Things go from bad to worse...

The rest of the night goes sour pretty fast.

All the confidence Emma gained from chatting to the bar staff seems to have been knocked out of her. You catch her looking anxiously over to Justin’s corner so many times that you decide to stop being annoyed by it. And she doesn’t want to dance, either; instead just hanging around by the pillars that hold up the giant, sculpted ceiling.

‘You know, we can just go, if you want,’ you say heavily, tired of this shit. ‘You’ve done your time as far as the corporate overlords are concerned. Let’s just get out of here.’

Emma bites her lip. ‘Yeah,’ she mutters, looking simultaneously embarrassed and upset. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to be like this…’

It must be the hundredth time she’s apologised tonight. ‘It’s okay,’ you say automatically, even though it isn’t, really. ‘Let’s call a cab.’

You turn to leave, and almost knock his drink out of his hand.