‘What are you doing here? Have you come to send me back?’ Evie asked desperately.

‘Excuse me?’ Maximilian replied, poker-faced.

‘I know you know who I am,’ whispered Evie, looking around the room to make sure no one was watching her. ‘I think you made me, uh, time travel.’

Maximilian raised his eyebrow and said, ‘I can’t see into the future but I’m sure if I sent you back here it was for a good reason.’

‘Please just tell me if you’re here to send me back?’ Evie could feel her heart in her throat. Competition results notwithstanding, Evie had achieved more in the last few months than she had in an entire decade! She was finally starting to feel like herself again, like what she did really mattered and that the man she loved actually loved her in return.

‘Back?’ Maximilian scoffed, turning away. ‘It’s clear you’re not ready for that.’

‘Wait!’ said Evie, reaching out to grab his arm, but he’d already slipped into the crowd. She set off after him, but within seconds he was completely out of sight.

Evie was overcome by a mixture of relief and dread. Even if she did have some more time here, the inference that her journey into the past could end at any moment felt debilitating. What kind of meaning could she create in a life that was destined to be so transient?

Scanning the room, she spotted Hugo talking to a small group of people and made her way towards him, desperate to hold his hand in hers to feel grounded in this place and time. As she neared him, she could hear him telling the story of how he came up with his character, Ryan. It was a story she knew all too well. He was up to the part where he was looking through some of his favourite childhood picture story books, searching for the perfect two-syllable name. His audience was hypnotised, hanging onto his every word.

‘Hey,’ she said, interrupting delicately. Hugo introduced her quickly before continuing with the story. She tried to stay focused and join in, looking for a lull in which she could offer some witty remark, but found herself simply nodding along dumbly.

When he finished and the crowd dissipated, Hugo turned to Evie, his eyes wide with excitement.

‘Can you believe the CEO of one of the largest publishing houses wanted to talk to me? To me! She said that the whole of America is waiting with bated breath for my next novel!’

‘Of course they are, Hugo,’ said Evie, glad for the opportunity to concentrate on something else.

Hugo looked pleased as he glanced around the room, his eyes darting everywhere but in her direction. Evie followed his gaze, on alert for Maximilian’s return.

‘Have you seen Toni Morrison by any chance?’ she asked, desperate to regain a sense of control over her night.