It still didn’t feel quite right. But I was getting there. Cora and Molly danced around us and we became a gaggle of laughing, twerking twenty-somethings, making noises that emulated flocks I’d seen and heard on the Discovery Channel. Midway through the song we attracted a round of unwanted attention from two men – Rowan’s age, I guessed – and then, as though sensing a fellow female in distress, Faith appeared. She danced one of them to one side of the dance floor and cupped her hand around his ear to speak to him. He shrugged, then, called his friend away and disappeared.

‘What did you say?’ I asked as she came to jig next to me.

She winked. ‘Magic.’

The rest of the song – the rest of the night – played out in peace. But once the clock had chimed for the early hours, and I’d finally wrestled my phone back into my own clutches, I decided I should maybe go home on a high note. Lily and Betty took themselves into the smoking area with the promise of bringing back someone interesting – ‘I don’t even want to know what that means,’ Faith shouted back – and Cora and Molly teamed up for a bathroom break. Faith and I found a quiet booth to settle down in, and when we’d escaped the immediate vibrations of Little Mix’s ‘Salute’, I told her that I thought I was done for the night.

‘Okay.’ She grabbed her phone from the table. ‘Food?’

‘Oh, no, you don’t have to come, Faith, really. Stay, have a good time. What happened to your friend from earlier?’

She nodded to the bar. ‘She’s on the late shift. I’ll catch her another time. Besides, I’m wrecked from the dancing and my body deserves nourishment. You know, to counteract all the vodka. Unless you genuinely want to be alone? Which is also totally okay.’

I couldn’t remember the last time so many decisions had been totally up to me. And in that moment it was much harder than it should have been to decide whether I actually wanted to stay or leave. But no, I thought, a high note is what I want.

I nodded. ‘I’m done, really. But I’d like the company?’

‘Chips?’

‘Chips.’ When I stood up Faith moved with me, and looped an arm through mine as we headed to the exit of the club. ‘Shouldn’t we tell the girls?’

She laughed. ‘When Lil and Bett head to the smoking area for something interesting, in my experience, it’s usually best not to be here when they get back. They’ll think we got lucky.’

I thought of the efforts they’d all gone to, to make the night easier, and I gave Faith’s arm a quick squeeze. ‘I think I did get lucky, actually …’

Chapter 14