Evan took one look at my face and burst out laughing. ‘It was a joke, a bad joke, I’ve never done crack. I accidentally smoked opium once when I was younger but it did not go well and I never did it again and this is not something I usually tell someone the first time we meet so I don’t know why I’m telling you now but could you please stop looking at me like that?’

I graciously accepted my woefully light sampling of cheese while Evan carefully studied his shoes and rubbed one finger against his forehead. ‘You never did anything dumb when you were a kid?’ he asked, blushing, as he stole a piece of blue cheese from my plate.

‘Can’t say I ever did crack or opium,’ I replied, chowing down on the slice of goat’s cheese, covering my mouth with my hand. ‘But I did once drink four sugar-free Red Bulls in a row and my roommate had to take me to hospital because I thought I was having a heart attack. Turned out to be indigestion.’

‘From the Red Bull?’

‘No.’ I chased the goat’s cheese with a hunk of gouda. ‘From the entire frozen pizza I ate after I drank the Red Bull. The doctor said I should have waited for it to fully defrost.’

‘Wow,’ he gasped with mock admiration. ‘You were really hitting the hard stuff.’

‘I admit it,’ I replied, savouring the gouda as he plucked a grape from my plate. ‘I’m a bit of a lightweight. I don’t know, I prefer to be in control.’

‘Does that apply to everything you do?’ Evan asked, raising the grape to his lips and holding my gaze with his.

When some people are embarrassed, their cheeks turn pink, they might throw in an adorable titter, and the whole thing can be very charming. When I blush, my entire body goes beetroot red, my neck and my chest break out in an attractive rash and, if the other person is very lucky, I might even squeeze out a snort or two. This was a full neck rash, red face, double snort situation, but if Evan noticed, he was kind enough not to point and laugh, then run away.

‘No personal questions,’ I reminded him, filling my mouth with another piece of cheese.

‘OK, Ms Francesca No-Last-Name, you’re currently attending your first ever Crystal Ball.’ Evan held an imaginary microphone in front of his mouth and then passed it to me. ‘What do you want to do next?’

‘What do I want to do?’ It wasn’t a question I was used to answering. I looked out of the window at the carnival below, the crystal Ferris wheel already turning and the unmistakable song from It’s A Small World echoing through the windows. ‘Can we go to the fair?’