‘Right, that’s high enough. On the count of three, pull your lever. One … two …’

‘Hello!’ I shouted louder, scooping the shredded paper out of the way to bang on the floor. ‘Help! There’s someone in here!’

But this wasn’t a toilet cubicle besieged by drunk girls in a club, and the fact I didn’t know what it was didn’t help in the slightest. No one could hear me.

‘THREE.’

The pod shot up twenty feet in the air then flew forwards, throwing me back against the wall and careening towards the curtains at breakneck speed.

CHAPTER TWENTY

‘This is it!’ I wailed as I zoomed towards my untimely death. ‘This is the end!’

But it was not the end.

It was only the beginning of my complete and utter humiliation.

‘Oh my god,’ I gasped, peeking through my fingers as the reality of my situation slowly dawned on me. ‘I should have let them throw me off the terrace.’

I was suspended above the ballroom in a transparent fibreglass ‘crystal’ ball, with confetti up to my ankles, sailing around the ballroom while the orchestra played below. The guests applauded, rapturously at first, but it soon petered out to a confused patter as those sober enough to catch on realized something was amiss. I looked down at the sea of puzzled faces below and tucked my skirts securely between my legs as confetti flew out of tiny slots drilled in the floor of the ball. Just because I was moments away from crashing out of the sky and falling to my certain death didn’t mean everyone needed to see my knickers. Correction, Rachel’s knickers.

The ball swung left and I lurched with it, my face pressed against the see-through side. Sitting at the bar, glass of whisky in front of him, was Evan. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, and I waved weakly as I passed overhead.

It was impossible to know what would happen next, but I was fairly sure I wasn’t going to like it. Was the ball going to explode? Crash to the ground? Were they expecting me to leap out like a stripper from a birthday cake? Because I was definitely not wearing the correct pants for that sort of thing and, truth be told, I did not have the moves.