Zadie sighed. ‘Have you got anything to drink?’

To her joy, Chloe did. Most of a bottle of red wine she had bought at a supermarket, because it felt like a grown-up thing to do. She had imagined she would drink it while reading some French poetry, but she’d actually had a glass while she watched The X Factor. Would it be the kind of thing Zadie would drink? She seemed like she had had quite a few already. Perhaps she wouldn’t notice how cheap it was. She poured two mugfuls and handed one to Zadie, who wrapped herself in the duvet and lit a cigarette, using one of Chloe’s candles as an ashtray. ‘Thank you.’ She smiled. ‘I think this might be the best glass of wine I’ve ever had.’

Chloe looked up nervously at the smoke alarm. Surely one cigarette wasn’t enough to set it off? ‘It’s only from Tesco.’

‘It’s perfect. Don’t you hate people who know lots about wine? All that swirling and sniffing, it’s such a sign of being a wanker.’

Chloe had never met anyone who knew lots about wine. ‘Yes, such a wanky thing to do.’

A pause fell between them. Should she ask again about the fight with Max? Or had Zadie not responded before because she didn’t want to talk about it? She settled on asking, ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes, fine. I shouldn’t moan. A fight with your boyfriend is hardly losing a limb in a terrible accident, is it?’

‘If it upsets you, it upsets you. If we’re only allowed to complain about things which compare to limb loss, then we’d never say much.’

‘What a nice thing to say.’ Zadie sat up straighter. ‘But, honestly, it was mostly my fault. He said he’d be back at six. I got all dressed up – the whole lingerie-clad seduction, you know?’

She paused, apparently waiting for Chloe to nod, like this was something she had done before as well. Only it wasn’t, because she’d never had sex, let alone dressed up in expensive lingerie to seduce someone. She shook her head weakly.