‘Slightly sacrilegious but OK,’ I muttered, settling into the leather swivel seat and opening it up, ready to replace my real life worries with work worries. Just the way I liked it.

The first page was fairly standard, emergency contact details, the same itinerary Sarah had already emailed to my phone and The Songbird’s incredibly cryptic WiFi password, songbird1. What genius would ever be able to hack that? But when I turned to the next page, there was a distinct change in tone.

While on duty, the assistant’s personal electronic devices, including but not limited to phone, tablet, computers, cameras, must be locked in the provided safe. While on duty, the assistant must only use the provided phone and provided laptop. Both phone and laptop have keystroke tracking technology installed and all usage will be recorded and reviewed. Neither laptop nor phone are to be used for personal reasons. Any personal usage will be considered cause for immediate dismissal.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, gently stroking my poor personal phone. OK, this felt a little bit paranoid, but if I really forced myself, I could understand it. Privacy and discretion were important, Sarah had been clear about that. Not to mention the fact it only said I couldn’t use my phone while I was on duty, and I couldn’t be expected to be on duty all the time.

I turned the page.

While on board The Songbird, the assistant is considered to be on duty twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Well, shut my mouth.

The list went on.

The assistant will refrain from asking Juliette any personal questions. The assistant will answer any and all of Juliette’s questions to the best of their ability. The assistant will join Juliette for all activities Juliette deems fit, including but not limited to eating meals, exercise, shopping trips, entertainment, professional obligations, personal care appointments and sleeping—

Sleeping? I had to sleep with her? I looked up from the ring binder and swallowed hard at the sight of my shocked reflection.

Flipping randomly through the binder, I landed on a section labelled ‘exercise’.

Assistant will walk Juliette for one hour per day and administer post-walk stretches (instructions and diagrams below). Juliette is not to engage in high impact exercise that could damage her voice. Please consult with her trainer for a further list of allowed activities.

‘Why do these feel like things that should have been mentioned before I flew to Italy?’ I whispered, running my finger down the page in search of Juliette’s trainer’s contact details, but the nine-digit US number had been crossed out, one thick black line.