Harry went over to her and climbed up onto her lap. ‘What shall we get Edie for Christmas?’ he asked, a question which made me want to cry all over again.

‘We’ll have to have a big think,’ said Kerry, kissing the top of his head. ‘But we can’t talk about it right now, can we? Or it’ll spoil the surprise for Edie.’

At that, Harry cupped his hand to his mouth and whispered something in her ear. ‘Great idea,’ she said. ‘Now go and clean your teeth and I’ll be up in a bit to read and tuck you in.’

He slid from her lap and walked towards the door, raising a hand to me as he went.

‘Night, Harry,’ I said, removing the throw from my lap and making to stand up.

‘No rush,’ said Kerry, gesturing for me to stay sitting, whilst getting up and taking my mug from me. ‘He’ll faff around forever up there, so we’ve definitely got time for a top-up. Oh and if you’re wondering what you’re getting for Christmas,’ she added, as she headed for the kitchen, ‘it’s a towel.’

Chapter 22

On Giles’s recommendation, I took the next day off work – not that I had needed much persuading. I had come home from Kerry’s feeling exhausted in every sense possible, and after attempting some food and enjoying a brief and uncontroversial conversation with Giles, I had gone straight to bed and, thankfully, straight to sleep.

Friday was therefore my own, and a day which I filled with reorganising my home-filing and with walking Anthony, whom Giles had left at home to keep me company.

But even though I was busy, that didn’t stop my thoughts occasionally straying to my as yet unresolved personal problems. On the upside, there was no doubt that I was feeling much better about Kerry and, therefore, about Giles. I even occasionally dared to trust Kerry’s conviction that Cameron would in time stop thinking of me as unpleasant, unprofessional and unthinking, and allow himself to recognise some of my better qualities, whatever they might be.

Of course, the one person I couldn’t begin to feel even slightly better about was Ruby, and whenever she crossed my mind, I was immediately thrown into a purposeless chaos of hurt, anger and bewilderment as to why anyone would do what she had done to Cameron and, in the process, to me too. At times, I considered picking up the phone and telling her exactly what I thought of her. At others, I hovered over blocking her calls, texts and social media posts and having no further contact with her whatsoever. And in calmer moments, such as when strolling with Anthony on the Downs, I imagined sitting down with her, in our favourite wine-bar armchairs, and simply asking her to explain what our workplace friendship, which had been of such value to me, had actually meant to her.