alan.

‘Nothing,’ Minnie shook her head, ‘it’s just the name of this company. I think it’s a Star Wars reference. It’s the name of one of the ships.’

‘Minnie, I do believe behind that pretty face of yours you are hiding an inner geek.’

They both carried a pallet of pies into the lift and headed up to the fourth floor. A striking redhead welcomed them at reception as if they were valuable clients rather than caterers delivering lunch.

‘If you could just lay them out in the boardroom, there’s a table set up all ready,’ said the receptionist with quick, blinking eyes and a Julia Roberts smile.

Tantive Consulting’s office space was smart and modern. The place was tastefully furnished and, by the looks of things, expensively. There were Chesterfield armchairs made from soft, worn-looking leather, and plush thick pile carpet throughout. The vibe was professional and minimalist, yet homely and welcoming. On the walls hung framed photographs of strange landscapes and interesting faces; art that drew your attention, not the generic abstracts you’d normally see in an office such as this.

Minnie and Alan unpacked the pies in the boardroom. It was a large room, partitioned down the middle with a temporary room divider. A white linen tablecloth had been laid out with cutlery and plates at one end. As they unpacked the pies, they could hear people talking on the other side of the partition.

‘Do you smell that? Something insanely good,’ said a man’s voice.

Alan and Minnie glanced at each other and smiled.

‘Top man ordered pies for lunch,’ said another voice.

‘Nice,’ said the first voice, ‘I’ll work from the office more often.’

‘Free pies – probably some perk of the job for shagging that food bird,’ said a third voice. ‘He’s been eating like a king since dating her.’

‘Who?’

‘Lucy Donohue, that food writer, and you know she’s … ’ the man made a groaning noise and his companions laughed.