It was quite a new friendship . . . I mean, don’t get me wrong, I liked her a lot . . . but I kind of thought we’d progress with a few lunches, then maybe a dinner out with James too. Now, I know that sound silly. It sounds like we were dating and she was moving too fast. But in a funny way, it is kind of the same. You don’t really know someone, and you want things to move at the right pace so you have lots of warning if they’re about to unleash the full weight of their craziness on you. My gut instinct said that Louise wasn’t crazy, but what did I know? My mobile rang as James and I walked into the garden at our local pub. It was the first halfway warm day of the year, and we’d gone for a lovely stroll by the river in Richmond, and now we were planning to have a drink (lime and soda for me, pint for James), then go home and make dinner. I took out my phone and saw it was Louise. James gestured to say he’d go to the bar and see me outside in the garden, and I answered the call.
