And then came the meeting with Miles and his marketing people, and the request for me to up my social media game, get with the times and stop hiding behind my mysterious persona.

‘People demand personal, these days, Nora,’ a PR manager, Duncan, drawled at me, flipping a greasy black fringe out of his eyes.

‘Eleanor,’ I muttered.

‘They want to know everything about you. What you wear, how you stay in shape, who you’re hanging out with. They want to see everything. Chilled back yoga before Sunday brunch, treating yourself to a boxset binge on a rare night in. Suited and booted for a meeting with your PR manager.’ He paused to snort a few times at his own hilarity. I was, in line with the rest of the office, dressed down in jeans, a stupidly expensive T-shirt some up-and-coming fashion student had sent me, and a pair of mustard Converse.

‘That’s not really everything about me though, is it? That’s only my personal appearance.’

‘Right! Precisely! Like I said, up close and personal is what people are looking for. Gone is the age of the untouchable celebrity. Your fans won’t care about your opinion if they don’t know the real Nora.’

‘How can people know the real Nora when she isn’t actually real?’ I asked. ‘And I’m not interested in being a celebrity.’ Not much, anyway. ‘I’m a professional journalist, albeit one operating at the lighter end of the news spectrum. People have appreciated my articles for years without seeing me slobbing in front of the TV with a tube of Pringles.’

‘I don’t think that would be a good moment to capture,’ Duncan grimaced. ‘While your image is thankfully more about attention-grabbing than attractive, maybe swap the Pringles for a banana-flour muffin, given you’re supposed to be a foodie?’

‘Supposed to be?’

I turned to Miles in the hope that he’d add some much-needed rationality. ‘How am I going to carry out my job if people know who I am? Half the places I go wouldn’t give me a table. The other half would be on their best behaviour, which kind of defeats the purpose. If Nora Sharp walks into an event, it’ll ruin it for most of the people there. No one’ll be able to relax if they think I’m eavesdropping from the corner.’

‘That being said, I have to listen to the experts,’ Miles said, shuffling a few papers on his desk. ‘You know that all print media is being forced to adapt in order to survive. It’ll be a chance to freshen up the image, experiment with Nora’s future direction. Most food reviewers aren’t anonymous and they still get tables because no restaurant manager believes their food to be anything short of spectacular. And you being there will get any event buzzing. Once everyone’s had a few drinks they’ll be even more likely to spill the gossip knowing that someone’s actually listening to them.’

‘Kathy will set up the YouTube channel, talk you through the details and offer tips on sprucing up your image.’ Duncan swivelled round to address Kathy, who’d spent the whole meeting slurping on her celery-infused water and staring out the window at the recycling bins below.