“Well I’m determined to be impressed, so there.” She grinned again, forgetting to cover it, and I caught the smile, grinned back. Forgetting myself for a second. That energy pull was still there, as potent as the first day I met her. Our bond plastering over this awkward and unexpected reunion. We hadn’t spoken in years; we hadn’t spoken about why we weren’t speaking.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” I said.

“You sure you don’t mind? I couldn’t tell if it was creepy or not. I got so excited by surprising you that it only occurred to me this could be totally intense and weird about ten minutes ago, when you were talking to that girl who wouldn’t go away.”

“Oh my God. She really, really, wouldn’t go away!” I said. Was it creepy? It was certainly a shock.

“At one point, I thought she might superglue herself to your face.”

“I had my finger on the panic button.”

“So, it’s not weird?”

I smiled, despite myself. “Not at all.” And I was so lost in the crashing waves of nostalgia, that it took me a moment to remember where I was and what she’d done. All that mattered was Jessica’s face, Jessica’s pointed smile, Jessica’s essence, Jessica’s approval. A wild shriek from Stacy’s table ripped me from it, and we both twisted in her direction. The influencer was squealing with delight at a present a fan had made her. A giant papier-mâché bust of Stacy’s face.

“Oh my Lord, you made THIS for ME? I love it, LOVE it. OH MY GOD WE HAVE TO GET A VIDEO.”

The bust-maker sobbed with joy as Stacy beckoned her around to her side of the table for a hug. She proceeded to get multiple selfies of her, her sculptor, and her bust “for the socials,” and the young woman quivered in starstruck delight.

Jessica and I turned back to one another and shrugged. “Umm, do you want to go somewhere?” I asked, unsure of her motives again.

Jessica glanced at an expensive wristwatch, and that was the first time I got a sense of her having money. “I’m not sure I have enough time for to go out for a proper drink.”

“Oh...”

“I mean, I’d love to. But I have to get a train back. My mum’s babysitting, but I’ve been in the city all afternoon and I don’t want to take the piss.”

“Babysitting?”

Jessica broke into another unhidden grin. “Of course! God it’s been so long. Yes, I’ve got a daughter. She’s almost seven.”

“Seven?”

“Bridget.”

“You have a daughter?”

“It’s mad, isn’t it? She’s great. You’ll love her.”