‘No! No!’ I interrupt before he can even go down that road. ‘Let me rephrase that. A really fit guy started at work and we got talking. Nothing more. But if I’m honest, even before those exchanges, I had already begun questioning a few things.’

‘Like?’

‘Just, life! I thought I’d been worried about never going on more first dates, having first kisses, that first row that you’ve got to hope you both know how to come back from,’ I explain, with a very slight laugh as I say it, as I remember the first time I got huffy with Liam was on our very first date at the top of the stairs in Wagamama.

‘And that feeling got bigger when you realized you fancied this new guy?’

‘No. Don’t get me wrong, he is very fit –’

‘You’ve said that,’ he says.

‘But it wasn’t going to go anywhere beyond the odd flirty exchange.’

‘Well, that’s something.’

‘I just have had this aggy feeling around Liam. Like I’ve wanted to push him away,’ I admit, playing with the ring he placed on my ring finger. ‘So I’ve been trying to work out why I am the way I am.’

‘You’re great.’

‘Mike, you heard Vicky last night. We all know I’ve acted in weird ways when it’s come to my love life,’ I say, stopping his attempts to brush away my behaviour. ‘It would be easy to say it’s because I didn’t have both my parents with me growing up. You know, that love between adults wasn’t modelled for me so I don’t know how to do it myself,’ I say, aware that words are tumbling out that I’ve never properly acknowledged before, let alone said out loud. ‘But I know that’s not the case. Mum showed me love. My friends showed me love. You guys did. Yet I’ve gone through one failed relationship after another. I came away feeling like I wasn’t good enough. It’s never been about them not being enough, or me challenging their behaviour, it’s been me and mine. But Liam came along and made me feel like I was more than enough and treated me with such respect. He flipped it on its head and I’ve no idea how or why, but he made me believe him.’

‘That’s a good thing, Za.’

‘Then he proposed and I felt elated, but a fear kicked in,’ I say, fiddling with the wrapper in my hands. ‘I suddenly understood that the doubt I had was silenced because of him. Life has been good because of him. It’s all because of him. What about if he’s not there any more? How would I feel then?’

‘What makes you think he’s going somewhere?’ he asks.

‘Pia did.’

‘True,’ he nods.