Hugo had touched down late on the Friday night and their precious weekend together had passed by painfully quickly. Having decided it would be better to broach the topic of What’s-Your-Ex-Doing-In-Your-Acknowledgements in person, Evie had been waiting for the right time all weekend to bring it up, but the moment hadn’t really presented itself. Hugo had been nothing but loving and attentive, showering her with kisses, compliments and some amazing chocolate he’d stolen from his US agent’s office. So Evie had decided to believe that Hugo was exactly who he said he was and, rather than confront him, she chose to trust him. Maybe she was in denial, or maybe she just didn’t want to ruin what little time they had together. And then, before she’d even been able to settle back into being ‘Evie and Hugo’, it was time for him to leave. They had spent all day yesterday working on Hugo’s screenplay, only pausing for lunch and then takeout pizza for dinner, and they’d spent this morning ignoring the alarm and entwined in each other’s embrace. They whispered to one another in their secret lover’s language, promising that they would speak and text and email as often as they could.

When they finally dragged themselves away from each other, Hugo went to shower, dress and pack while Evie lay in bed listening to the sound of him leaving. She could feel those five little letters of Chloe’s name bubbling under the surface, but she pushed them down and promised herself she’d deal with it on his next visit.

‘I’m going to miss you so much,’ Hugo said sadly, leaning against the doorframe with his suitcase in hand.

Evie nodded, pulled herself from beneath the covers and walked over to Hugo. She took his hand in hers and followed him to the front door.

‘Before you know it, I’ll be back again,’ Hugo assured her.

‘Exactly!’ she agreed, trying to sound chipper as she snuggled in closer to him.

Placing his suitcase on the floor, his back to the door, Hugo took both her hands in his.

‘You know I love you, right?’

Evie nodded.

‘And you know I would only ever leave you if I absolutely had to.’

Again, Evie nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

‘And you know that this is all for us, all so we can have the future we both dream of. We’re finally both doing what we love, sharing our writing with the world.’

Evie swallowed but said nothing at ‘us’—thinking of her screenplay that she’d hardly had a chance to touch since she’d been so consumed in helping Hugo to write his.

Hugo pulled her towards him, and as she clung to him, he brought his lips to her ears. ‘Can I trust you while I’m away?’