‘No, everything is not OK!’ I snapped, anger now superseding exhaustion. ‘I’ve had enough. I’ve already drafted my resignation and I’m handing it in as soon as we get back to the office. And in the meantime, Luke, don’t you dare try to gaslight me into thinking that harassment in the workplace is acceptable. Because it’s not. The only twisted thinking here belongs to you and your new best bud, Cameron – not to me.’ I stood up, grabbed my coat and reached for my bag.

But then Luke was on his feet too, my satchel in his hands. ‘What? Whoa, Edie.’

I made a grab for the bag, but he leaned away from me and hugged it to his chest. ‘Of course I don’t think harassment in the workplace is OK. But isn’t that exactly why we should be supporting Cameron? Telling Alison what was going on was the right thing for him to do. Ruby had to be made to understand that her behaviour was unacceptable and he clearly wasn’t getting through to her. And having got Alison to intervene, he then let Ruby off the hook. He didn’t have to do that, did he?’ he asked, his tone a gentle appeal for understanding. ‘I know she’s your friend, but that kind of thing is not OK on any level. You didn’t see it, Edie, but I did. She was persistent and full-on and, maybe because no one’s ever objected before, she didn’t seem to pick up on how uncomfortable he was with it.’

I blinked up at him, my mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out.

He placed my bag on the table and laid a gentle hand on my arm. ‘OK, so now you look classically sick. Sit back down for a moment.’

I lowered myself slowly onto the chair and sat motionless, staring at him.

‘You OK?’ he asked.

‘So it was Ruby who harassed Cameron,’ I murmured.

He appeared puzzled for a moment and then suddenly his eyes widened and he put a hand to his mouth. ‘Bloody hell. Did you think it was the other way round?’ He threw his head back and laughed loudly. ‘Well, thank God for that, because I thought you’d gone insane!’

I continued to stare at him and his face immediately dropped. ‘Shit. Sorry, Edie, but I’m just so relieved. You know, I seriously thought you’d turned into some sort of… Never mind, God, I am sorry,’ he said, clearly having some difficulty pulling himself together. ‘So why did you think…?’ He looked at me, with a mixture of horror and excitement. ‘You’re not saying Ruby told you that?’

I attempted a nod, but instead found myself rocking, as my upper body insisted on moving backwards and forwards along with my head. It was a strangely comforting motion.