If I’d learned nothing else in the month we’d spent living together, I knew there was no point trying to go back to sleep once Jess was awake. She was a tornado in the mornings, grinding her coffee beans, singing in the shower, thundering down the stairs with the force of a small stampede, and since I’d never met anyone quite as excited about Christmas as she was, I really should have expected this. The tree went up on the first and the perfectly wrapped presents started to appear the very next day. Most were labelled ‘to Jess, from Jess’ but they still looked pretty under the tree. Other than the early wake up calls, living together was fun. We settled into an easy rhythm right away, shopping together, cooking for one another when we could, and going through enough wine for the owner of the local off-licence to invest in a holiday home in Tuscany. He assured us the timing was entirely coincidental, but I wasn’t convinced.

My eyes wandered around my room as they did every morning when I woke up, still mildly surprised not to be in Stew’s house. My bed took up most of the space by design (and I had taken to starfishing right in the middle of it), but there was still room for a wardrobe, a soft pink chair that was not even slightly comfortable but looked great and my desk, tucked under the window, neatly stacked with all my to-do tasks for Sarah. Work was going well. As I’d predicted, the two of us were a good, long-distance fit and, slowly but surely, she was giving me more responsibilities, letting me take on more interesting tasks. I’d even started to think that perhaps I’d like to move into management one day. Only, not for Juliette. I wasn’t that much of a masochist.

A token bit of tinsel was draped around a small, square picture frame that hung on the wall, directly opposite my bed to mollify my landlady, and inside the frame was my tarot card from the ball, mounted upright.

The Three of Cups, celebration, creativity and happy collaborations.

So far, so good.

‘Remind me why I’m awake at this ungodly hour,’ I said, yawning as I wandered into the living room clutching my phone. Jess clanged around in the kitchen, cupboard doors opening and closing as she whirled around me.

‘I found a Christmas present waiting for you on the doorstep,’ she replied. ‘I didn’t want to leave it out there to freeze.’

‘Jess, I told you, a dog is for life, not for Christmas,’ I said, settling cross-legged in front of our absolutely massive tree. Yes, we were drinking when we ordered it. No, we hadn’t checked the height of her ceilings before it arrived.