‘A dog isn’t going to keep you warm at night.’

‘Actually that’s where you’re wrong.’ I glance over at Harry snoozing by the fire and think about our nightly bedtime routine. ‘Anyway, I wouldn’t know what to text back.’ I dismiss the situation. ‘It’s been so long since anyone asked me out for a drink, I’m completely out of practice.’

‘Oh, that bit’s easy,’ replies Naomi cheerfully. ‘Just say yes.’

Back to the Future

Of course, I didn’t always feel like this.

Back in my thirties I was desperate to meet someone. I wasn’t done; I hadn’t even started. I’d been single for a while, after another short-lived romance with yet another man who didn’t want to commit to a proper relationship. London was full of such men. Good fun, easy-going, confused thirty-somethings who weren’t ready or not there yet. And, like most women in their early thirties, I finally grew tired of going nowhere except the pub, and wanted more.

David promised to give me more. Divorced with a young son, he was more mature, more driven and more serious about me. We met online and for our first date he took me to see a play in the West End, followed by dinner in a swanky restaurant, where he expertly navigated the wine menu and asked me questions about myself. Used to dates with men where I made small talk over a pint and a packet of crisps, this was a revelation.

And it didn’t stop there. For Valentine’s Day he sent the most beautiful bouquet to the staffroom. For my birthday it was a five-star hotel in Vienna and tickets to the ballet. While summer was spent in London because of his heavy workload, it was a London that I had never experienced before: one of evenings spent at gallery openings, rooftop bars in private members’ clubs, open-air opera in Holland Park.

I was completely swept off my feet. David was good-looking and successful and I couldn’t quite believe he was interested in an impoverished supply teacher with henna-red hair and a student loan that she still hadn’t managed to pay off. It turned out I wasn’t the only one.

Born into a wealthy middle-class family, David grew up on a sprawling country estate that had been in his family for generations. When he first took me to meet his parents, I remember giving his mum a hug when she offered to take my coat. I was so nervous, and I thought she was lovely.

Only it turned out that wasn’t his mum; it was Lydia, the housekeeper. Well, how was I to know? I’d never met a housekeeper before. I didn’t even know they existed, except in Downton Abbey.

His mother, on the other hand, was polite but cold, and didn’t hide her disapproval. Still I was undeterred. So what if we had different backgrounds? Everyone knows opposites attract, and we couldn’t have been more opposite. A Range Rover-driving, golf-playing, Harley Street dentist and an incense-burning, disco-dancing, comprehensive-school teacher in possession of her own Oyster card.