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‘Same,’ said Theo. ‘I felt the same.’

‘I guess things started going wrong the day we heard from our agent, Carla, that the book had sold in America. That it was going to be published there the following summer and that the advance was even bigger than our UK one had been. We went out to celebrate and as the night went on, I began to realise I’d developed feelings for him.’

‘Love?’ asked Melissa.

‘Not quite love. The beginnings of it, maybe. But I also knew that he had major commitment issues. It had been a running joke between us, something we’d laughed about together. Except that now the defences I’d put up to stop myself getting hurt were crumbling in front of my eyes. And stupidly I went with it.’

‘What did that “going with it” look like?’ she asked.

‘It looked like us sleeping together,’ said Theo gruffly.

I felt a pang at the memory of how perfect it had felt at the time. The culmination of months and months of friendship turning to passion. I remembered the exact moment things changed: we’d been in his kitchen, opening a bottle of champagne. He’d given me a celebratory hug and we’d looked at each other and that was all it took. It escalated very quickly from there and we’d spent the night together,tangled up in each other’s arms, not able to believe what was finally happening between us.

‘And what were you thinking at this point, Theo?’ asked Melissa, standing up. ‘Shall we walk? Sometimes it’s easier.’

Theo and I stood up, following Melissa past the giant umbrella pine tree in the centre of Place de la Castre and taking a left, towards the church.

‘I remember thinking how I’d been refreshingly open with Scarlett and that it felt great. I prided myself on being honest with all the women I dated, but even more so with her.’

‘All the women?’ clarified Melissa.

‘There were a few at that time,’ he said. ‘And they all knew I wasn’t looking for anything serious.’

As we walked down some steps into what felt like a secret garden, I was regretting what I’d started. It was difficult, even after all this time, to hear the details relayed to me. To have it spelled out like this.

‘But you found something serious,’ said Melissa. ‘Without meaning to. With Scarlett. And perhaps you were scared of what might happen if youdidactually let yourself fall for someone. Someone who meant enough to you that you would want to try doing things differently. To stick around. To risk your heart.’

I focused on the calming oasis of the little garden, the purple delphiniums shooting up towards the sky like flames, the lavender bushes, the smattering of tiny white daisies. The smell was intoxicating even despite Theo’s unnerving silence.

‘And how was the sex?’ asked Melissa, ever blunt.

Theo groaned, clearly finding this question particularly mortifying.

‘Great,’ I said, quietly.

‘And for you, Theo?’

‘It was the best night of my life,’ he said with a sigh. ‘And I knew that because I didn’t want to run away afterwards like I usually did. We stayed together until the morning. I felt like a normal, loveable human being for possibly the first time in my life. Hopeful for our future, actually. As though there might be a chance for it not to end in the kind of bitter conflict I was so terrified of.’

Melissa frowned. ‘So what went wrong?’

‘Scarlett ran out on me. I took a shower and when I got back, she was dressed already. Had her bag over her shoulder, as though she couldn’t wait to get away.’

‘Is that what happened from your perspective, Scarlett?’

‘No it is not!’ I said, put out that Theo was making out I was the bad guy here. Had he twisted it this much in his own mind that he’d started to believe it himself? ‘He’s missing out a vital part of the story.’

‘Which part?’ demanded Theo.

‘The part where your phone rang repeatedly, while you were in the shower. And as you know, I’m always on high alert with my own family so although I didn’t really think it was my place, I checked your phone, really quickly, in case it was urgent. In case somebody needed to get hold of you.’

‘Nobody ever needs to get hold of me, Scarlett,’ he said.

‘Nobody except Poppy,’ I said.

Melissa looked interested.

‘He had a text from a woman called Poppy, saying she couldn’t wait to see him that night followed by a string of red heart emojis,’ I explained.