She takes a sip of wine, smiling at her husband and his family as they throw themselves around. Rav looks lit up from the inside. They’ve been together for what? Fifteen years? But sometimes she can’t quite believe he’s hers.

Chloe feels a tap on her shoulder and turns, fixing her face into a smile. It’s a woman, about the same age as her. She’s wearing very high heels. Chloe’s face is level with her torso.

‘Hi,’ the woman says, gesturing at herself. ‘Corinne. I did Engineering with Max and Rav. I don’t know if you remember?’

‘Of course,’ lies Chloe. ‘How are you?’

The woman takes her reply as an invitation, sinking down on to the chair across from her. She leans towards Chloe, her breasts tipping forward, straining against the V of her shiny red dress, and puts her hand on Chloe’s thigh. ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ she says, a conspiratorial expression on her face, ‘but I just have to ask. We’ve been talking about it on our table – saying we’d always been curious.’ She stops herself, seeming to realize that she’s not making any sense. ‘Sorry,’ she says. ‘What I mean is, we’ve been talking, and we were wondering.’ Corinne pauses, like she’s taking a run-up, and then asks: ‘What happened to Zadie?’

1

Now

‘What are the chances that they’ve forgotten all about tonight and they aren’t coming?’ moaned Rav from the sofa, limbs splayed over the pale blue velvet.

The major benefit of living in such a tiny flat was that they could have a conversation while in two different rooms.

‘Somewhere between zero and fuck all,’ Chloe called back from the bedroom, a mascara wand poised just below her eyelashes. Brown mascara was all she could face putting on. It was too hot for anything more than that. ‘Might I remind you,’ she said, smiling into the mirror, ‘that these people are our best friends? You do actually like them.’

‘They’re both total pains in the arse.’ Rav sighed.

‘Not mutually exclusive. Besides, if you had your way, we’d never see anyone.’

‘True,’ he replied. ‘If I had my way, I’d spend every weekend in bed with you.’

Chloe laughed as she pulled on a T-shirt. It was only Guy and Lissy coming over, to introduce their new baby. Ancient friends, so no need to make much of an effort. And, if she allowed herself an uncharitable thought, it wasn’t as if Lissy was exactly a style icon.

‘What if we just don’t answer when they get here?’ Rav suggested, poking his head around the bedroom door. His hair was mussed from spending all afternoon lying on the sofa reading the papers. ‘We could turn all the lights off. Close the windows.’