‘And what if he doesn’t back off?’

I wanted her to promise me that it was easy.

I wanted Ginger to say that it was as simple as pressing a button that said Block This Caller. But she took a sip of her builder’s tea and her face flinched with distaste.

‘I was going out with someone when I met Spike,’ Ginger said carefully. ‘Omar. Remember Omar?’

I had a vague memory of Omar. A good-looking Anglo-Lebanese guy making conversation about old rock bands with Christian in restaurants that have long since closed down. Was that Omar?

‘Omar was not keen to call it a day,’ Ginger said.

‘You never told me that.’

‘Because you were so bloody happy that I had found Spike. I didn’t want to disappoint you. I didn’t want to spoil the moment with my stalking problem.’

‘Omar stalked you?’

‘He couldn’t get over the fact that it was done between us. Just wouldn’t accept it. He was texting me four or five times a day. My phone beeping all the time when I was out with Spike. He was trailing me all over social media like some love-sick spaniel, liking my posts, obsessively retweeting me, all of that soft stalking. He was not a bad guy, Omar, but he would not move on.’

I waited.

‘So Spike got him to back off,’ Ginger said, a harder note in her voice, and it seemed absurd to me that I had ever fretted about my friend being lonely, about the lack of love and sex and romance in her life, about the absence of a good man. Because Spike was always out there waiting for her.

‘And how did Spike get Omar to stop?’

Ginger sipped her tea, pulled a face. Combed her hair with her fingers.

‘Spike had a word.’

Spike was a big affable Aussie and I could not imagine him becoming violent with anyone. But then I also knew that Spike had been crazy about Ginger since their eyes first met across a crowded gym and I knew – I just knew – that he would do anything to keep her safe.

‘Spike threatened Omar?’

‘Just talking, Tara. An honest conversation. Just a warning.’

The idea was repulsive to me. ‘I don’t want any threats made. I don’t want even the hint of violence. I’ll take care of it.’

Ginger picked up my phone.

‘What are you doing?’

Ginger looked at me as if I was insane.

‘If Christian sees these photos then it all falls apart immediately. Your family, your home, your marriage. All of it, Tara. Look – anyone can make a mistake, OK? But are you going to let your one mistake ruin your whole life? Are you going to let it destroy your family?’

Her thumb worked on my phone.

Delete. Delete. Delete.

Then she pushed the phone towards me, as if she was sick of it.

‘They’re still on his phone, of course,’ she said. ‘And he could do anything with them. The truth is, you can’t really delete anything these days. Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever.’