‘One of the other couples we’re working with… I must point out, anonymity is key in this game, so I can’t tell you their names or any specifics about them. I can tell you their issues though. They met when they were in high school, fell madly in love, and, in that way that life goes, they put their personal dreams aside to focus on building a life together. They got married, had kids, they live in a nice house… but now that they’ve got it all, they take each other for granted, and they do so because they resent each other. He could’ve been a professional soccer player, she could’ve travelled the world. Instead he’s working a job he hates to put food on the table and she’s picking up his dirty pants while all he does is watch movies when he gets home. They are at a point in their lives where they wish they had done more, and they’re angry at each other because they feel like the other has held them back.’

‘Was this guy obsessed with The Lord of the Rings?’ I ask.

Arnold’s face contorts into something shocked and annoyed. He looks at me as if I’ve just opened up his head and climbed into his brain. Apparently therapists don’t like it when you turn the tables on them. Of course, I’m not reading his mind, this just sounds as if it could be about Jen and Kevin who we met at the last session.

‘That’s not important,’ Arnold says quickly. ‘What’s important is that they haven’t held each other back at all. When it came down to it, when they were younger and they could have done whatever they wanted – and listen to my words carefully: they could have whatever they wanted – what they wanted more than anything was to be together, get married, and start a family. So they did that.’

‘So, what now?’ Freddie asks.

‘Now they need to remember why they decided to do that,’ Victoria tells us, quickly adding a disclaimer of, ‘This completely fictional couple we’re using as an example.’

‘And why are you telling us this?’ I ask.

‘Because,’ Arnold starts, ‘you both need to ask yourselves one question: is anything more important than the other person? Is an ex more important? Is pride more important? If the answer is no, you have nothing to worry about. Spend the rest of your lives together – or until you feel yourselves growing apart, and even if you think you are, ask yourself one more question: would I have had a happier life if I’d spent it with anyone else?’

‘I know you weren’t trying to poison me,’ I tell Freddie. ‘And I know you couldn’t have known I can’t eat shellfish. I was just in shock, I think. It was really scary, having such a close shave. I didn’t know what else to do apart from thank Daniel…’

‘I know,’ Freddie replies. He scoots up to me on the sofa and wraps an arm around me. ‘I was just embarrassed and upset that I could’ve hurt – even accidentally – someone that I really, really care about.’