Thanks to a broken-down bus, I was last into the office on Monday. However, a broad grin and a ‘Hi, Edie,’ from Cameron, as I made my slightly frazzled entrance through the glass double-doors, immediately improved my mood to a surprising degree.

I smiled back at him, thinking how nicely the shirt he was wearing that morning picked up on the grey tones of his eyes. ‘That’s such a good colour on you,’ I said before I knew it, and then hurried to my desk, complimenting Luke on his suit and Roger on his sweater as I went, just to keep things even.

I was rewarded with a confused frown from Roger and a smirk from Luke. ‘Why thank you,’ he said. ‘And I love that…’ He looked me up and down as I hurriedly removed my coat and threw it over the back of my chair, ‘…that highly colourful combination of clothing you’re wearing today. Now, when you’ve had a moment to settle yourself down, Alison would like to see you.’

‘OK.’ I began unpacking my bag. ‘What’s the subject under discussion?’

‘Nothing project-related,’ he said. ‘Just a general check-in with you. And with Cameron.’

I looked up and Luke mouthed a silent, ‘Ooh’, for my benefit alone.

I turned questioningly to Cameron but he just shrugged. ‘Let me know when you’re ready,’ he said.

‘Well,’ I looked around my desk, ‘I’d prefer now, before I get into anything else.’

‘Fine by me,’ he said, standing up and picking up a scribble pad and pencil.

I did the same and then walked ahead of him to Alison’s office, knocking on her door.

She beckoned us in. ‘Good morning,’ she said, standing up and waving us towards the conference table. ‘How was your weekend, Edith?’

‘It was great, thanks.’

‘Good. And how was your weekend, Cameron?’

‘Fun,’ he replied.

‘Good,’ she said, placing her hands flat on the table in front of her and momentarily glancing over my left shoulder. I resisted an urge to turn, instead looking down at my pad, pencil poised. ‘I have a few things to say regarding the future of the practice.’

I looked up sharply, aware of a sudden and uncomfortable increase in my heart rate. Her face gave nothing away; she looked as steely and as uncomfortable in her own skin as she always did.

Cameron was studying her with apparent calm, but I knew his face well enough by now to recognise tension in his jaw.

Alison fell silent, with neither Cameron nor I offering her a prompt. She was, we knew, selecting her words with a view to conveying her thoughts in the shortest time possible, ideally leaving no room for ambiguity, doubt or questions. The woman was as efficient as any computer programme and she was currently loading.