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same size, would we?’
    ‘But I thought you were invisible?’
    ‘Doesn’t make any difference - we still take up space.’
    Claudie pondered this for a moment. With everything else she’d heard, she might as well believe it. ‘Do you have a name then? Or do I just call you angel ?
    She laughed. ‘My name’s Jalisa,’ she said with a little curtsy.
    Claudie smiled. ‘What a pretty name.’ She looked round the office to check if she was being watched. Luckily, although it was open-planned, the desks were far enough apart to allow a little privacy.
    ‘So what happens now? I mean,’ Claudie struggled, not quite knowing how to talk to an angel, ‘what are you going to do now that you’re here?’
    ‘There are a few boring preliminaries we have to go through, I’m afraid,’ Jalisa said, her pretty mouth twisting as if in apology.
    ‘Such as?’
    ‘Like where you want us? Here at work, or at home?’
    ‘You mean you’re going to follow me around?’
    ‘No! But we need to know where you need us most. We can’t be all over the place. We need to be contactable, you see.’
    Claudie didn’t see at all, but she didn’t say anything.
    ‘We have to run reports and all sorts of dull things,’ Jalisa confessed. ‘When I was first given this job, I had no idea that being an angel would be anything other than fun, but it’s actually very hard work, and not at all glamorous.’ She let out a little sigh and turned a little pirouette.
    Claudie watched in delight at the spectacle on her desk. It was rather like an MGM musical in miniature.
    ‘Were you a dancer, then? In life?’ Claudie asked.
    ‘No,’ Jalisa said. ‘I would like to have been, though. I was a teacher of dance. For kids.’
    ‘Isn’t that the same thing?’
    ‘Not exactly. I was getting paid to teach rather than to dance.’
    ‘But you’re so good.’ Claudie watched as Jalisa executed a few effortless turns on top of her computer.
    ‘Thank you.’ And then she stopped. ‘So - where do you want us? At home or at work?’
    Claudie sucked in her cheeks. ‘What would you advise?’
    ‘Well, where do you feel more stress? That’s usually a sign of where we’re needed.’
    Claudie thought of her little home overlooking the harbour and of how she tucked herself away in it with her films. In the early days, she had hated it - everything had reminded her of Luke. In the kitchen, she remembered the careless way he’d wash up; in the bathroom, she remembered the way he’d stand in the door, watching her as she brushed her hair; and in the bedroom, well-
    ‘Where’s Luke?’ The question came out before she had time to check herself.
    ‘Now, Claudie. We’re not allowed to talk about things like that.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Because I’m here to help you.’
    ‘But that would help me, and I want to know.’
    There was a pause. Jalisa sighed and leant forward slightly. ‘I’ll probably get fired if I’m found out, but,’ she looked around anxiously, as if somebody might be eavesdropping, ‘he’s safe.’
    ‘Can I see him?’
    Jalisa shook her head. ‘No, I’m afraid not.’
    This was getting more and more illogical by the second. Surely, Claudie reasoned, if she did have her own angel, it would make sense if that angel was Luke.
    ‘Why-’ she began but Jalisa interrupted her.
    ‘Claudie - it’s not my decision, but I’m your angel, so you have to make do with me. If it’s any consolation, Luke’s probably looking after someone else. That’s the way it works.’
    The sudden thought of Luke on a stranger’s desk made Claudie smile, but she couldn’t help feeling just a little bit upset, and a little bit jealous too.
    ‘Surely it would make more sense to have him protecting me?’ she said.
    Jalisa looked up at her, her eyes soft and tender. ‘But you’ve got to move on, Claudie. It wouldn’t be right to give him back to you.’
    ‘Not right?’ Claudie’s voice almost vanished with emotion.
    Jalisa shook her head.