What other option did I have? The more I drank, the less was left for her. It wasn’t perfect logic and I already knew I’d regret it in the morning but I really couldn’t see another choice.

‘This is the last glass for both of us,’ I said, reluctantly clinking my glass against hers. ‘We finish this one and then it’s straight to bed.’

‘Aye-aye, captain,’ Juliette confirmed with a sharp salute, grinning as I drank.

‘All you’re going to do, is knock on the door, ask a very simple question, and while he is answering said question,’ Juliette reached out one arm to steady herself against the wall as we staggered down the narrow hallway of the upper deck. ‘You’re going to nick his hat.’

A brisk wind from an open window blew her long hair into her face, her eyes wide with excitement as she bounced up and down on the spot, only slightly hampered by the fact she was now wearing a bright blue beaded ballgown, roughly the size of a Fiat 500. I wasn’t quite sure why, but my plan to put us both to bed after one more glass had not been as effective as I’d hoped it would be.

‘Isn’t it illegal to take a captain’s hat?’ I asked, punctuating my question with a sharp stab of a hiccup. ‘What if he makes me walk the plank?’

‘That’s policemen,’ she slurred, shoving me towards the door. ‘He’s not Jack Sparrow, his name is Mark and he’s from Slough and there isn’t a plank. As far as I know.’

‘But I don’t want to,’ I whined, her hands digging into my shoulder blades. ‘Do another dare, I dare you to do me another dare.’

‘No.’ She pulled away from me, attempting to focus both of her eyes on the same spot at once. ‘I dared the dare and now you’ve got to do the dare. That’s the law of the sea. Maritime law. I’m an expert. Is your phone recording?’

I looked down at the iPhone hanging from my neck from Juliette’s Gucci phone pouch.

‘Yes but I’m going to get the sack for this,’ I replied, waving a hand in front of the camera and seeing it appear on the screen. ‘I’m not supposed to use my own phone.’

‘But you can’t use your work phone because then Sarah will see it,’ Juliette said, tapping her temple as though she was a genius. ‘This way, she’ll never know.’

‘But why do we need to film it at all?’ I protested.

‘Because,’ she leaned in and covered her mouth with her hand, dropping her voice to an extremely loud whisper, ‘I said so.’