‘Didn’t you notice right away how unbelievably blue his eyes are?’

Ah. The colour of someone’s eyes is apparently an important point.

‘No, I didn’t catch that.’

Neither did I. Then again, I’m not able to tell colours apart very well.

‘You must have seen his eyes; they’re so striking. Cornflower blue!’

‘Nina, I don’t know if you still recall, but when we were at the vet’s, I had a very ill-tempered Hercules with me who howled the whole time, and then tried to kill two cute little rabbits, and utter chaos resulted. Excuse me for not having had the chance to catch a glimpse of the deep blue eyes of your Supervet.’

Caroline sounds a little annoyed. I wonder if it’s because she’s recalling the terrible visit to the vet, and the way I carried on there. So embarrassing!

‘Good grief, are you in a bad mood! I thought it would interest you that your best friend had a date.’

‘Forgive me; you’re right. I’m sorry I’m so grouchy. I solemnly vow to do better! So, besides the cornflower-blue eyes: how does he kiss?’

That seems to be an especially important point, or else Caroline wouldn’t ask about that first. But how do you recognize that? How are Beck and I going to find a man who kisses well?

Nina giggles. ‘You’re not going to believe me when I say this, but I don’t know. We haven’t kissed yet.’

Now I get it. It’s not a feature you can see by looking at people. You have to try it out for yourself.

‘You haven’t kissed yet? I thought you spent the whole evening together.’

‘We did. And we had a great time. Marc was quite charming and witty. But we didn’t kiss. It doesn’t matter, though. I want to try to take it slow.’

‘Hmm,’ Caroline says doubtfully. ‘Try to take it slow? You? That’s quite a new tactic. Since when have you been doing that? There was no sign of that at the vet’s surgery. That looked more like laying it out as clear as day. I mean, you wound up in his arms.’

Nina snorts angrily. ‘Now wait a second – I just tripped over your stupid dog! And what do you mean by a new tactic? That sounds as though I always hunt guys down with a scattergun.’

‘Yeah well, you’ve never exactly been the prim and proper type when you like someone. More scattergun than sharpshooting.’

‘Caroline, it’s easy to see that you haven’t been on the market for quite some time. I’m young and single, and when I like a guy, I don’t wait for him to come riding in like a knight in shining armour on a steed. I take matters into my own hands. Call it the scattergun approach if you like – but what’s wrong with that?’

Market? Steed? Scattergun? Nina is talking in riddles – but Caroline seems to get what she’s saying.