By the time Anna managed to tear herself away from Brody’s book, she’d read three more chapters and she was cutting it really, really fine to meet Jeremy on time. She glanced at the clock and then at the book sitting in her lap. She didn’t want to go out tonight, she realized, even though the plan was to see the latest Emily Blunt movie, and she’d been looking forward to it all week. She wanted to stay home and find out what happened to Pip.

Even so, she hauled herself up off the sofa and headed into the hall. It would be rude to bail out on Jeremy this late, so she really didn’t have a choice. She ran upstairs and got ready, but as she threaded her favourite earrings into her ears – the final touch – she stopped and looked at herself in the mirror.

There was something missing. But it wasn’t an accessory or an extra coat of mascara. It was something else…

Where was the fluttering in her stomach? Where were the butterflies that had terrified her so much when she’d first met Jeremy? Now she thought about it, she hadn’t felt them in weeks.

Overthinking it again, Anna…

She shook herself, turned away from the mirror, and headed downstairs to get her coat.

THE FILM WAS every bit as good as Anna hoped it would be, a well-acted drama with a heart-wrenching love story at its core. When the film ended, she couldn’t help shedding a tear. Jeremy reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘I’m such a sap,’ she said, smiling as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.

‘My sister’s the same,’ Jeremy said. ‘The happy ending gets her every time.’

Anna nodded, still smiling, and looked down. She didn’t want to contradict Jeremy, but that wasn’t exactly why she’d been feeling tearful.

She’d cried for the happy ending, yes, but she’d also cried for what might happen after the credits rolled. It could all get snatched away in a moment, didn’t they know that? And then there was a hole in your heart that meant you’d never feel that way again. It was gone and they’d never be able to get it back. For some reason, Anna couldn’t stop worrying about them, even though it was completely ridiculous because they were made-up people and would never exist outside of that film.

‘I thought they had great chemistry, didn’t they?’ Jeremy said as he and Anna rode the escalators back to the foyer. ‘I mean, they really made me believe in them as a couple.’

Anna agreed. The casting had been spot-on.

‘I must admit, this film wouldn’t have been my first choice,’ Jeremy said, smiling sheepishly. ‘Not a single car chase! And I don’t normally do romantic films, but this didn’t seem cheesy in the slightest. It made me think that’s what love should be like.’

Anna nodded. The romantic relationship had been handled really well. Maybe too well, if she couldn’t get it out of her head. Because it had reminded her of what she’d had with Spencer, something rare and all-consuming, dizzying and heart-stopping, but at the same time comfortable and… easy.