‘When I graduated, the first job I was offered was assistant to the marketing manager at this online travel company,’ I explained, thinking back to the fresh-faced Fran of what felt like a million years ago. ‘I thought I’d stay for a year or so then maybe move up the company, work out what I really wanted to do, but then my boss was headhunted by a bigger company and she wanted me to go with her. The money was so good and I had so many student loans, I couldn’t really say no. After a year or so, she went on maternity leave and I moved up to working for the CEO. Then he was offered a job in New York and wanted me to go with him but instead I joined an agency that specialized in placing executive assistants. So, no, I never planned on being an assistant for ever, but I’m good at it. I never had a passion for anything in particular, and the idea of getting stuck in a career I didn’t care about just seemed so miserable. Admittedly, not every posting is a winner, but I get to meet new people, help them when they need me, and I’m always learning new things.’

‘Why didn’t you go to New York?’ she asked, leaning in as though she might be genuinely curious.

‘My boyfriend, fiancé now, lost his grandmother and she left us her house up in Sheffield,’ I replied, launching into the same approved version of events I’d told so many people over the last three years. ‘We decided it would be nice to be near family, so we moved back up north and I started temping.’

‘And how exactly did you end up on this dinghy with me?’

‘Still not entirely sure,’ I replied with a smile. ‘I know this isn’t the kind of job little girls grow up dreaming about, but I really do love it.’

I held Juliette’s gaze for as long as I could, before I looked away to watch the sun disappear beyond the horizon, everything behind us shifting from ambiguous shades of grey to solid black.

‘You’re not like the others, you know,’ she said after a while.

‘Is that a compliment?’

She picked up the teapot and refilled my cup. ‘It most certainly is.’

‘Are you excited about the ball?’ I asked as I felt the yacht pick up speed, powering ahead into the night. ‘Sarah says it’s a very big deal.’

‘You’ve never heard of the Crystal Ball?’ She looked surprised when I shook my head. ‘Where did she find you?’ Juliette breathed. ‘Yes, I think so, I’ve never been before, but everyone says it’s incredible. I was invited once but couldn’t go – I had a thing in Australia on the same night, so the organisers blacklisted me – you know how these things are.’