Various arguments popped into my head about why he was wrong, and the data clearly showed that the snow wouldn’t reach Nottinghamshire until the early hours of the morning. I bit my tongue. In two years, Walter had been wrong once.

‘How bad?’

‘If you’re planning on getting home tonight, I’d not hang about, and if you’ve plans for tomorrow, cancel ’em.’

The phone rang off before I had a chance to reply. I was mulling this new information over while checking my desk for anything I might have forgotten when Jamal sauntered over. Jamal was a broadcasting engineer and my closest friend at work. ‘Great forecast. Letting all your obsessed fans know where you’ll be for the next week.’ He assumed his usual position, compact frame perching on the corner of my desk, hands pushed into the pockets of his skinny chinos.

I rolled my eyes, pulling a turquoise duffel coat over the Fair Isle knitted jumper dress I’d worn to embrace the festive season. ‘Telling viewers that I’m going home is not quite handing out my address.’

‘It’s not hard to find out where your parents live.’

‘Maybe by “home” I meant my own home, where a gorgeous partner, adorable twins, and stinky dog will ensure a perfect Christmas.’ I leant past him to pick up my travel mug.

Jamal smiled. He was the one with a stunningly beautiful wife, four-year-old girls, and a perfectly groomed Pomeranian called Stinker. ‘I think it’s pretty obvious you live alone.’

‘What?’ I paused to look at him. While I was proud of how much I enjoyed living alone, I wasn’t sure Jamal was paying me a compliment. ‘How is it obvious?’

He shrugged. ‘If you shared with someone they’d never let you leave the house wearing those tights.’

‘Oh, shut up!’ My tights were covered in glittery snowflakes and I loved them even more than the matching earrings now tangled up in the dark bob brushing my shoulders.

We were both still laughing when the air turned frigid, which usually signalled – somewhat ironically – that Summer had arrived in the vicinity.

‘Ooh, care to share the joke?’ she trilled, popping out from behind Jamal with a flick of her blonde extensions.

‘Just general merriment at the knowledge that I won’t be spending Christmas here for once.’ I grinned back.

‘Gosh, Bea. I really admire how you manage to feel so secure in your career! If it was me, after so many performance hiccups I’d be terrified that abandoning my fans on such a crucial weather week would risk having no job to come back to in the new year. Your confidence is amazing!’

‘With popularity ratings like Bea’s, I don’t think she has anything to worry about,’ Jamal said, assuming a blandly pleasant expression as he pushed off from the desk and walked away.