‘No?’ said Zadie. ‘Good for you. You’re clearly far less of a sap than I am. So anyway, I waited for him to come back, and he was two hours late. Didn’t call or anything. Then he came back, happy as Larry, and told me he’s been picked to go and play rugby for an Australian university next year. Can you imagine? I’m there in all this complicated underwear and he’s talking about whether the change in climate will affect his sprinting speed. I started crying, he said I wasn’t being supportive, I said of course I’m not supportive, I don’t want you to move to Australia, and then he got angry, and he can be so awful when he’s cross, so then I stormed out and realized that I didn’t have anywhere to go. So I came and spoilt your lovely quiet evening.’

Back at home, when someone had a fight with a boyfriend Chloe usually knew what to say. Her mother had lined most of the shelves in their house with self-help books, books about how to find love, books about how to keep love, books about how to cope with lost love. Chloe could recite chunks of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and He’s Just Not That Into You like some children knew nursery rhymes. But this was entirely outside her area of expertise. How could anyone who was party to Zadie’s obscene beauty want to do anything other than be with her? How could Max want to move to the other side of the world?

‘Why was he late?’ she settled on.

‘Rugby. It’s always rugby. Until the spring, when things ease off a little bit, and then, before you know it, it’s pre-season and all about rugby again. He loves it more than he loves me.’

‘I’m sure that’s not true. Maybe he’s just worried about being successful at it.’

Zadie snorted. ‘Max doesn’t worry about anything. He knows he’s the best. And even if he wasn’t, his father has dozens of restaurants.’

‘Restaurants?’

‘Yeah. His father started Mangiamo.’