Luke sat down opposite me and gazed around the deserted cafe. ‘I know this place is a favourite of yours and Ruby’s,’ he said, with a slight shiver, ‘but God knows why. It really gives me the creeps. I notice there’s no hygiene rating on display.’ He raised a hand and indicated each of the walls in turn. ‘Look, look, look.’

‘Shhh,’ I said, pushing his hand to the table and glancing over my shoulder at the cashier, who had greeted us with a grunt and undisguised disdain on entry. ‘She’ll hear you.’

‘Well, maybe she should,’ he said, glancing down at his wrap and then picking it up and taking a bite. ‘Is beige a flavour?’ he asked, chewing hard. ‘’Cos this is so beige.’

‘I’ve only ever had the coffee here before,’ I admitted, looking down at the rather sad excuse for a coronation chicken sandwich I had selected. ‘And I’m not sure I’ve really got that much of an appetite today.’

‘You’re not ill, are you.’

I had just picked up my sandwich, but paused before taking a bite. ‘I can’t tell if that’s a statement or a question.’

‘I’m not sure either,’ he acknowledged. ‘But you don’t look classically sick.’

‘Classically sick? Is that a look?’

‘You know, green, or white, or yellow, or spotty, or snotty.’

‘Oh, I see. In that case, no, I don’t think I’m classically sick.’ I bit into my sandwich.

‘So, what’s up, then?’ he asked. ‘It’s me, isn’t it?’

I looked up, expecting to find him smirking, but instead his expression was uncharacteristically serious. ‘What? No, don’t be silly. Of course it’s not you. Why would you think that?’

‘You’ve been fake-smiling at me since first thing Monday and I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t because of what I said on Friday. You know…’ he added a little awkwardly, ‘when we talked about Ruby.’

I put my sandwich back down on its chipped, white plate and heaved a sigh. ‘Look, I had a really, really bad Friday night and not a great weekend. Monday evening wasn’t much fun and then last night, just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse… guess what? They did.’

He looked relieved. ‘OK, so it’s not me, then. Great. Let’s talk about Game of Thrones.’

I smiled, while at the same time feeling completely wrung-out and desperate to offload about the wine and cheese, and about Jason, and about Ruby. Sadly, I was all too aware that any explanation of my life traumas of the past five days would extend way beyond what was left of our lunch hour. Besides, I reminded myself, my smile fading, Luke was firmly in Cameron’s camp over all this.