‘Well, I thought it would be nice to be able to travel but not have to pay for it, like I said. I thought about trying to get work on a yacht, but it sounds like too much hard work and I don’t have the right experience. But cruise ships – they employ loads of dancers. I’ve been doing some research and apparently aerialists are particularly in demand, because not all dancers have the right skills for that. And it looks fun, doesn’t it? Flying through the air? Amazing. I’m trying to persuade Tony to do it with me, but I’m not sure if he’s going to go for it.’

‘I’ll do it with you,’ I blurt, before I’ve had time to think it through. The thought of Laura dangling from the roof of a massive boat with no one to look after her next time she has a meltdown makes me want to cry.

She laughs. ‘You’d want to? I didn’t think you’d be interested in arsing around travelling the world or anything pointless like that,’ she says. ‘I thought you were going to be a hot-shot accountant or something, now that you’ve pretty much finished your degree.’

I was. In fact I’m about to have my second interview for Jay, Jay and Miller, the accountancy firm that pretty much everyone on my course wants to work for.

But Laura is my little sister who I’ve already severely failed once when she needed me most, and I need to make sure I don’t do it again. Plus, what she’s suggesting does actually sound pretty fun.

I shrug. ‘One day, yeah. Probably. Maybe. But there’s no rush, is there? I’ve been thinking I might like to take a year off first anyway, because Mum talked me out of doing it between school and uni. Only young once and all that.’

This isn’t entirely true – I thought about taking some time off after uni to travel very briefly, and then quickly discounted the idea, but suddenly it seems like the best idea in the world.

‘Wow, didn’t think that was your kind of thing: drifting around the world with no real aim. Or cruising, as it would be in our case.’

‘I’m not quite as staid and boring as you think, Laura,’ I say, a little more tersely than I mean to.

‘Aww Jesse!’ she cries. ‘I don’t think you’re boring at all. I just think you’re … driven. Keen to get out into the world and make your mark and all that. That’s what you’ve always said.’