‘It isn’t,’ I agreed. ‘But I know that you have lots of lovely friends at school, like Ollie and Amelia.’

‘Yes,’ he said absently, staring fixedly at the screen, ‘and Harvey and Brody and Betty and Tom and George and James… And Giles is my friend and yours and Mum’s.’

‘That’s right, he is.’

‘And Ron is your friend.’

‘We work together,’ I replied, a little taken by surprise.

‘I worked with James yesterday. We made flags. Is Ron on your table? Does he sit next to you?’ he asked.

‘Not quite next to me, but not far away.’

‘He said you’re his friend,’ he said, turning back to the screen. ‘He says you let everyone join in. We should shush now and watch Megamind.’

‘OK.’ I took another Wotsit and relaxed back into the sofa, feeling unexpectedly moved that Cameron had described me both as inclusive and as a friend. His opinion of me, I realised, really mattered, and to know that we had, it seemed, turned things around so completely, after such a disastrous start to our relationship, made me happier than anything had in a very long time.

Unfortunately, that happiness was extremely short-lived, being immediately snatched away by the jangling of the butler’s bell and replaced by a renewed awareness of my less-than-glamorous appearance. The latter had, thanks to the recent Wotsits shower, deteriorated significantly over the past five minutes – something which, until that point, I hadn’t actually thought possible.

‘It’s Ron!’ yelled Harry, leaping up and tipping the remaining Wotsits over me in his eagerness to get to the front door.

Putting Megamind on pause, I hurriedly picked up as many Wotsits as I could, throwing them back into the bowl, before following Harry out into the hallway. By the time I got there, Cameron was already inside and bending low to hug him.

‘Edie,’ he said, standing up, removing his jacket and smiling at me in a way which made me feel more self-conscious than ever, despite the fact that he looked only slightly less dishevelled than me. His crumpled grey shirt was half-untucked and his thick hair was wet and standing on end – the result, I assumed, of a hasty towel-dry – and yet somehow, I reflected, he was still managing to look rather good.

He pointed at my turban. ‘A last-minute call-out for you too?’

‘How can you tell?’

‘And I see we have Wotsits for snacks,’ he continued, his eyes moving down to my bathrobe.

‘Not many,’ I said. ‘I’m wearing most of them.’

‘We’re watching Megamind, Ron,’ said Harry, taking his hand and then mine.

Cameron smiled at me for a moment longer, before taking a breath and looking down at Harry. ‘Great!’ he said, as all three of us walked to the living room. ‘That’s my favourite.’

I waited for Cameron to return from putting Harry to bed and then stood up as he re-entered the living room.