‘Oh, um, thanks for the offer, but I’m busy tonight.’

Improv is the stuff of nightmares. Not only do you have to perform in front of people, but you also have to be good at making entertaining things up on the spot.

‘Well, even if you don’t fancy taking part you should come along and watch one of the battles.’

‘Yeah, that sounds good.’

I really should go and see the team in action at some point. They formed after a staff night out to a comedy club. Aaron and Yas bonded over a love of comedy and signed up to an improv workshop. When they emailed the rest of the office to see if anyone wanted to join, Hayley and Dave signed up along with them. Last year they competed in a competition play-off throughout the summer, and I guess they’re doing it again this year.

He retrieves his printouts from the communal printer and I try and ignore the niggle about comfort zones. Improv would be the perfect way to get out of mine. A shiver runs down my spine; that’s a step too far. It’s not like I need to listen to the advice of my teenage self, is it?

I glance back at my inbox, sighing with relief when I get the failure-to-send message; at least no one in a tech office somewhere gets to read my reply.

I click on the original note-to-future-self email and I move it to an archive folder. If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt over the years, it’s that looking back on the past and what might have been will only ever lead to heartbreak.

Chapter 6

Miles arrived early to pick me up to take me to Dad’s house for Sunday lunch and he wasn’t hanging around on the drive over either. When we pull up on the drive he practically runs towards the front door.

‘Slow down,’ I say, struggling to keep up with him. ‘You’re acting like the flipping Road Runner from Looney Tunes; I can’t keep up. We haven’t got Coyote running after us, have we?’ I look behind me, pretending to check.

I’m expecting him to crack a smile or to give me some fun fact about Looney Tunes cartoons, but he does neither.

‘What’s with you?’ I ask.

‘I’m just nervous; it’s the first time your dad’s invited me to his house.’

‘It’s no big deal, it’s just lunch.’

I feel a tiny bit guilty now that I’d only invited him to take the pressure off meeting Julie alone.

‘Hello, I thought I heard voices. Come in, come in.’ Dad races back to the kitchen almost as fast as Miles has been running about; it must be catching.