‘Look, Shaylene, I’m sure you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle? You know that bit where Meg Ryan is supposed to meet Tom Hanks at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day? Well, I’m in a situation a bit like that, except instead of the Empire State Building, it’s a party boat, and instead of Tom Hanks, it’s this guy I like, but I have to get there before it leaves at ten. That’s why I’d really appreciate it if, on this one occasion, you didn’t try to regulate the service. It is New Year’s Eve after all,’ she gave Shaylene her most pleading face, clasping her hands together in prayer.

‘You know that saying about how you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once? You know why that happens?’ Shaylene said, pulling a Snickers bar out of her bag and opening it noisily. ‘Because someone didn’t regulate the service.’ Then through a mouthful of Snickers she added, ‘and I don’t like romcoms.’

‘I love Sleepless in Seattle,’ said Hamish, shaking his head and grinning to himself as he handed the clipboard back to Shaylene.

‘Oh, you’ve seen it?’ Minnie squealed. ‘Then you know what I’m talking about. Oh Hamish, have you ever just had that feeling about someone – that sudden realisation that whatever the risks of getting hurt, whatever the odds of failure, you just have to give it a go? Before I met this guy my expectation of what love could be was like a five. A five! And then with him, when we’re together, it’s like ten – a ten! And maybe I’m scared about having a ten and then losing it and never being happy with a five again, but if there’s a chance for a ten, I’ve got to go for it, right?’

Hamish looked up at her with a serious expression, his eyes welling up.

‘I had a ten once,’ he sniffed. ‘His name was Roger and he moved to Amsterdam. He said I should move with him, give up my job on the buses, learn Dutch. I can’t even roll my “r”s.’

‘You never told him how you felt?’ Minnie asked.

‘No, I let him go. I never met a ten since.’ The man looked up at Minnie, he scratched his stubble with a knuckle, a new resolve filled his eyes. ‘Out of the way Shaylene, I’m pulling a double shift tonight.’ He waved her out of the way, and she and her half-eaten Snickers bar clambered out of the driver’s seat.

‘You want to do my shift, be my guest,’ she said, waving a hand in his face.

Hamish pressed the tannoy button. ‘This is now a non-stop, unregulated service to Westminster Pier. Anyone not going that way, I suggest they disembark immediately.’