The Windmill Café. Poppy Blake

come on, Nad,’ soothed Suki. ‘It was an accident. Look, why don’t you go over to my lodge to get changed? You can borrow one of my stage outfits, if you like. I’ve brought a couple with me – help yourself.’

      ‘Well, are you coming with me?’ Nadia asked William, her hands on her hips, eyebrows raised, clearly mollified by Suki’s generous offer.

      ‘Not just yet, Nad. Why don’t you get changed and come back outside? Show off the dress to us all?’

      Nadia tossed another venomous glare in the direction of Lucas and stormed off towards Suki’s lodge.

      Rosie watched in silent fascination as the domestic drama unfolded in front of her. She felt as though, along with Mia and Matt, she was sitting in the stalls at an open-air theatre whilst the actors performed a short sketch solely for their benefit, especially when Suki flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder, removed her silver compact and reapplied a coat of frosty pink lipstick, beaming round at her adoring audience – mainly Freddie and Jess. She had to admit that Suki did look every inch the singing star. Perhaps her scarlet, off-the-shoulder dress was a little too theatrical for the terrace of a Norfolk café, but it was the perfect outfit for a celebrity-in-the-making.

      When Rosie checked the group into their lodges the previous day, Jess had boasted continuously about the recording contract Suki had just signed after years on the circuit in Ibiza’s cosmopolitan bars. She had warmed to Jess straight away; a free-spirit, a sprite of a girl, with no real comprehension of her sister’s success, and she clearly inhabited an alternate stratosphere. She had even wondered whether the girl was on some sort of medication – she was sweet and fun, but vacant and scatter-brained. Rosie quickly chastised herself for her less-than-kind thought. There was nothing wrong with being forgetful – not everyone craved extreme orderliness in their lives like she did.

      ‘Will Nadia be okay? She didn’t look very happy about being drenched in water,’ said Rosie, concerned that William hadn’t followed her to their lodge as she had so clearly wanted him to.

      ‘Oh, don’t worry. She’ll be fine,’ said William, a flicker of irritation floating across his expression. ‘But it doesn’t help when Lucas starts teasing her.’

      ‘Did you see the look on her face when the water hit her?’ laughed Lucas. ‘Ah, I wish I’d had my mobile ready. That would have been some ice bucket challenge for my Facebook page – seeing the uptight cow brought down a peg or two.’

      ‘You promised you’d make an effort to be kind to Nadia while we’re here, Lucas,’ Suki reprimanded him. ‘You know how she’s feeling at the moment.’

      ‘So what? If she can’t be happy for her best friend’s good fortune and insists on indulging in a childish spurt of jealousy, how is that my fault?’

      ‘Stop it, Lucas,’ interjected William, a sharp warning tone creeping into his voice.

      Once again, that strangest of feelings swept over Rosie – as though she, Mia, Matt and Freddie were invisible, incidental onlookers. She saw Lucas flash his eyes at William, clearly considering some scathing retort, but at the last minute he made the decision to change the subject, although Rosie wasn’t sure it was to safer ground.

      ‘Anyway, where’s Felix got to, Suki? I thought you said he would be here in time for the garden party. Must have been some reunion session with the lads in Colchester last night. Always did say Felix knows how to party. Not the old-ladies-style bash we’ve just been subjected to. Sorry, Rosie, but excuse me if I left my tiara and pearls behind in Ibiza!’

      Rosie opened her mouth to respond but had no idea what to say so she closed it again, ending up looking like a gobsmacked goldfish. She caught Matt’s eye and he smirked at her, rolling his eyes at their new friends’ antics as Lucas snaked his arm round Jess’s slim waist, drew her towards him and dropped a kiss on her lips.

      ‘Had a little par-tay ourselves last night though, didn’t we, honey?’

      ‘We did!’ giggled Jess, leaning backwards so she could coil her arms around his neck.

      ‘But hey, Rosie, Mia, I must congratulate you both on earning your crowns as Queens of Culinary Excellence! I don’t know who made those scones, but they were a-maz-ing! And you’ve got to give me the recipe for those raspberry cupcakes! De-lic-ious. I poked my head in the door of the café this morning and I saw you both slaving away. You don’t know how lucky you are to have such great facilities – the windmill’s kitchen is like a real professional chef’s laboratory compared to the pokey crevice where I’m expected to perform my culinary magic for a discerning crowd of inebriated tourists.’

      Lucas shoved the sleeves of his sweater up to his elbows and curled his upper lip in disgust at his misfortune.

      ‘It’s usually roast chicken and chips with a side of coleslaw thrown in, and there’s always a constant litany of complaints. Hard work and talent count for nothing in the restaurants of San Antonio. Any monkey can heat up a beef curry in the microwave or fry a basket of scampi. That is not what I spent three years at catering college for.’

      ‘Chill Lucas,’ said Jess, trailing her fingers through his blond quiff whilst her own hair, woven with brightly-coloured beads, rippled in the late afternoon breeze. ‘You’re a fabulous chef. It’s just a matter of time before your genius is discovered – then you’ll get your own restaurant where you can do whatever you like, I just know it. I reckon you’re absolutely on the verge of getting your big break like Suki has. In the meantime, you just need to keep working hard at that lobotomy qualification!’

      A very unladylike snort erupted to Rosie’s left as Mia spluttered into her glass of prosecco. She didn’t dare look in her friend’s direction in case she succumbed to a fit of giggling too, but instead looked on in surprise at the swift change in Lucas’s demeanour towards his girlfriend.

      ‘It’s botany, you idiot. Not lobotomy.’

      Lucas shoved Jess’s arm away, scraped back his chair and stalked off towards their lodge.

      ‘So, erm, Suki, where was your last gig?’ asked Matt in an effort to lighten the mood.

      ‘Nadia and I had a residency in a bar in San Antonio throughout the summer season and this year Will decided to come over from Majorca where his family live to join us, didn’t you, Will?’

      ‘I play bass guitar in a rock band, but I also get to act as their manager for my sins. I handle all the bookings and do all the paperwork. It was a contact of mine who had actually come to see me play who spotted Suki singing and put us in touch with a guy at Mountside Records. They loved her voice, and the rest, as they say, is history.’

      ‘So, you were instrumental in delivering Suki’s big break?’ asked Rosie, understanding a little better why Nadia seemed so prickly. It would stretch anyone’s friendship to see their boyfriend arrange their best friend’s route to stardom whilst their own career floundered in obscurity. She watched Suki grab one of the bottles of fizz from the ice bucket and take a swig.

      ‘That’s right,’ sighed Suki, wiping dribbles of liquid from her chin with the back of her hand. ‘Will was the catalyst to my newfound fame and potential fortune, much to Nadia’s annoyance. He persuaded the guy from Mountside to offer her a gig as a backing singer but she threw it back at him in disgust. It’s one of the reasons we’re here, actually – as an apology. I thought that if we spent some quality time together, doing something completely different, she would come round. To be honest, it was my boyfriend Felix’s idea to come to Norfolk - although I’m not sure he’s going to be my boyfriend for much longer. The selfish idiot promised me faithfully that he’d be here to help me cut the ribbon for the garden party. But, as you can see…’ she swung the bottle in a wide arc spilling some of the contents on the terrace. ‘No sign of him.’

      Rosie completely understood Suki’s irritation; Felix’s absence had been the reason she and Mia had become honorary ribbon-cutters instead of their celebrity guest – not that she minded.

      ‘Why