I wavered for a moment, then sighed. ‘Close it behind you. I don’t want the other Juliets barging into the war room whenever they feel like it.’
Lily obeyed, locking the door again from the inside. ‘Here.’ She set a plate down on the table in front of me. ‘This is for you.’
I looked at it.
‘This is smashed avocado.’
‘And poached eggs.’ She sat down across from me. ‘Don’t forget those.’
Perfectly poached too, if looks were anything to go by. The yolks were oozing out, a golden puddle slowly forming.
‘Have you forced one of the other Juliets into being your personal chef?’ I asked. ‘Because that’s fast minion development, even for you.’
‘Given my culinary history, I can see why you would think that, but no. I made it myself.’
It looked unbelievable. My stomach growled.
‘I’ve had to learn a few new things,’ she said, ‘this last year.’
It was a testament to how starving I was that my appetite didn’t immediately vanish.
‘My mother’s still deeply ashamed of me, though,’ she said conversationally, like she hadn’t just said something completely heartbreaking. ‘My Vietnamese cooking is still terrible. Not that I could make anything with what we stock in the Villa kitchen anyway. You should get someone to revise those grocery lists for next season, Murray. I didn’t realise how white they were until I was on this side of them.’
I picked up the knife and fork, but I didn’t start eating. ‘Why are you feeding me?’
‘Firstly, because you seem like you’re at genuine risk of malnutrition. Secondly, avocados are hot property out there. If they start disappearing, people will start fighting, and that’ll be good TV.’
I considered all of this for a moment.
Eventually, though, my stomach won out. ‘Thanks,’ I said, and took a bite.
‘Answer the question.’ Lily pointed at the image from the First Night Party frozen on the screen. ‘What did Jess K do to wardrobe Tess? Why did she put her in such an awful dress?’
‘It’s not that bad, is it?’
‘Are you joking? That dress is a war crime.’
I took another bite of toast. She’d whipped feta with the avocado, sprinkled pepitas on top, and cracked enoughpepper over it that a normal person would be in a sneezing fit. It was one of the best things I’d ever eaten.
‘Keep going.’ Lily gestured to the footage.
‘You know I can’t do that.’
‘Who’s stopping you?’
‘You know the rules. You shouldn’t even be in here.’
‘That wasn’t the question. Who’s stopping you?’
I gave her a look.
‘Suzette and Carrie are off producing Jess D and boy-Dylan’s date, right? Well done for delegating, by the way. Nice to know you still listen to me sometimes.’
I growled and took another bite of toast.
‘So what do you think is going to happen? It’s not like Fucking Greg is going to burst through the ceiling. Anyway, he’s the one who sent me here to help you.’
I drained the dregs of my coffee, weighing it up.
