Which since then had blossomed into a friendship of sorts. Lana was glad of this, of course. It made life so much easier. Now she and Catrin could stop worrying about Jude, and secretly Lana felt she herself could stop worrying about Gareth too. Nothing had been said, but things between the two of them had been more than a little tense since she’d been in Guildford. At least now Judith could keep an eye on things for her at home, and let her know if Gareth started complaining that he didn’t see enough of her or questioning the state of their relationship.

Spooning in bed that night after the performance – Judith was asleep on the sofa downstairs and Cat and Sol were in a nearby B&B – Lana asked Gareth how the new flat-share was going.

‘Yeah, she’s all right once you get to know her a bit,’ he conceded. And within two minutes was fast asleep.

At lunchtime the next day, Lana, Gareth and Judith met up with Sol and Catrin for a half-price curry lunch and Lana felt so full of love for her two best friends, and for Gareth and for newbie Solomon. ‘Do you have to go?’ she whined, when they all started getting their things together, ready to leave. ‘Why don’t you all stay up another night? There’s this brilliant club we could all go to. Come on, let’s live a little!’

‘Sorry, Larn,’ said Catrin. ‘We’ve got a nine o’clock lecture tomorrow.’

‘And it’s bio-chem,’ said Sol, taking Catrin’s hand, ‘with Prof. Chambers, who is vicious if you’re late or miss it.’

‘And some of us normal mortals have got work to go to!’ Gareth chipped in.

‘Yeah, we can’t all live this showbiz lifestyle, you know,’ added Judith.

It was a flash. A tiny spark of resentment. Over before she knew it. But it was there, and a voice in her head said, Oh, you boring bastards!

She felt herself blush for even thinking it. But she’d thought it nonetheless.

Was she growing away from them? Were they becoming less and less her tribe?

To dispel the unwelcome feeling, she gave them all big, ostentatious hugs and kissed Gareth long and hard, until he pulled away, embarrassed.

‘Hey, all right, woman! People will start talking!’ And she laughed.

‘Go on then, bugger off, the lot of you!’

She watched Catrin and Sol, all loved up, as they got into their car, tooting the horn and waving madly out of the window with promises for a big catch-up at Christmas. And she smiled as she watched Judith clumsily clamber on to the back of Gareth’s bike.

‘There’s an art to it, babe!’ shouted Lana over the roar of the engine. ‘You’ll get used to it.’ And she waved them off. Smiling all the while until they were out of sight, the growling of the bike’s exhaust fading to a whisper.

She stood alone for a moment, staring into the road.

This inability to articulate what it was she was feeling completely stumped her.