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‘Is Marco all right out there in the car? Shouldn’t we invite him to join us?’

‘Don’t change the subject. Marco’s fine – he’s listening to the soundtrack for the next Ralph Lauren show on the car stereo. He’s got the gig in Paris.’ She took another sip of her drink while observing Shauna closely. ‘So how are you? How did it go in Ireland?’

Shauna stared into her whiskey mac, swilling the drink without taking a drop. ‘Da’s gone. The funeral was last week.’

‘Oh, honey, no.’ Roxy was immediately out of her chair and kneeling beside her, hugging her fiercely. ‘Shauna, why didn’t you call me? You know I would have dropped everything and come.’

Finally with a friend she could unburden herself to, Shauna couldn’t find the words. Roxy held her, soothing her while she sobbed.

‘You poor thing. I can’t believe what a shitty year this has been for you. As if you hadn’t been through enough already with Dan.’

‘I’m just sorry Da had to hear about all that before he died. He loved Dan, it must have broken his heart.’

‘He loved you more, you were his princess. He’d have sent Dan packing if he’d been well enough.’

Shauna winced.

‘Sorry, honey.’

‘It’s OK, maybe you’re right. I just wish Ma could have let up. She spent the whole time reminding me of how much I’d let them down.’

‘Jesus, come on! Two Emmys, a shedload of award-winning TV series and movies, more money than she could ever dream of – some of which you used to buy the house she’s living in and the car she’s driving – and still your mother can’t bring herself to acknowledge that you’re a success story? Sometimes I think she’d rather you’d stuck to accountancy at university, then gone home and got yourself a boring little job in Galway.’

Shauna managed a laugh, but immediately teared up again. ‘Do you ever wish you could turn back the clock, go back to when we were students with it all before us?’

‘Living in student halls in Manchester?’ Roxy raised her eyebrows ironically. ‘God, that seems a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it? But deep down, we’re still the same, aren’t we?’

Shauna stared out over the rooftops of LA to Santa Monica in the distance, lost in thought. Then she shook her head sadly. ‘The last couple of months have changed me, Roxy. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again.’ Then the effort of trying to hold it together became too much and she shut her eyes tightly, willing the tears not to come, but unable to hold them back.

Roxy squeezed her hand tightly. ‘Hey, you’re going to get through this, do you hear me? We’ve got through worse.’

Shauna was shaking her head again. ‘I promised myself I’d never be hurt like this again, not after—’

‘Hey, we got through that and we’ll get through this. You’re not some naive nineteen-year-old whose world is going to fall apart because you’ve been screwed over. OK, Dan behaved like a prick, but there’s no question that he loved you. Forget about that nasty bitch who got her greedy little fingers into him – she meant nothing to Dan. You know the drill: you grieve, you learn, and then you move on – it’s what we’ve always done.’

‘Have we? Can I really move on from this, any more than either of us could move from that summer in Greece? No matter what we do, that’s going to be with us forever.’

Roxy nodded but didn’t concede. ‘I’m not saying you should forget what happened – that’s not in your nature. The trick is not to let it eat you whole.’

Shauna took a deep breath and then threw the whiskey back in one shot.

‘Easy, girl.’

‘Don’t try and stop me, I needed that.’ Shauna took a deep breath. ‘Look, Roxy, I know you’re right, I have to move on. But I don’t know how. I mean, what’s next for me?’

‘Baby steps, that’s how we’ll do this. Right now, you need to focus on getting through the next few weeks, facing down the press and the gossip columns. Remember that old saying: Today’s news, tomorrow’s chip paper. You ride it out, hold your head high.’ She paused. ‘And then maybe we set about slaying a demon or two.’

‘I’ve got quite a few of those now.’

‘Me too. So, we take them one at a time, pick them off.’

Shauna nodded, but her green eyes were filled with uncertainty. ‘You and me against the world?’

‘You betcha. Same as always – only this time, we’re better dressed.’

Shauna couldn’t help but smile, buoyed up by Roxy’s boundless strength and confidence.

‘We’ve got to get you working again, too – can’t have some back-stabbing cow stealing the juicy roles, not when all the best directors would give their right arm to have you starring in their movies. And then …’ Roxy held Shauna’s eyes with her own, ‘maybe it’s time for you to go back …’