‘I knew I’d have to do that or else spend the rest of my life trapped in dead-end jobs,’ I say, recalling how nervous I’d been when I turned up to the interview at Luna London. ‘Though I still felt like an imposter those first few months.’

‘That’s interesting,’ he says, narrowing his eyes. ‘Do you still feel that way?’

‘No,’ I say. ‘And that’s down to Anne.’

‘Anne?’

‘My boss. She’s amazing, a real inspiration. She took a chance on me, someone with very little experience, and spent the next year mentoring me in every aspect of the job. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.’

‘Everyone needs an Anne in their life,’ he says, smiling. ‘She sounds great.’

I go to speak but I’m interrupted by Lottie tapping my arm.

‘Sorry to be a pain but our table’s booked at Rossi’s for 9 p.m.,’ she whispers. ‘Unless you want to cancel it.’

She darts her eyes towards Connor and smiles. I feel my cheeks redden.

‘No, of course we should go,’ I say, draining my wine. ‘It was really nice to meet you, Connor.’

‘Likewise,’ he says, running his hand through his hair. ‘We should have a drink sometime, maybe.’

‘Um, sure,’ I say, watching as he takes his phone out of his pocket.

As I give him my number, Damian appears behind me.

‘Nice to see you two getting along,’ he says, placing a hand on my shoulder. ‘Connor’s a lovely chap.’ He whispers this last bit in my ear and I get a waft of beer and peanuts.

‘See you on Monday, Damian,’ I say, shaking my head as he winks playfully at me.

As we walk out of the bar, Lottie squeezes my arm.

‘God, he was a bit intense, wasn’t he?’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘I would have rescued you, but Damian was telling me a long-winded story about his sister who works for an animal charity in Tanzania.’

‘I actually kind of enjoyed talking to him,’ I say, aware, as we step out on to Sloane Square, of an invisible gap widening between myself and Lottie, like I don’t really want to break the spell by telling her the way Connor made me feel. ‘Anyway, let’s get a move on or we’ll be late to dinner.’

As we hurry towards the restaurant, Lottie chattering beside me, I feel an overwhelming sense of loss. I could quite easily have talked to Connor all evening. He had made me feel so at ease, like I could be completely myself. It was strange and lovely in equal measure.

When we’ve ordered our food, Lottie takes her phone and shuffles up next to me.

‘Come on then, let’s check him out,’ she says, opening up Instagram and holding the phone up so I can see. ‘Your Mr Wonderful.’