‘Just a bit.’ She smiles ruefully. Despite her tendency to use me as an all-round fixer, I like and admire Rose. I know she’s at least a decade younger than I am – barely forty, I’d say, although she keeps her age under wraps – but there’s something oddly ageless about her. I can imagine her organising her playmates with formidable determination when she was nine years old. ‘So, lots of things are happening,’ she start as bowls of uninspiring noodles are set before us. I suspect all the effort goes into the performance aspect here, rather than the actual cooking. ‘I’m especially excited about the platforms for innovation,’ she adds.

I nod and spear a slithery noodle. ‘I think it’s a great idea to bring new life into the company. I know we do our own consumer research, but there’s nothing like having young people involved right from the ideas stage all the way through to design, packaging, the whole lot.’ I pause, actually quite impressed with myself. I believe it, though, about the benefits of bringing young people in. Flaxico has been a creaky old organisation, as huge and unwieldy as a shabby ocean liner, for far too long.

‘I agree, absolutely,’ Rose enthuses. ‘But they’ll need careful management to bring out the best of them. We can’t just shove a bunch of youngsters into a room and hope for the best.’

‘No, I can imagine that could spiral out of control,’ I say, remembering the time I let the sixteen-year-old Spencer and his mates ‘take charge’ of a barbecue in our garden and foolishly took my eye off the ball. They had somehow got hold of about fifteen types of meat and fish – I suspected they had plundered the freezers of everyone they knew – which was served in states varying from barely defrosted to burnt black. The boys tanked into a load of beers (illicitly) and one of them threw up all over the patio. I overheard one of Andy’s doctor pals muttering, ‘Isn’t anyone in control of this thing?’

All valuable experience, I’m thinking now as I wonder if my hunch was correct: that Rose is working up to suggesting that I might step into one of the mentoring roles. Otherwise why would we be here, talking about the new young teams she’s planning to take on?

‘Didn’t you used to work in theatre before you came to us?’ she asks.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘And what did you do exactly?’ It’s the first time she’s ever thought to ask. I was never formally interviewed for the PA job; Rose just gave it to me after a perfunctory chat when the vacancy came up.

‘Stage management,’ I reply, ‘which meant everything really, apart from performing, as most places had pretty small teams.’

‘So you’re used to supporting people, assessing their needs?’