‘He was the kind of guy who liked to open doors for you and carry things,’ I explain to Harper.

‘An old-fashioned-gentleman type,’ she says, nodding.

‘Yes,’ I say. I place the chopped eggplant into a dish, and arrange the spice containers in a neat line on the bench, nudging Jesse out of my way.

‘It was all a bit patronising though, wasn’t it,’ Jesse says.

‘No, it was nice,’ I say. ‘He was very sensitive actually. He liked to celebrate anniversaries.’

‘In a performative way,’ Jesse says.

‘In a normal way,’ I say. I’ve found a proper measuring teaspoon and I carefully shake the cumin onto it.

‘I never trusted him,’ Jesse says to Harper.

‘He’s completely trustworthy,’ I say to Harper. ‘He mentored at-risk youth.’

She’s nodding seriously, like a detective on a case. ‘So was it a nice break-up then?’ she says to me.

‘Oh no, it was kind of awful. He dumped me for someone else,’ I say, now measuring out the ground coriander.

‘That sounds harsh,’ Harper says.

‘It was not enjoyable,’ I say.

‘See? Bad dude,’ Jesse says, looking triumphant.

I nudge him out of my way again to get to the olive oil.

‘You seem very invested in this,’ Harper says to him.

Jesse pauses, picks up a tea towel for no reason, spins it around his hands. ‘No. I’m not invested. I just think, well, Tristan didn’t suit Brooke.’

‘Everyone would always say how perfectly suited we were,’ I say.

‘Well, they were wrong,’ Jesse says.

‘This has been helpful,’ Harper says, looking thoughtful.

‘Helpful?’ I say, confused.

‘I mean, you cooking has been helpful,’ she says, but she’s a bad liar, and now I have a little hum of anxiety as to what Harper might have really meant.

16

16

Penny claps her hands with delight when she walks in and sees the food laid out on the table. I thought Harper wanted an intimate dinner between the two of them, but she tells Jesse and me to join them.

‘Brooke, you did all the work—you need to eat the meal,’ she says.

‘I only helped a little,’ I say.

‘It’s okay, Harps told me you did it all,’ Penny laughs.

We sit around the little table and it feels very adult and glamorous. I serve the meal, because I know Harper is stressed about lifting the eggplant out of the dish. Jesse offers to get Penny a glass of wine, then realises we don’t have wine or anything except water and the last pulpy dregs of a bottle of orange juice.

‘Tell Brooke about your idea for a business,’ Harper says to Penny, once we’re all happily eating and chatting. There is an odd tone underlying her request. Harper is trying too hard to sound casual and offhand, which makes me think this is a conversation she and Penny have planned.