Chloe called Zadie’s mobile. Then called her again. And again. And again, until her phone was hot and the buttons had made an outline on her cheek. Then she called directory enquiries and found the number for Zadie’s parents’ house. She rang them until it rang out, again and again and again. She wrote Zadie a text. And then an email. And then, out of complete, sheer desperation, she wrote a letter. By the time she had walked to the postbox and shoved it in she was starting to hyperventilate. She stumbled back to Archer Crescent, eventually found the spare key and sat on the stairs to wait for Max to come home.

Finally, he came through the door, throwing his heavy leather bag into the hall and chucking his suit carrier over a sofa. He didn’t seem to have noticed that Chloe was sitting, watching him.

‘She’s not here,’ Chloe called down, after a while.

Max jumped, looking up at where she sat on the stairs. ‘Fucking hell, Coco.’

‘Zadie isn’t here.’

‘She’s probably gone home to blow off some steam. She does that sometimes.’

‘I called her all day. She didn’t answer. I even called her parents’ house. She’s gone.’

Max disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a pint glass of water. ‘I don’t know what you want me to do about this.’

‘Did you do it? Did you hurt her?’

Max shrugged. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘I don’t need you to believe me.’

‘She said you could be awful when you were angry.’

‘I’m sure she did.’

‘Don’t you care whether she’s okay or not?’

Max ran his hands through his hair. ‘To be completely bloody honest with you, Coco, right now, I couldn’t give less of a shit. I’m knackered, I’m hung over and I’ve got a meeting with the coach about my Australia move. I’m not going to let Zadie’s latest stunt derail anything for me.’

Chloe hadn’t ever known anger like this. She got to her feet and looked Max square in the eye. ‘You disgust me.’

‘Get out of my house.’

Chloe didn’t know who else to call, so she dialled Rav’s number. He arrived half an hour later with a bottle of white wine. Then they crawled into her single bed and he held her to his chest.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t do anything,’ she whispered.

‘There wasn’t anything you could do.’

‘I could have called the police. I could still call the police.’

‘That’s not your choice. That’s up to Zadie. She might want to, she might not. But you have to let her have that.’

Chloe nodded, feeling her tears soaking into her hair. She sat up.

‘Can I ask something?’ Rav asked.

Chloe nodded. ‘Yes.’