I smiled up at him and clinked my glass against his. ‘OK,’ I said, leaning sideways to kiss his cheek and then bravely bending low to kiss Anthony too. ‘Let’s.’

Chapter 5

‘You’re moving to Henleaze?’ Luke leaned back in his chair and looked up at me, his slim, pale features crumpling in confusion. He was clearly having difficulty grasping the concept. ‘From Harbourside?’

‘Yes,’

‘To Henleaze?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘And I don’t understand what your problem is,’ I added, whilst actually knowing exactly what his problem was, but choosing not to acknowledge it.

‘Hey, no problem at all,’ he replied, holding up his hands. ‘I just hope your mobility scooter is fully charged, that’s all.’

‘That’s so very funny that I’m not sure whether to give you this now.’ I held up the coffee I had picked up for him on my way into the office, an occasional habit I had fallen into over the past year, now that he and I were almost always the first to arrive each morning. Luke’s early start time was due to the fact that he still lived with his parents and was dropped off at eight a.m. by his father on his way out of Bristol each morning. My altogether more pitiful reason was that, now that I was single, there really wasn’t an awful lot to hang around my flat for after breakfast.

When Jason and I had been together, we would both linger as long as possible at the breakfast bar, having a second cup of coffee or an extra croissant, playing work-run chicken and seeing how late we could leave home and still be in on time. But these days, things were different. As soon as I had downed my OJ and Weetabix, I couldn’t wait to quit the solitude and minimalist décor of my two-bed, one-person apartment, in favour of the Costa queue and the camaraderie and busyness of the workplace.

‘I’m just winding you up,’ said Luke, reaching up and taking the coffee from me. ‘I’m sure Henleaze is great – and I bet my nan is wrong when she says she’s always the youngest person in the veg shop.’ He removed the lid of his coffee and blew on it. ‘Except she isn’t,’ he added under his breath. ‘Cos I’ve seen them all queuing for death in there.’

‘Shut up.’ I leaned over the desk and tapped the top of his head.

‘Hey!’ he cried, putting down the coffee and gently patting his highlighted, immaculately styled hair to check for imperfections. ‘Be careful or I’ll have you for harassment.’

He began to laugh and then stopped abruptly, looking up at me uncertainly. It was a reaction which made me wonder if he knew what had happened between Cameron and Ruby after all.

I said nothing, merely raising an eyebrow.

‘Thanks for the coffee, Edie,’ he mumbled meekly, picking up the cup.