‘And cut,’ shouted Nancy. Immediately Roman dropped Ella’s hand as they both looked towards Nancy. ‘I think we nearly have what we need,’ continued Nancy, hovering at the side of the table. ‘What a lovely couple you are! You two represent what this restaurant is all about: fine dining, the best champagne and romance on the roof terrace, but we just need one last shot…’ Nancy pointed to the cameraman. ‘Alf is going to capture the stunning backdrop, so we would like you to stand up from the table and walk over to the balcony. Roman, if you could stand behind Ella and wrap your arms around her waist and look out over the beautiful bay that would be the perfect frame.’

‘I think I can do that,’ replied Roman, looking across the table at Ella.

‘Okay, on the count of three, if you can stand up, Roman, pull out Ella’s chair and walk over to the balcony, hand in hand. ‘One… two… three…’

Looking out to the bay, Roman stood behind Ella. Feeling his presence so close to her, Ella’s whole body was trembling. She could feel his breath on her neck and every inch of her body erupted in goose bumps. As she looked upwards over her shoulder, their eyes stayed locked, neither of them faltered. Roman dipped his head slightly, their lips were centimetres apart.

‘Cut! It’s a wrap!’ shouted Nancy, causing Ella and Roman to jump.

‘And that’s that, our pretend date is over,’ she murmured, still staring into his eyes. They pulled away from each other slowly then turned round and walked towards Nancy and Callie.

‘All the footage looks amazing, so natural,’ announced Nancy, ‘there’s so much we can use on the news reports. Thank you both. Tune in tonight at six o’clock.’ And with that Nancy and the TV crew headed back down the stairs.

Callie was looking at them both in amusement.

‘What?’ asked Ella, knowing exactly why Callie was looking at them in that way.

‘I’m saying absolutely nothing, and it sounds like you will both get your fifteen minutes of fame, but in the meantime, we need to bring you back down to planet earth and get you back on the restaurant floor,’ said Callie, checking her watch, ‘and Roman, if you can take over from Wilbur, the boat is due back soon.’

After Callie had disappeared down the stairs back into the restaurant, Ella turned towards Roman. ‘I have to say, that was the best pretend date I’ve ever been on.’

‘Me too, and I wasn’t even stung for the bill.’

Ella swiped his arm playfully.

‘You better get back to work before we’re both on a written warning.’

Even though Roman was making a joke, Ella could hear the worry etched in his voice. ‘Back to reality.’

‘Unfortunately,’ he replied.