‘You can do it,’ he shouted. ‘I’ll catch you, I promise.’

With all the grace of a voted-out-in-week-one-Strictly-contestant, I let go of the crystal ball and fell through the air, into Evan’s arms. Which could have been an incredibly romantic moment, had he not immediately crumpled to the ground like a soggy paper bag. I rolled off him and stared up at the crystal ball as it swung back and forth above us.

‘That went better in my head,’ Evan grunted, sitting up and patting himself down for injuries. As far as I could tell, the worst of my damage was to my pride.

‘Do you think people saw?’ I asked, still flat on my back beside him.

‘You literally just fell out of a crystal ball in the sky,’ he replied. ‘Yes, I think they saw.’

‘Please could you go and find Andrew and ask if he’d still like to throw me off the terrace?’

‘Or,’ Evan sat up and held out his hand, confetti still falling from the ceiling while people spun around in it like snow. ‘We could dance.’

‘Terrace it is,’ I replied with determination.

‘Come on,’ he said, rolling over to the edge of the stage and hopping down to the floor. ‘It’ll be the best way to blend in.’

‘Clearly, you’ve never seen me dance,’ I said. ‘I just want to get out of here.’

Nodding in agreement, he held out his hand to me and, as the falling confetti began to slow down and our cover thinned out, I slid over to the edge of the stage on my backside and let him help me down to the floor. My face burned as we were sucked into the crowd, my legs barely keeping me upright, but then he grabbed hold of my hand and I knew I would make it out in one piece.

We emerged onto the terrace, back where we started. It was practically deserted now, with everyone drawn into the ballroom by the shiny things falling from the sky.

‘My whole plan for tonight was to get in, get out, keep a low profile, and eat as much as humanly possible,’ I said, sinking into an empty seat at an abandoned table. ‘I think it’s safe to say I’ve failed.’

‘Yes, but you’ve failed spectacularly,’ Evan pointed out. ‘And there’s still so much more time to eat. It isn’t even midnight yet.’

I still couldn’t quite believe he was real, the full lips, the dark eyes, the wavy hair, but at the same time, I felt like I’d known him all my life. And, more importantly, I felt as though he knew me.

‘I’m sorry about earlier,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean any of it.’

‘I’m not going to pretend I understand what happened,’ he said, taking the seat next to mine. ‘But if you want to tell me, I’d like to try.’