She had been nervously watching him read, in between taking orders, for the past ten minutes, studying his face for hints of approval. Evie hadn’t worked this hard on anything for a long time, if ever. And Ben’s opinion was important to her: she trusted his feedback and admired his imaginative flair.

‘Really?’

‘It’s funny and witty and just the right amount of romantic without being too gushy. I love the date scene, it’s hilarious. And Frankie is a great character. I just think you should tighten the dialogue in the big fight scene at the end. Lose some of the “long silences”.’

Evie paused deliberately. ‘You mean you don’t like my long silences?’

‘They’re good, but I feel like there are too many. There’s too little time in a short; you’ll lose the audience.’

‘True. I could delete a few,’ Evie said, walking over and swivelling the laptop to face her. She expertly revised her work, calling over to the growing line of customers, ‘I’ll be right with you!’

‘What does Hugo think of it?’ Ben asked, reaching over to grab a bag of Peanut M&Ms.

Still focused on her laptop, Evie said, ‘I’ve shown him a couple of scenes here and there, but honestly, he barely has time to shower with his own workload. I haven’t wanted to bother him. Thank god you have nothing better to do,’ she teased.

‘Yep, all the time in the world to read your work for the zillionth time,’ Ben said. ‘Well, I bet Hugo’s proud.’

‘Mm hmm,’ Evie said, furiously typing.

‘Evie, care to lend me a hand? It’s not like you’re getting paid by the hour or anything.’ Josie hurried over, smiling through gritted teeth.

‘Josie,’ Ben interjected warmly. ‘You’re privy to brilliance over here. Enjoy it. Evie’s writing the next big blockbuster as we speak!’

‘It’s bad enough I have to see those luscious curls of yours every morning and night, but now this—at my place of work! Don’t you have anywhere better to be?’

‘And I’m done!’ Evie clicked the save button with a flourish. ‘Now Ben, walk with me.’

Josie glowered at him. ‘Don’t you dare.’

Ben shrugged and ducked under the counter, grabbing a rag and wiping the bench in an attempt to appear helpful. Ben’s screenplay was a documentary about two buskers who met while playing at Piccadilly station and now travelled London’s Underground, serenading grumpy commuters with love songs. It was charming and insightful and full of heart.