‘We can work around that.’

‘More importantly, I need to look after my health and hold down a job. It’s not just about my career, I need to be able to pay my bills too. I’m sorry, it’s just not something I can do. I also can’t face having to let you down all over again.’

‘You don’t know that that’s going to happen, Lex.’ Matt puts a supportive arm round my waist. ‘You didn’t have a relapse. You had the flu. Everyone gets winter bugs. It just hit you harder.’

‘Matt, I love that you’re encouraging this, but I just can’t.’

Matt looks at Sammy, then at Sasha. ‘Are we in agreement that it’s time?’ They both nod. ‘All right. Bring out the secret weapon.’

‘The secret what?’ I’m beginning to think they’ve lost the plot. Then out from behind one of the changing room doors walks Emmanuel.

‘What the…’ I gasp. ‘Emmanuel, what are you doing here?’

‘Hi, Alex. Matt expected you’d have this reaction because of your job. So, I’m here to tell you that you can do this.’ She seems quite pleased with her supporting role in this little charade.

‘But—’

‘No buts, Alex. You love singing with the band, right?’

‘I do, but—’

‘What did I just say?’ She smiles at me. ‘When something like that makes you so happy, it’s good for your health, not the opposite. Work is important, but so is having a life and living your dreams. It’s even more important for you to be able to do that now. You have my full support for this. And if you decide you need to improve the balance in your life, we could talk about reducing your hours. But only if that’s something that would work for you.’

‘I’ve never thought about doing something like that.’

‘Well, it’s open to you if you want to explore it. There are plenty of people with challenging, successful careers who don’t work full time.’

I take a moment to think about what Emmanuel’s just said. Between this, and Sammy and the band being happy to work around my illness, I have no reason to say no any more.

‘OK, I guess I’m in.’

There’s a collective whooping cheer.

‘So, I’ll see you at rehearsals next week to get started again?’

‘Actually, we were kind of hoping you would sing with us tonight,’ Sammy replies.

‘Tonight?’

‘Just a few songs you know well. So we can reintroduce you. We’ve got an hour to practise and warm up before the gig.’

I look from Matt to Sasha, then Emmanuel, and they’re all grinning at me encouragingly.

‘OK, sure?’

There’s another whooping cheer.

‘I’m so glad you’re going to do it.’ Sasha leaps on me with another huge hug.

‘Well done,’ says Emmanuel. ‘Always remember, you have my full support.’

‘Thanks, Emmanuel. That means so much,’ I reply, then turn to Matt as the others disperse, nervous knots already forming in my stomach, but in a good way. ‘I’d better go and rehearse then.’