‘Come on, sleepyhead! Some of us have jobs to go to.’ She ran a hand down Charlie’s bicep, tangling his fingers in her own and placing a kiss on his shoulder. Last night had been magical: exactly what they both needed. She tried not to let the worries and doubts creep in again as the daylight was creeping through the gap in the curtains.

Charlie groaned. ‘Do we have to move just yet?’

‘I do, I’m afraid – the shop won’t open itself, and besides, I only open for a couple of hours on a Sunday. You can have a lie-in if you want.’ Holly gasped as Charlie rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. She was left in no doubt as to what he intended to spend his lie-in doing, if she could be convinced to stay in bed with him. ‘Later,’ she said playfully, kissing him and then breaking free. ‘I’ve been playing hooky from ComIncense enough lately.’ She wriggled out of bed and headed for the shower, even though other parts of her were definitely wanting to stay in bed, wrapped around Charlie. ‘And you’ve got a speech to finish, remember?’ She looked playfully over her shoulder at him and grinned. ‘If you get up now, you can share a shower with me.’

‘That’s an offer I can’t refuse!’ Charlie said, jumping out of bed and following in Holly’s wake.

Holly had a busy morning at the shop, and was pleased to note that the continuing warm weather meant more tourist footfall, despite the lack of progress on the motorway junction. Lots of people now seemed to visit by train, so perhaps the road building wouldn’t become necessary in the longer term, after all. Charlie popped down from time to time, to try out various excerpts of the speech on her, and she was honest in the feedback she gave him. He was a good speaker but occasionally had the tendency to overdo the mannered hand gestures that a lot of current politicians favoured.

‘Just put your left hand in your pocket, or something,’ she chided as he repeated the hands open, palms outwards gesture once again. ‘You look as though you’re going to break into song.’

Charlie swatted her playfully with the notes he’d brought down with him. ‘Remember that in the chamber, it’s a bit like being onstage in the round – people see you as much as hear you, so I do have to make the body language count as well.’

‘That’s all well and good, but you’re making me dizzy with all the perfect posturing!’ She leaned up on tiptoe and kissed him briefly. ‘Go and practice in front of the mirror, or something.’

As she came back down to her feet, she suddenly became aware of a presence other than herself and Charlie in the shop, and it was one, instinctively, she didn’t like.