‘Come on, Evie, are we going to be that petty?’

‘Yes, actually, we are. It’s not right, Hugo.’

‘Evie, I thought we were a team. Didn’t that mean something to you?’ Hugo reached for her hand, looking at her forlornly. When Evie flinched at his touch, he looked devastated, which softened her just a little. ‘Look, I can see how I stuffed up before. I’m sorry. You know how much I have always valued your input. I clearly wasn’t in my right mind. I was just so … intimidated, I guess, by everyone there tonight.’

‘Does anybody even know I’ve been working with you on this?’

‘Of course they do!’

‘Like who? Liam?’

‘Absolutely, he’s obsessed with you.’

Evie chortled. ‘Well now I know you must be lying.’

‘Evie.’ Hugo took a step closer, daring to take her hands again. This time she let him. ‘I love you. I admire you! I am so grateful for you and know none of this would have been possible without you. And I realise now that we need to discuss the practicalities of honouring your input.’

Evie heard her phone buzz in her bag, distracting her train of thought. ‘I think that would be a good thing.’

‘Can we do it in the morning?’ Hugo asked, his shoulders dropping as he seemed to relax. ‘I’m knackered.’ He kissed her on the cheek and started moving towards the living room. ‘How about I make you a cup of tea?’

Evie nodded but hung back for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Had she jumped to conclusions earlier? Did she believe Hugo? Her head felt furry, like unbrushed teeth. All she wanted was for things to be easy; for everything to stop being so damn complicated.

‘I’ll be right there,’ she called out, collecting her bag from where she’d dropped it by the door. She fumbled around until her fingers found her phone. As she went to join Hugo in the other room, she clicked her phone to life.

Steven Ad Lib: Happy New Year, friend! I hope you’ve had a jolly good start to the year. Check your emails when you get a chance. Cheerio! Steven (from the cinema)

Evie froze, feeling suddenly nauseous. She clicked into her emails shakily, scrolling down until she spotted Steven’s name. Even before she opened it, she could see it held an attachment. In her head, she counted to three then bit the bullet. Steven had included a brief summary of what he had found as well as a link to his new YouTube channel called ‘Off the Rails’.

‘Peppermint?’ Hugo called from the kitchen, where she could hear him opening and closing cupboards. ‘I’ll take them upstairs, come up when you’re ready.’

‘Uh huh, yup!’ Evie replied, leaning against the wall as the attachment downloaded.