‘Here,’ I said, presenting her with an entire packet of chocolate Hobnobs. Every good office had one. ‘Juliette told me about all the Ronnie stuff, sounds like she had everyone fooled.’

Sarah cleaned her glasses on the hem of her white cotton shirt.

‘She told you about Ronnie?’

I nodded. No need to elaborate.

‘You know, she left me a voicemail the night before the ball saying you were the best assistant she’d ever had, which she has never done before. Although she also sounded extremely drunk which was something of a concern.’

‘She might have had a couple,’ I muttered into my mug.

‘We need to rebuild the team with people we can trust,’ Sarah said. ‘She trusts you. I know this last week didn’t go exactly according to plan but would you consider trying again?’

An hour earlier, I’d walked into the office expecting nothing more than a complete bollocking, so a job offer was a very welcome surprise, but I knew I only wanted to say yes because I knew it would make Juliette and Sarah happy.

Which meant it would have to be a no because it wouldn’t make me happy.

‘Juliette actually already asked me, and I declined,’ I replied. She looked shocked at my candour as she scarfed down another biscuit. ‘Sorry, but I’m not cut out for the celebrity PA gig. I always thought there was no assistant job I couldn’t do but it turns out there are assistant jobs I don’t want to do.’

‘That’s a shame,’ she said, not sounding entirely surprised. ‘Aside from the getting-left-behind-on-the-island part, you really did seem very well suited to it. Not very many people want to take on the behind-the-scenes jobs, they all want the glory. Knowing someone with their head on their shoulders was keeping an eye on her would have been one less thing on my plate.’

And then a thought occurred to me.

‘What if I was your assistant?’ I suggested. ‘Working for Juliette isn’t a good fit for me but I could do a bloody good job for you.’

Sarah brushed some biscuit crumbs off her lap and pursed her lips. ‘Keep talking.’