Evie found Hugo perched at the kitchen bench, typing furiously on his laptop. His forehead was creased, his lips pursed. She took a moment to admire him from afar, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought. It was only when he was writing that his guard seemed to be fully down.

‘Hey,’ she said.

Hugo looked up, and smiled, his whole face lighting up.

‘Morning, beautiful,’ he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. She loved that about him. That he was always touching her. Whether she was walking past to get a cup of tea or aimlessly strolling down the hallway talking on the phone, he found a way to graze his skin against hers.

‘What did you think of my present?’ he asked.

‘I love it. Thank you so much,’ she replied, kissing him appreciatively. She gestured towards his laptop. ‘Productive morning?’

His face creased with worry. ‘I don’t know. I’m worried screenplays don’t come as naturally to me as novel writing, and the schedule is insanely tight. I might need your magic touch.’

‘Nonsense. You’re doing a brilliant job. But now that you mention it, I had an idea for that scene you were struggling with the other day. Where Henrietta is hiding under her bed during The Blitz. I actually couldn’t sleep so wrote it up. I’ll send it to you now while I’m thinking about it,’ said Evie, ducking into her study to email it.

Coming back out, Evie put the kettle on while Hugo scanned the pages she’d written.

‘Evie, I love this! It’s genius!’ he said.

‘Really?’ Evie said, feeling happy. She’d felt so good writing it. It helped that she’d seen the original film more times than she could count, but staying at film school and learning more about the mechanics of screenwriting had turned out to be a worthwhile move. And hearing Hugo tell her he loved it crushed any self-doubt she might have had.

He kissed her wrist. ‘It’s perfect. Just like you.’

Before she could reply, her phone rang. ‘Hello?’ she answered, still wrapped in Hugo’s arms.

‘Berry? As I live and breathe!’

‘Hey, Benny,’ Evie said with a smile as she reluctantly peeled herself away and walked out of the room.

‘Nice of you to finally pick up. It’s not like we’re best friends or anything.’

Evie felt terrible. She hadn’t returned Ben’s last three calls, too consumed with Hugo being back in the same time zone. ‘I know, I know. I’ve been a shitty friend. Hugo’s in town. Not that that’s an excuse.’ Evie sat down at the top of the stairs like she used to when she lived at her parents’ home.

‘Have you checked your email?’ Ben asked, sounding excited.

‘No?’

‘Check it. Now.’