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stand around furnaces in leather aprons banging anvils?’
    â€˜Not really … we have a large studio with a bunch of geeky people sitting at Macs, moving the middle bar on an
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up a millimetre and then back down again for hours at a time.’
    â€˜Sounds gripping.’
    â€˜I’m talking it down, I love it. It’s the coolest job I’ve ever had. And you? What have you been up to?’
    They did a speedy catch-up on the missing months, and then launched straight into gossip about all their mutual friends, talking over one another and laughing. Before they knew it, they were halfway through the second bottle of wine. Realising they were both quite drunk, Lee waved at a waiter and ordered them a load of tapas – far too much, it seemed, but they munched their way greedily through the whole lot. Jo spilled something oily and tomatoey on her top, which for some reason was hugely funny, and they giggled about that. For the rest of the evening, either one of them just had to say ‘tomato’ for them to fall about like a pair of thirteen-year-old girls.
    In a fruitless attempt to sober them both up (it was a school night, after all), Jo ordered them both wickedly dark Mexican hot chocolates, only to discover they were spiked with a whopping great tot of tequila. The bar was beginning to empty and their mood was slightly quieter.
    â€˜So can I ask about Hannah?’
    â€˜Ask what?’
    â€˜Well, what happened? It seemed so serious between you.’
    â€˜It was … but, well, it just didn’t work out.’
    â€˜Didn’t work out? What does that mean? That’s a euphemism that means nothing, Hockley, and you know it.Relationships don’t just “not work out”. What happened? Did you shag around? Did she?’
    â€˜No one shagged around. It’s just one of those things, okay?’
    â€˜Ah … “one of those things” – another meaning-laden euphemism.’
    â€˜Indeed, and it means …’
    â€˜â€œShut up, Jo, and leave the subject alone, for the love of God”?’ Jo said, smiling.
    â€˜Very accurately read, my dear. Now, are we going to want another of these quite excellent hot chocolates?’
    â€˜I’m not sure whether it’s the alcohol or the sugar that will kill me …’
    â€˜But there’s enough caffeine in there to revive a dodo.’
    â€˜There is.’
    â€˜So that’s a yes then?’
    In spite of the heinous hangover the next morning, Jo was certain that it was the best evening out she’d had in months. Years, maybe. She emailed Lee to that effect and he concurred heartily. A few days later they got together rather more sedately for a weekend afternoon film, and the following week Jo invited him to the opening of a play she’d done the publicity for. The very next night they went to a private gallery view for someone they’d known at uni. Very quickly, they got into the habit of hanging out or attending functions together once or twice a week.
    Jo told herself that it was fabulous to have a personable, intelligent old friend she could take to events. They had shared history, they were comfortable together, they knew a lot of the same people and they were interested in thesame things. And besides, Lee was always a laugh. She kept telling herself all this, but deep down, when she got home after another evening out with him, there was something else. Something she couldn’t admit to anyone, not even to herself. Something had changed the night she had met Hannah, the night Hannah had asked her to really look at Lee. It was, she was sure, the exact opposite of Hannah’s intention, but she had awakened Jo’s attention and she had seen Lee for what he was … a desirable, sexy man. Now, when they met and he hugged and kissed her as he always did, she found herself sniffing his neck, smelling the heady combination of cologne and