‘What if you don’t?’ I blurt out. ‘You only regret what you don’t do in life. What if you spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you’d given him a chance?’

Yas goes to open her mouth but I’m in full swing now.

‘What’s the worst that could happen to you? You put yourself out there and he says no? It’s not like it’ll stop him getting on with his life. He could still marry Verity.’

I’m met with a stunned silence and I realise what I’ve said and where I am. I start to panic. This is the final and it looks like I’ve blown our chances by getting lost in my own thoughts.

‘Who’s Verity?’ shouts Yas. ‘Don’t tell me Rodney’s been cheating on me.’

Dave and Aaron mock gasp. My heart races. They’re covering up my mistake.

‘Oops, I regret saying that out loud,’ I say, and the audience titter with laughter and I get a light-headed rush. I try and catch my breath – it’s suddenly feeling too real; I’m inwardly praying that everyone assumes it was all an act but it was far from it.

Aaron and Yas take the Verity line and run with it. And they come up with more and more absurd excuses and rebuttals of why Yas should go back to Rodney and the audience keep laughing harder until the host signals that we’re onto our last thirty seconds.

‘I’m going to do it,’ says Yas. ‘I’m going to jump and swim to shore. Three, two, one.’

She leaps into the air and pretends to swim.

‘You know, she could have just stepped out; this pond is tiny,’ I say, demonstrating.

‘But she’d have regretted not doing something big to declare her love. Every love story needs a dramatic ending,’ says Aaron.

The host signals our time is up and the audience clap but all I can hear is Aaron’s words echoing round my mind.

When the clapping finally subsides, the host calls the other team back on stage; it’s not going to be long until we find out who’s won.

There’s a tense wait whilst scores are totted up. Yas is squeezing me so hard that I’m worried she’s going to cut off circulation to my arms. I’m keeping my fingers crossed my slip-up of Verity’s name in the act didn’t cost us the victory.

‘And the winner of this year’s Improv Battle Extraordinaire is …’ The audience start to stamp their feet and the noise echoes off the walls, making it sound thunderous. ‘Four’s a Crowd.’

After the initial disappointment at not hearing our name called, I start to graciously clap and congratulate the worthy winners. Although there’s a part of me that’s worried we lost because of my mistake.