If Jonathan had landed on Dolly’s doorstep then, I wasn’t sure he would have recognised me, but it felt good zipping out again without having to put in so much effort. I hadn’t let my cleanse, tone and moisturise routine slip because that was plain good sense, but it was nice to forget the rest for a few weeks. I knew that working in an Abu Dhabi hotel would require the whole pristine package, so this downtime Dolly had bestowed upon me was quite a luxury.

‘So,’ said Beamish, after we had arrived at The Mermaid and he had introduced me to the owners, Evelyn and Jim, ‘tell me some more about how you met Dolly. She said she used to come and stay in the most amazing hotel where you worked.’

‘The hotel was amazing when Dolly used to visit,’ I agreed. ‘It was run by the Lucca family and they were the most wonderful hosts.’

I told him all about the little finishing touches the Luccas had considered so important, how the place had been a hit with families and how lots of customers, like Dolly, came back year after year.

‘It was a wonderful place to work then,’ I sighed.

‘But not now?’ Beamish questioned. ‘I mean, I know Dolly said you’d been made redundant but the hotel had changed hands, hadn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘the Luccas sold up a few years ago and it’s completely different now.’

As I described to him all the changes which had occurred since the Luccas left, and how the place had gone from comfortable to corporate, I realised just how much I had changed too.

The person I was in that moment, sitting opposite Beamish in jeans, drinking a lager, was far more like the person I had been when the Luccas were in charge, but that version of me rarely put in an appearance now. She was the Hattie which Dolly had been hoping to find, but before I knew it, I would be boarding a plane and leaving her behind for good.

‘So, what’s next?’ Beamish asked, pulling me out of my reverie.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘it seems to me that you’re absolutely loving your time volunteering in the school.’

‘So?’

‘So, is that what you’re going to do in Abu Dhabi? Have you got a job lined up in a school?’

‘Oh no,’ I said, ‘absolutely not. I haven’t got anything lined up, but I’m not thinking about schools. I’m going to be looking for another hotel position.’

I had worked hard to gain my promotion and glowing reference and I was good at my job. There would be no point in letting all that go to waste.

‘I might even try for management,’ I told Beamish, lifting my chin a little. ‘I’m still young enough to be considered for an in-house management training programme.’