I look out of the window and watch as a couple of tourists wander by, hand-in-hand. It’s weird, but recently everywhere I’ve looked people seem to be loved up and I’ve felt like a spare part, sitting in cafés watching the world go by and with a vague sense that my life is going by too, and if I don’t do anything about it, I’m going to wake up one morning and find I’m forty-five, still single, and still wondering what I’m going to be when I grow up. I square my shoulders and turn back to look at Sophie.

‘So what’s the deal with James?’

‘He works in the marketing department with me. Really lovely. Single – no skeletons in the closet. As soon as he was transferred in last month I thought he’d be perfect for you.’

‘Okay,’ I say, feeling bold. ‘Where do I sign?’

Sophie blushes slightly and looks sideways at Gen.

‘Ah. Well,’ she says, pulling a face, ‘I have to confess I sort of organised a blind date for the two of you for next Friday.’

‘You did what?’ I reel backwards, my head banging off the window. ‘Ouch.’

‘That’s what she meant by an intervention,’ Gen says, wryly. She shifts over slightly as the waitress returns with our order.

‘What if I’d said no?’ I ask.

‘But you didn’t, did you?’ Sophie looks very pleased with herself.

‘A blind date, though?’ I grimace.

‘Don’t knock it,’ says Sophie. ‘Worked for Harry and Meghan, didn’t it?’

I roll my eyes. She’s got a point though, I guess.

‘Fine,’ I say, and they high-five and say yes in unison.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Alex

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Alex

5th July

‘Bloody hell,’ my sister says.

Mel’s just flown in from New York. She’s here for four days for a series of meetings. I’ve come out of a two-hour lecture, brain reeling with stuff I need to learn for an exam next week, and she’s waiting for me outside the university entrance.

‘Hello to you too.’

‘I don’t have time for niceties. I’m too busy and important for stuff like that.’ She waggles an expensive-looking briefcase at me. ‘Got a meeting at four. You’re lucky I can fit you in.’

‘Thanks,’ I say, shaking my head and laughing.

I’d mentioned I’d seen Alice, and of course she wants to know all the details, so I tell her the sorry story over lunch at a café nearby.

‘And she turned up completely out of the blue?’ Mel asks. ‘You didn’t have even an inkling she was planning it?’

‘Not a clue. I got back from a day out with friends, and we walked into Albany Road, and there she was.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Mel says again. She’s not exactly helping.