Her previous boyfriend, Angelo, had been a drummer in a local band who practised late into the night. On one occasion when she’d been suffering a bad migraine, she’d begged him to take a break at 1 am so she could sleep. He’d sneered at her and told her to spend the night at her own place if she was going to be that soft.

The glaring contrast between Angelo and this stranger in the chemist was startling.

She shook her head. ‘You don’t have to do that. Don’t you need to get medicine home to your kid?’

‘I don’t have kids.’ He looked momentarily confused. ‘Oh! The children’s Panadol. No, I was picking that up for my brother. My niece has a cold. But it’s all good; it wasn’t urgent. I can stay.’

In the end, she’d felt too sick to argue and too grateful for the company. He sat by her side and made quiet small talk, and when she’d finally felt well enough to move, she admitted there was no way she could drive. He’d insisted on booking her an Uber using his own account.

The following day when she was feeling well again, she’d racked her brain as she tried to remember the guy’s name so she could somehow track him down and thank him for his help. He’d introduced himself as he sat chatting with her but her mind had been so fuzzy she’d struggled to take it in. Tony . . . Leyton? Lennon? Levett? Finally, it came to her: Tony Lewis. A Google search revealed hundreds of Tony Lewises, but she narrowed it down by adding the word ‘accountant’ to the search window. Eventually she recognised his face on a LinkedIn result. She sent him a message and, after chatting back and forth, they’d agreed to meet up for a coffee. A coffee date led to a lunch date, a lunch date led to a dinner date, and the relationship progressed from there.

She wouldn’t call it love at first sight or anything like that. It was more a case of her attraction growing for him each time he showed her she was worth more than being stood up or dumped via text. Each time he made her realise she deserved better than cheap dates or late-night booty calls. He’d helped her to realise that she’d been gravitating towards men who made her feel worthless because she’d believed she was worthless. Because that’s the way her own parents had made her feel.

Now, Andrea leaned her elbow on the back of the couch. ‘That’s unusual for you to fall behind. You’re so strict about following your whiteboard.’

‘I know. But I’ve had a few bad migraines.’