‘Oh my god, the look on your face,’ he laughed, shaking his head in wonder. ‘Is that so hard to believe?’

‘It’s just I’ve got so much going on, you know, just so much stuff.’ Words bubbled out of me as though someone had shaken up my bottle of pop. Keep talking, change the subject, he doesn’t mean it, he can’t mean it, don’t let him say it again. ‘With my job and the podcasts and Lucy’s baby and Sumi’s going to have a baby, did you know that? And I need to find somewhere to live now my shed is gone and …’

I tailed away, running out of words.

‘I only understood half of that but, sure,’ John said, staying right where he was as I backed away. ‘I’m not going to push you, Ros. Only, life is short and when you meet someone who makes you feel excited to be alive, who you can talk to about anything, who makes you laugh, who makes you want to get up in the morning just because there’s a chance you might get to see them that day? I reckon you should tell them how you feel.’

Before I could reply, I noticed something above his head.

‘Look,’ I said, pointing to the sky. ‘A rainbow.’

As he turned to see what I saw, a bright, bold rainbow that started somewhere near Big Ben and stretched all the way over to Whitechapel, I suddenly realized.

The way he felt about me was just how I felt about him.

‘John?’

He turned back to face me.

‘Ros?’

‘I’ve had a chance to think about it.’

‘Oh good,’ he said gravely. ‘You gave it a whole minute, thank you.’

‘I think I am not ready to be in something new. But …’ I rested my hands on his chest as his eyes widened with surprise and a slow smile spread across his face. ‘But I also would really like to kiss you right now if that’s OK.’

‘You’ve got good instincts,’ he whispered, stroking my damp hair out of my eyes. ‘You just need to trust yourself more. I say, go for it.’

I reached up to wrap my hands around his face and pulled it down to meet mine, pressing my lips to his and holding him as close as I possibly could. The sodden fabric of my dress soaked through his shirt and I could feel the warmth of his skin against mine. It was wonderful. As my mouth opened to his, he curled his arms around my shoulders, sliding his hands down my back and circling my waist before lifting me up off the floor.

And just for a moment, I felt like I was floating.

TWO MONTHS LATER …

I chose the desk closest to the window.