‘Max is interested in putting some work our way and he needs me to go to Australia for a few days. Ten days, in fact.’

‘Isn’t that quite a long way to go?’ Chloe heard the words coming out of her mouth and realized she had said the wrong thing, focused on the negative and the prosaic when Rav needed to hear praise. He looked a little wounded.

‘I guess,’ he said.

‘I’m sorry.’ Chloe meant it. ‘I was being selfish because I’m going to miss you. Tell me about the project, what you’re going to do out there. Are your bosses pleased?’

‘It’s gone down beyond well with the firm that I’ve brought Max in. He’s such a great guy. He made sure they knew he’d come in via me and he asked for me specifically to go on this trip. It’s done wonders for my rep. I reckon I might be able to get a promotion out of this.’

Chloe searched into the recesses of her being to find some positivity for him. ‘That’s really great,’ she tried. ‘How exciting.’

Clearly, Rav wanted to believe that she was happy for him, because he disappeared and came back with a beer, brimming with enthusiasm to talk about the project, the office he’d go to, the hotel that was being booked for him. He showed her pictures of the places he would be visiting, read her the LinkedIn biographies of the people he was going to meet, and all the while she fixed a smile on her face. He deserved that. He deserved to feel happy. None of this mess was his fault, after all.