I was still quite out of it, half wondering if I should cancel the cocktails, half planning my perfect outfit.

“I could listen first, if you’d like? Fifteen minutes then fifteen minutes?”

“Sounds great.”

“Right, OK... Let’s begin. Hang on...let me get in the zone.” Hannah pushed her blonde hair behind her ears and closed her eyes for a second, grounding herself. It struck me as mad, how well I knew her already. The nature of our pairing meant social barriers that usually take years and lifetimes to fall down had collapsed early on, as we spilled our guts out to one another once a week. When Hannah opened her eyes her face was relaxed, welcoming, her posture in the perfect open position.

“Hello, Fern, and welcome to today’s session,” she said, her voice like melted chocolate. “As you know, we have just under fifteen minutes to have a chat. Remember, anything you say in this space is confidential. Now,” she leaned forward, “is there anything in particular you’d like to talk about today?”

My mind initially went blank. I wiggled in my chair and grasped at appropriate life issues to share. Linda had told us only to share minor problems until we had more experience.

“Ergh,” I said, laughing. “I never know what to say.”

She smiled warmly, letting me fill the silence. I had to admit it, Hannah may have been the youngest in our class, but she was damn good.

“Well, something weird happened to me last week.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, really weird. I was at a work event the other night, and this old friend from my childhood turned up. I’m meeting her for a drink tomorrow. It’s all very...out of the blue.”

“An old childhood friend?” she asked, using a very good open question.

“Yes. Well, from when we were teenagers. Jessica...” Even saying her name out loud did something, unraveled a part of me that had been rolled up and stored at the back of some psychological cupboard. “We were best friends from fourteen to about nineteen.” God, was it only a few years? It felt longer than that. “We were like, soul mate close...”

“And you fell out of touch?”

I was quiet and looked down at the carpet. “No. I kind of...cut her out. After...she did...something. It was such a long time ago now.”

Hannah’s eyebrows went up for a second, breaking form, as we weren’t supposed to show shock. “How old are you now, if you don’t mind me asking?” she recovered.

“Thirty-one.”

“Wow, OK, so it’s been over a decade?”