‘This takes me back,’ Holly said softly. They were walking hand in hand through a moonlit cityscape. They’d had a lovely dinner in one of the many restaurants around Covent Garden, and now, as they meandered back, in no particular direction but heading vaguely towards Charlie’s tiny rented flat in Farringdon, Holly was assailed by snatches of memory, as well as a feeling that she was creating her future. It was an odd sensation. She felt at once like a teenager and a grown woman; would being with Charlie always give her that slightly alarming sense of duality? she wondered.

As they approached the Royal Opera House, its stone a silvery grey in the moonlight, Holly squeezed Charlie’s hand a little more tightly. ‘Do you remember walking here back then? On that night? I didn’t have a clue where we were, or at least, where we were in relation to the hotel I was staying in, but you seemed to know where we were going.’

‘Can I let you into a secret?’ Charlie pulled her closer as they paused to look up at the austere frontage of the Opera House. ‘I didn’t have a bloody clue, either! I was massively blagging it. On the one hand, I wanted to walk around with you all night, and on the other, I was desperately hoping a convenient taxi would pass that would be able to take us to the door of that flipping hotel.’

Holly laughed. ‘You hid it so well. No wonder you grew up to be a politician!’

‘I grew up in the north, as you well know,’ Charlie smiled wryly. ‘I didn’t know London from Lisbon at that point. But I really wanted to stay with you as long as I could.’

‘You were very sweet to see me back to the hotel,’ Holly said, tilting her head up for a kiss. ‘Especially since you were staying in completely the opposite direction, weren’t you?’

‘I think so,’ Charlie replied. ‘I can’t honestly remember. All I remember from that night is you.’

‘And yet how soon we both forgot,’ Holly heaved a mock sigh of regret, then grinned. ‘Probably just as well. We’d most likely have made a complete hash of it and been far too embarrassed to make eye contact the next morning!’

‘Can you imagine?’ Charlie laughed. ‘I didn’t really know one end of a girl from the other back then and you looked terrified when I kissed you on the dance floor in that club.’

‘Thanks,’ Holly said wryly. ‘Although you’re pretty much spot on, there. I’d only actually had one serious boyfriend at that point.’

‘Age and experience is definitely a good thing,’ Charlie replied, a husky note in his voice. ‘Do you fancy making use of it now?

‘How could I refuse an offer like that?’ Holly poked him in the ribs playfully.