'so you came here ...' i say disbelievingly, 'and you knew i'd been suspended and you didn't say a word?'

'what's there to say? you'll work it out. we do worry about you, becky. but we've got faith in you, too.' mum pats my hand. 'you'll be all right.'

'oh mum.' i look from the valentino to her kind, cosy face, feeling the tears rise again. 'i can't believe you bought me a dress.'

'well, love.' she pats my hand again. 'we've had such a super time at the west place. we wanted to say thank you. shoes too!' she nods at a shoe box at the bottom of the wardrobe.

'shoes too?' i grab the box.

'yes, cinderella!' mum twinkles. 'i hear even jess is wearing a lovely new frock for the occasion.'

'she is now.' i roll my eyes.

jess's dress has been such a saga. at first she was going to order this drab unbleached cotton shift from the worthy-lentil catalogue. so i said she had to wear something more glam and she got on her high horse and said why should she support throwaway consumerism just for one night? whereupon i said, 'i meant you should borrow something. all the celebs do it, and it's far more green than buying something out of a catalogue.' to which she couldn't find an answer. so she'll be in an exclusive danny kovitz number and there's no way she can get out of it.

i'm ripping the shoe box open in excitement as my mobile rings.

'i'll get it, love.' mum reaches over to the chair where my mobile's lying. 'it's ...' she peers more closely at the screen and her mouth drops open. 'sage seymour? sage seymour the actress?'

'yes!' i giggle. 'ssh! be cool!'

i expect sage will be giving me another update on luke. last time she phoned, he was eating a burrito and talking to the choreographer, apparently.

'hi sage! how's it going?'

'he's gone!' she sounds desperate. 'i'm so sorry. we've lost him.'

'what?' i sit back on my heels, a piece of tissue paper trailing from my fingers. 'but ... how?'

'he just upped and left. booked himself a car and went. didn't even pick up his mobile from the floor manager. i was in make-up, i had no idea ...'

'how long ago?'

'half an hour, maybe?'

half an hour? my pulse is quickening in alarm. 'so, where's the car gone? can you find out?'

'no! it's not even one of ours. apparently he'd been saying he needed to go and the line producer had been promising to get him a car as soon as one was ready, you know, stringing him along ... but i guess he couldn't wait.'

that is so typical of luke. he can't just sit still and enjoy being on a movie set like any normal person. he has to organize himself a car and go back to work. celebrities are wasted on him.

'i need to get back,' sage is saying. 'but becky, i'm sorry. we fucked up.' she sounds genuinely apologetic.

'no! don't be silly! you did an amazing job. it's not your fault he left. i'm sure i'll find him.'

'well, let me know how it works out, yeah?'

'of course.' i turn off my phone, breathing hard, and look at mum. 'you won't believe this. luke's gone missing. no one knows where he is.'

'well, ring him, love! he'll have his mobile-'

'he hasn't got a mobile!' i almost wail. 'i broke his blackberry and he had some crappy substitute which he's left behind. i don't know what car company he's using. i mean, i guess he's heading back to the office, but i don't know ...'

i feel a drumbeat of panic as the full enormity of this sinks in. what if he's not on his way to the office? what if he's coming here? he could stumble on the whole thing before we're ready.

'ok.' i snap into action. 'we need to warn everybody. i'll call bonnie, you tell janice, we'll call all the car companies ... we'll track him down.'

within ten minutes, i've got everyone gathered in janice's kitchen for an emergency crisis meeting.

it's all even worse than i thought. bonnie has just forwarded me an email from luke, which he sent before he left the studio, using the film's email account. he told her he wouldn't be able to get back to the office in time for the company training programme, sent his apologies and told her to have a good weekend.

what the fuck is he doing? where is he going?