Verity pursed her lips. What had she been told? Had Max led her to believe that they were all still best friends?

‘Anyway,’ Max went on, topping up everyone’s glass, Verity’s especially full, ‘one of the blokes I played with was in construction, and he brought me in for a bit of work. I got on with his old man, who ran the company, and we did rather well together. But my folks are getting on a bit and living over there seemed a bit much, so I told him that I wanted to move home and he asked me to set up the UK branch of the business.’

‘Bloody great for you,’ said Rav. ‘And how did you two meet?’

‘I’m an assistant to an interior designer. Max was speaking to my boss about working on one of his projects and I came to take notes in the meeting. He dropped his phone number into my lap when she wasn’t looking.’

‘Very smooth,’ said Rav.

‘Or sexual harassment, depending on how you look at it.’ Chloe heard herself say the words, and then tried to feel remorseful when Verity looked horrified.

‘I didn’t feel harassed at all. He picked me up from my flat in his beautiful car, and then on the way to dinner it ground to a halt. He pulled over and started fixing the engine right then and there, oil on his shirt and everything. I fell for him hook, line and sinker. He was just so together, so grown-up. All the boys I knew were such children compared to Max.’ Verity was the most animated Chloe had seen her all evening, lit up from the inside. Her stomach twisted in sympathy. The poor girl, so excited to tie her life to someone like Max.

‘The food is delicious,’ Chloe said, in lieu of something more meaningful. She wasn’t lying; it really was. There were roast aubergines with miso, butterflied leg of lamb and a huge, fresh salad.

‘It really is. We’ll have to get the recipe from you,’ said Rav.

Chloe snorted. ‘Oh, you’re going to cook this?’

‘No,’ said Rav. ‘I mean, I could try.’

‘That would be a first.’

Rav looked hurt. Chloe shifted in her seat and tried to get a grip on herself. She could sense that being around Max was putting her in a terrible mood, bringing back all the anger all over again.

‘Sorry.’ Chloe smiled at Verity. ‘Bit of a running joke between Rav and me. He’s a really terrible cook.’