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Mum, Dad and Great-Aunty Maude, who thinks the war's still going on, to be interviewed by a bloke in a suit from the tabloids. 'I'm really keen for people not to find out yet, Mand,' I say. 'Please don't tell anyone.'
    The three of us are staring at the huge jumble sale that used to be my bedroom; I know we're all thinking the same thing.
    'Your stuff is never going to be packed up in time,' says Sophie, eventually. 'And how will you get it over to Rufus's place?'
    'I'll throw it all in a cab,' I say, but the reality is that I have an entire £30 to my name and we've just agreed to go out tonight. I must remember to put a couple of quid aside for bus fare to Richmond. One of the funny things about dating someone so incredibly rich is that he doesn't think about money. Rufus looks after me astonishingly well but he wouldn't realise that for me to find £10 for a taxi to Richmond is quite a big deal. He buys me fabulous coats worth hundreds of pounds and I end up wearing them in our flat because it's freezing cold and we can't afford to put the heating on. I'm definitely going to be arriving in my glamorous new world with a bus ticket in my pocket which is odd, really, considering he has a driver, four cars and a hundred million dollars in his bank account.
    Money's been the hardest thing to handle since I started seeing Rufus. I felt I had to save every penny to make sure I had enough to get my nails done, my hair blow-dried properly and clothes which looked vaguely OK. Rufus has bought me loads of beautiful clothes and jewellery, but they're terribly impractical – which is great. I love the designer (fake) fur stoles and diamond earrings, but a jumper would be nice. He insists on paying for everything when we're out, thank God, or I'd have been bankrupt. It was the make-up, clothing and hairdressing costs in advance of the dates that were crippling for me. I knew it simply wouldn't do to turn up with badly chewed fingernails, so I had nail extensions. Do you know how much it costs to maintain those things? I could have had two girls' nights out and a takeaway curry for the cost of pointy nails. Every time I was with Rufus I'd flash them at him to make sure he was aware of them, so I hadn't wasted my money. I'd tap them on the table seductively, increasing the racket I was making in response to his lack of interest in them.
    'Are you bored?' he asked me once when I was bashing along with quite some vigour.
    'No,' I replied quickly, and I stopped the nail drumming right there and then.
    The girls have sat down on the bed. They've tipped the contents of the drawers onto the floor. There's stuff everywhere and I haven't even told them how much is nestling under the bed.
    'It might be a silly thing to have done, seeing how much crap you've got, but we've bought you a present,' says Sophie, her brown eyes looking suddenly very sad. 'It's for you to wear at fancy parties.'
    She leaves the room and reappears clutching a white carrier bag. Primark! Oh my God!
    'Ahhhhhh . . . I love you, I love you,' I declare as I pull out the fabulous fitted grey dress that I've been lusting after for simply ages. It's gorgeous, perfect, ideal . . . Thank you so much,' I say, really meaning it. I've been in love with this dress for weeks. Every time we walked past the Primark window, we'd stop and I'd peer in longingly. Rufus has bought me so many things since we've been seeing each other – expensive perfume, jewellery and this gorgeous velvet coat that is unbelievable. He's taught me about designer labels and introduced me to the sort of restaurants I'd only ever read about before, but there's nothing quite as lovely as having spotted something in a shop, lusted after it, and had it bought for you by your best mates. Especially when you know how difficult it would have been for them to afford it.
    'Thanks,' I say, hugging them closely. That's when the tears start falling – tumbling from my eyes as we hug each other tightly in this room littered