The dress is black and obviously slimming and if it wasn’t for her new Spanx, which squeeze her like a fist, she would not be standing in it now. To her exasperation it seems to creep above her thighs when she moves. She pulls at the hem and tugs it into place and thinks of Cassandra. Cassandra is fierce, fearless and unflappable in any situation. Megan stands upright and sniffs. Max has seen her photo. To him, she is his Cassandra. To her, he is her Max.

Her phone pings.

It’s a message from Tinder.

She opens it.

Hotchkiss!

Megan giggles.

My darling Max.

The table is booked. So looking forward to seeing you.

Oh, do let me know where we are meeting and I will book a cab.

Certainly not! I will send my driver.

His driver!

That’s very kind.

She adds three heart kiss emojis to her message.

He’s on his way to Ealing now.

I’m in Acton Lane. Number 3.

I’ll let him know.

Two minutes pass.

He’ll be there in 5 minutes. Listen for his horn.

Megan hurries to her bedroom and sprays Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door liberally over her neck and arms. She slips on a set of silver bangles and around her neck fixes a gold locket with a picture of her and her cat, Buster, inside.

A horn blares outside and she jumps.

Shuffling to the window she peers through the curtains at the street below. It’s dark, however she can see the glow of a mobile phone on the lap of a driver sitting inside an unfamiliar large black and expensive car.

She closes the curtains and types a message to Max.

He’s here. He’s on his phone, I think.

Max sends a smiley emoji.

He’s always on his phone. Your carriage awaits you, madam. By the way. Don’t mind him. He’s not a big talker.

She gives herself a final check in the mirror, grabs her coat and bag and hurries out of the little flat.

Down on the pavement she notices the side windows of the car are tinted. Very fancy. She hears her phone ping in her bag. She bends over to passenger window and taps the glass. The window opens.

‘Hello. I do believe you are here for me. I’m Megan.’

He is wearing a dark suit and has straw-like blond hair. His face is hidden behind large mirrored sunglasses, which is odd for this time of the evening. He nods curtly and gestures to the rear of the car.

Megan sniffs. How rude.