‘Ruby.’ I held up a hand and then, fearing that a conversation about Jason at this precise moment would tip me over into tears, I decided to lie. ‘I haven’t heard from him in weeks.’

‘Good,’ she said, her relief obvious. ‘But if it’s not him, what is it? It’s not that bastard, Cameron, is it? Because if he’s causing you any problems, I’m happy to go back there with you and sort him out. I’m valued and supported enough at Lovelock’s to be able to speak up now and I’d do that for you. You do know that, don’t you?’

I nodded, feeling extremely close to tears. Maybe a conversation about Jason would have been the better option after all. ‘It’s all OK,’ I said, my voice catching slightly. ‘He knows exactly how I feel about him. I’ve made that very clear.’

Her eyes widened and she blinked rapidly. ‘Did you mention me?’

‘No. But he’s in no doubt that I despise him and want as little to do with him as possible.’

She flopped back in her chair. ‘How so? What did you do?’

‘I said no to an offer of help, no to an offer of a drink and then…’ The room felt suddenly airless and I inhaled deeply. ‘And then I made it very clear that I absolutely hate him. I won’t go into the details because, quite frankly, I resent him even as a topic of conversation.’

‘Wow,’ she breathed, her expression one of grim fascination, satisfaction and approval. ‘Bravo, Edie,’ she said quietly, and for the first time that morning, I felt a little better.

‘I miss having you around,’ I said. ‘I knew that I would.’

‘And I,’ she leaned forward, reaching again for my hand, ‘miss you too. But there’s a lot of stuff I don’t miss. You know what I mean?’

I nodded. ‘I so do.’

‘Well, if you know that,’ she said, releasing my hand and picking up her coffee, ‘you’ll also know that you need to get away.’

Having stayed with Ruby until the last possible moment, I made it back to the office with just minutes to spare before my meeting with Alison and Cameron.

‘Take a breath, take a breath,’ said Roger, looking up from a drawing, as I threw my jacket and bag on my desk and grabbed a scribble pad and pencil. ‘You’re not late.’

‘I didn’t think I was either, Roger,’ I said, glancing towards Alison’s office, where she and Cameron were already seated at the conference table. ‘But I see Cameron decided to go in without me just the same.’

Luke laughed. ‘Hey, steady your machete, girlfriend,’ he said. ‘He was in there from eleven fifteen to discuss a pitch, so chill.’

Ignoring him, I walked to Alison’s office and tapped lightly on the door.

She looked up and beckoned me in.