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very interesting.  And moving.  And topical.”
    “And important.”  Christine settled herself onto the second chair.
    “Yes.  And important.”  Emily sighed.  “But you must remember.  It’s been a while since you were on a serious date.  And things have changed.  Back in college, it was good to have interesting things to say.  Blokes liked it.  But now -”
    “What?”  Christine looked at her friend, amused. 
    “Now you have to act like we are back in the nineteen-fifties.  Just a little.  At our age, blokes are, subconsciously or not, looking for potential wives.  They don’t want their dates to have stellar careers.  They want them to be sexy, articulate and funny.  And have good child-bearing hips.”
    “Are you actually being serious?”  Christine laughed. 
    “I am!”  Emily looked indignant.  “Your job is…” she paused.  “W ell it might be a little intimidating for a bloke.  You advise on inve stments worth billions of euro -”
    “Ah, now.  Not quite billions.”
    “Well,” Emily continued, “you have a lot of responsibility.  And you work in a very testosterone-heavy office.  Some guys mightn’t like that.  And chances are you earn more than Gavan does.  And no bloke likes that, I don’t care what century we’re in.”
    “Oh c’mon Ems.”
    “Look Christine, I’m just saying what I think.  It’s great you have an interesting job to talk about.  Believe me, I’d rather have your résum é than mine.  No one wants to hear abou t my day, herding a class of six-year-olds.  But just don’t sound too intelligent.”
    “E h , ok.”  Christine snigger ed into her glass.  “I’ll try.”
    “It’s not your fault that you are gorgeous and clever.”  Emily smiled .  “Just focus on the gorgeous, that’s all I’m saying.  Less Marie Curie, more Marilyn Monroe.  Just for the first few dates.  Then you can hit him with your IQ.”
    Christine smiled, and looked out over the sea.  The tide was out, and some people were walking their dogs, others jogging on the exposed sand while they had the chance.  The evening was still warm. 
    “Is that how you bagged Jack?”  She looked back at Emily.
    “Sort of.  Jack needs to be needed.  All the good ones do.”
    “Right.  Well, t hanks for that, Oprah.”
    Emily stuck her tongue out at Christine.  Her phone beeped on the little table between them .  “They’re going to wait for us in the bar next door to the restaurant.”
    “Should we get going?” 
    “Nah,” Emily glanced at the clock on her phone, “we’ve got tonnes of time.”  She refilled their glasses.  “It’s too nice, just sitting out.  Maybe we should have just invited them over here?”
    “No thanks!”  Christine crossed her legs.  “It’s bad enough that I’m on show myself.  I couldn’t handle having to have this place ready for inspection too.”
    “O h thanks.  So you weren’t dust ing in my honour?  Charming.  So come on.”  Emily sat back in her chair.  “Tell me more about last night.  Any internal office mergers to report?”
    “Not really.  It was fine.  Good.  The usual.”
    “Was sexy Craig there?” 
    “Yes, with sexy Rachel, his sexy girlfriend.”
    “Poor girl.”  Emily shook her head.
    “I thought you liked Craig? ” Christine said.   “ In fact, if I’m not much mistaken, you thought he was a real catch when you first met him.  Against all my advice.”
    “True,”  Emily looked out to sea.  “I did think he was a catch.  But you were right.  He’s a player.”  She looked back at her friend smugly.  “Not like Jack, now.  He may not have Craig’s dark looks, but he is a proper manly man.  Strong and - ”
    “Oh excuse me while I go and vomit.”
    “Well he is!”  Emily looked mildly hurt.  “You should be happy I’m happy.”
    “I am happy you’re happy,” Christine said quietly.  She stared into her glass.  “I really am.”
    Emily leaned over