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her,’ suggested Cooper. ‘I don’t think I’d be here if I was her. After all, she’s not you, is she?’
    It was all I could do to stop myself from throwing my arms around Coop and kissing him. ‘Thanks for the solidarity. Coop, but she’s Paul’s girlfriend so we should be nice to her. He’s always been nice to the guys I’ve seen in the past.’
    ‘Maybe to your face,’ said Chris solemnly.
    ‘Why, what has he said?’
    Chris shook his head. ‘Look, I’m saying nothing. But take it from me, he’s never been anywhere near as happy as he makes out when you’re seeing someone.’
    Although this was news to me it didn’t exactly make me feel any better.
    ‘Doesn’t matter anyway,’ I replied. ‘The truth is I like her, and I can definitely see what Paul sees in her.’
    Cooper laughed. ‘Well, that’s hardly rocket science, she’s very easy on the eye.’
    ‘I mean beyond all that superficial stuff,’ I replied. ‘I was talking to her the last time she was round at Chris and Vicky’s and she was telling me about some of the stuff she’s doing on her MA. I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about – it was like she was talking in a different language. She’s so clever it’s frightening.’
    Chris put an arm round my shoulder as though he was drawing me close in order to impart an important piece of wisdom which of course he was, because one of the downsides of being Chris and Cooper’s ‘little sister’ was that every once in a while I had to endure their unsolicited advice about my private life.
    ‘Considering what a Hannah-fan you are,’ observed Chris, ‘I bet you’d have a face on you that could turn milk if she walked in with Paul right now.’
    I pretended to look for the champagne but could feel myself starting to flush.
    ‘Listen, Mel,’ he continued. ‘I know this might sound a bit harsh and for the life of me I don’t mean it that way but seeing as we’re about to begin a new year, why don’t you do yourself a massive favour and just move on? Hanging on to Paul like this is doing you no good at all.’
    Even though Chris wasn’t being all that serious I could feel tears pricking at the back of my eyes before he had even finished.
    ‘If it was that easy,’ I replied, ‘don’t you think that I’d have done it by now?’
    ‘Of course you can do it,’ replied Chris, oblivious to the look of disbelief emanating from Cooper’s face. ‘You just have to want it badly enough, that’s all. Look, all I’m saying is that you and Paul are mates and that’s great but I think that now he’s finally moved on, maybe you should too.’
    Chris
    I have no idea who’d died and made me Minister of Home Truths but whoever it was I wish they hadn’t bothered. Melissa looked crushed when I finished delivering my big piece of advice and all I could think was: ‘Why didn’t I keep my big mouth shut?’
    ‘Maybe you’re right,’ she said after a long silence. ‘Maybe I am wasting my time here with Paul. Maybe I should just go home right now.’
    I could tell that Melissa was absolutely serious about leaving and could already picture the scene Vicky would make when she found out it was my fault that her best friend was spending New Year’s Eve on her own.
    ‘You can’t go, Mel. First off it’s just wrong, second, you shouldn’t listen to anything I’ve got to say about anything, because what do I know? And finally, if you go home early and Vicky finds out that you’ve gone because of me she will go insane.’
    ‘She would, wouldn’t she?’ said Melissa, the beginnings of a smile on her face. ‘She’d make your life a misery for days.’
    ‘Days? Try weeks.’
    Melissa sighed. ‘Look, Chris, I know you meant well and that you’re probably right about me and Paul, it’s just . . . you know . . . some things are easier said than done, aren’t they? You can’t really think I want to be like this, can you? You can’t really think that I enjoy waking up