‘Everything OK?’ I ask.

‘Yes and no,’ he says, his phone pinging. ‘There’s a problem with a merger that we thought would sail through without any issues. The company selling has added an addendum which the buyers are refusing.’

‘Do you need to go back into work?’

He pinches at the bridge of his nose.

‘I don’t think so, but I might have to make another call. But hopefully that’ll be it.’ He winces, looking apologetic.

‘That’s not a problem.’

‘Right, well, I’ll get this phone call out the way before it starts.’

He gives me a kiss on the cheek and heads back out.

I reach for my glass of wine and glance back over to the function room. Now Yas and Dave have joined Aaron and they’re huddled round a phone looking crestfallen.

I pick up our drinks and head on over.

‘Hello,’ I say, trying my best to smile, but the closer I get the more I pick up that something is very wrong.

Yas looks close to tears and she tries to nod a hello.

‘Hayley can’t make it; she’s fallen over and she thinks she might have broken her leg.’

‘Oh no, poor Hayley.’

‘I know, luckily Brian’s there to take care of her. But it means that we haven’t got enough for a team. It’s a minimum of four.’

Now I understand the disappointment.

‘Can’t you get someone else?’

‘Not at this short notice,’ says Aaron. ‘It’s due to start in fifteen minutes. I don’t know anyone that could get here in time … Unless.’

He looks up at me with an intent expression on his face. I can almost see the cogs turning.

‘Oh no.’ I shake my head and put my hands up in front of me. ‘I can’t do it.’

‘I think it’s the only way we could still do this.’

Yas and Dave look up, pleading with their eyes.

‘But I couldn’t get up there in front of all those people and I couldn’t make things up on the spot.’ I break out in a cold sweat.

‘There won’t be that many people watching,’ says Dave, ‘and we’ll make sure we do all the donkey work. You don’t even need to say anything, just kind of react a bit to what we say.’

Even the thought of that terrifies me.

‘Please, Edie,’ says Yas.

I hear the desperation in her voice. If only Miles wasn’t having to deal with work or he could have stepped up. He would be much better at it than me.