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on my own only to end the day in bed alone too. You have no idea how lucky you are having Vicky and William. No idea at all.’
    ‘I really am sorry, mate. I haven’t a clue about anything. You just do what you’ve got to do and from now on I’ll keep my mouth shut.’
    ‘Okay, you’re forgiven. But if you start with any of that “Melissa’s a flaky Southern layabout stuff” again I will grass you up in a second.’ She picked up her plastic cup of wine. ‘Right, boys, I’m off to find some proper people to talk to, okay?’
    ‘No hard feelings, mate?’
    Melissa smiled. ‘Of course not. We’re fine. I’ll see you later?’
    ‘Yeah. Later.’
    I watched Melissa leave the kitchen then turned to Cooper and sighed. ‘I really should learn to keep my big mouth shut, shouldn’t I? It’s not like it takes a genius to work out that Melissa doesn’t want to hear the truth about her and Paul.’
    ‘And certainly not tonight of all nights,’ added Cooper. ‘New Year’s Eve always puts people in a weird frame of mind.’
    I raised an eyebrow, relieved at the opportunity to talk about something else. ‘Like you? What was all that stuff going on with your face when Mel was talking about you and Laura getting hitched? For a second I thought that you might be—’
    ‘I am.’
    ‘You are what?’
    ‘Going to ask her. Not tonight. But this New Year, definitely.’
    ‘You’re joking?’
    He shook his head. ‘No, I’m absolutely serious. I was thinking of asking her on her birthday in April. That way it’ll give me enough time to save up for the ring without raiding our savings.’
    ‘You do know you can’t just get any old rubbish for an engagement ring and hope that she’ll be so flattered that she won’t notice it’s gold plated?’
    Cooper grinned. ‘That’s why I’m planning to give it to her over a candle-lit dinner.’
    I shook my head and picked up the bottle of champagne. ‘Well, best of luck to you, bruv. I hope it all goes well when you do the deed.’
    ‘Cheers.’ Cooper took the bottle from me. He took a swig and winced. ‘Nope,’ he said resignedly, ‘still can’t stand this stuff.’
    Melissa
    Determined to think about something other than Paul, I ended up circulating the party on my own for about an hour, dipping in and out of conversations. Most of the people I spoke to were friends that I’d first met in pubs and clubs during my early twenties and now, a decade on, only met up with at the occasional party or summer barbecue. Of course most of them were settled now, coupled up with kids or tethered down by massive mortgages, but there was a small yet resilient battalion still fighting the good fight as though the last ten years hadn’t happened. It was these friends in particular that I was always pleased to see. It was great to hear that people like Cathy and Brendan were still in bands, that Dean and Lewis were still actively pursuing their dream of becoming full-time artists and even that Alistair and Baxter were still running the same city-centre indie club nights that they had been involved with when I’d first got to know them as a nineteen-year-old student. It felt good seeing all these people in one place at the same time. It felt good knowing that they were all getting on with their lives. It made me feel as though I was part of something larger than myself.
    In the middle of a conversation with Carl and Louisa, whose big news was that Louisa was pregnant, I decided that I needed another drink to keep me going. I made my excuses and tried to make my way out of the room but every few steps someone I hadn’t seen in ages emerged from the wings with an air kiss and a desperate need to catch up. Manjeet and Aaron were moving down to London, Joel and Rowena had just bought a house over in Withington and Tina (formerly of Tina and Alan and currently of Tina and Susan) had left teaching and was now trying to write a novel. Beginning to feel as if I was coming down with a