I turned at the sound of Ruby’s voice to find her looking down at Cameron and offering him a smile which appeared impressively genuine, if a little wobbly; the cocktails were clearly hitting home. ‘I haven’t had a chance to chat to Edie yet and,’ she gestured at his leg which, thanks to his width and the limited length of the bench, was pressing against mine, ‘you look like you could do with more room. You’d be better off on a chair, wouldn’t you?’

I felt him shrink away from me as Roger leaned across to address him. ‘We thick-sliced lads are making poor Edie the Spam in the sandwich,’ he laughed. ‘Sit there,’ he continued, pointing across the table at the empty chair opposite. ‘I want to talk to you about the warm-up game tomorrow.’

But Cameron checked his watch and stood up. ‘Sorry, Roger, I have to go.’

Luke pulled a face. ‘Nah. Stay a bit longer. I fancy that chat about the game too.’

Ruby took a slightly unsteady step backwards as Cameron edged out from behind the table. Then she lowered herself carefully down onto the vacated spot on the bench, placing a steadying hand on my shoulder as she did so. ‘Roger’s talking about rugby, Luke, not Fortnite,’ she said.

‘Seriously, Cam,’ continued Luke, ignoring the dig, ‘at least finish your half.’

I frowned at Luke and looked at Alison to see if she approved of his efforts to make Cameron stay, despite her agreement with Ruby that he wouldn’t linger this evening. But her habitually tense expression gave nothing away.

Cameron walked around the table and retrieved his jacket from the back of Luke’s chair. ‘It’s been great,’ he said, ‘but I didn’t realise the time. I’m meeting a friend and I don’t want to keep her waiting.’

‘Oh, well, in that case,’ said Roger, ‘don’t let us keep you from your lady-love.’

Cameron smiled. ‘She doesn’t quite fall into that category.’

I put my glass to my lips in order to hide a sneer, as I wondered into which of Cameron’s grubby little categories this particular woman might fall.

‘You enjoy her. Sorry, I mean enjoy that,’ said Ruby, digging me hard with her elbow.

Cameron turned to her as he put on his coat. ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘And good luck in your new job.’

She offered him a pursed smile as she sucked on the long red straw in her cocktail. ‘Cheers,’ she said, clenching the straw between her teeth.

He looked at her for just a moment longer and then raised a hand to us all. ‘I’ll see the rest of you on Monday.’

My mood dipped further at the thought, as everyone said goodbye and then fell silent, watching as he made his way across the bar. He exited without looking back and, as he disappeared from view, I returned my attention to the table.