‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, awestruck at their own room, which also had a fire burning in the grate. The room was small, but the bed was huge and gigantically soft and pouffy-looking, made up with soft white linen; there was a huge flat-screen television, a fridge and a bottle of wine. Outside the window, the snow was piling up on the sill; yellow cabs cruised the quiet back street, but further behind she could hear honking traffic and feel a buzz in the air with the looming skyscrapers above. She popped her head into the bathroom and noted the great claw-footed bath, lined up with luxurious full-sized products and towels that would need their own postcode.

‘Oh yes,’ she said. ‘Oh yes oh yes oh yes. I want one of these very much. And room service, seeing as I didn’t manage to eat a single thing on the plane as I am a total idiot. But even if I missed that, there is no way I am not enjoying every second of this.’

Her clothes felt stale and hot, and she sniffed the bubble bath with a smile, then winked at Austin.

‘I am so glad I came,’ she said suddenly, filling up with happiness. She went to embrace Austin, who was, however, frowning at his watch.

‘Ahh,’ he said. ‘Well. Um, we’re due at dinner in about twenty minutes. Sorry.’

‘Dinner?’ said Issy, who despite her nap was still feeling tired and distinctly grotty after the flight, and whose body clock thought it was about one o’clock in the morning. ‘Can’t we just stay in and have a lovely time?’

‘I would love that,’ said Austin firmly. ‘But I’m afraid having dinner with you and …’ He nearly said ‘my boss’ but checked himself just in time, ‘… Merv is just part of the deal.’ He grinned at her. ‘Come on, we’re going somewhere posh. It’ll be fun.’

‘I want to have fun here, in a bubble bath, with you, followed by my very first American cheeseburger, which I was hoping would be larger than my head,’ said Issy a trifle sadly. ‘Then falling asleep in about an hour.’

‘I’ve booked the babysitter,’ said Austin relentlessly.

‘I don’t need a babysitter,’ came an adamant voice from next door. The rooms obviously weren’t as soundproof as they looked.

‘She’s just going to pop up every half-hour,’ said Austin. ‘Make sure you aren’t playing eighteen-rated games or touching your private area.’

‘Shut up.’

Issy jumped in and out of the strong American shower, but it wasn’t quite the same as a long soak followed by a long lie in bed with Austin.

‘Smart?’ she asked, remembering that she’d packed in about four seconds flat and couldn’t actually remember what she’d brought.

‘Oh yes, well, hmm, I don’t know,’ said Austin, who had enormous trouble noticing what women wore.

Issy suddenly remembered with horror that her best green dress that she’d bought for her birthday party was at the dry-cleaner’s and she hadn’t had time to pick it up. That was her only really lovely thing; everything else she wore was really to be comfortable to work and get around in, which meant lots of slightly faded floral dresses with elbow-length sleeves teamed with opaque tights and boots and a cardigan if it was cold; in other words, she dressed like the student she hadn’t been for ten years.

She wasn’t sure this was going to cut it.

She hauled through her suitcase – turning the perfect little hotel room into a midden in the process, she noted sadly – and came up with three near-identical grey floral dresses, two of which were far too light for the winter chill; two pairs of jeans (who needed two pairs of jeans on holiday? she wondered to herself); four formal shirts for Darny (what was she thinking?), and her old college ball gown, which was covered in netting and pinched under the arms and would be far too formal.

‘Bugger,’ she said. ‘I think I will have to shop tomorrow.’

Austin, who never normally noticed time at all, was looking anxiously at his watch. ‘Um, darling …’ he was saying.

‘OK, OK.’

With horror, Issy realised that the only thing she had that was mildly suitable was the black jumper and trousers she had travelled in – travelled in, and slept in for six hours. At least black could look a bit dressy, and she could stick a necklace on, and her boots could go under the trousers …

She sighed. Then, tentatively, pulled on her slightly stale clothes.

‘I feel like Haggis McBaggis,’ she said gloomily, gazing at herself in the tastefully soft-lit mirror. Austin glanced at her and just saw that the steam from the shower had made her cheeks go warm and pink, which he liked, and she was biting her lip like a nervous child, which was also cute.

‘You look great,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’

Chapter Eleven

Bananas Foster

1 banana, peeled and cut in half

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup vegetable oil for frying

For the sauce

¼ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ cup banana liqueur

¼ cup dark rum

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pot. Roll the bananas in the egg then the crumbs to coat and set aside.

When the oil begins to smoke, gently place the banana halves in pot and cook until golden brown. Less than 1 minute.

Combine the butter, sugar and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the banana liqueur. Remove from heat and add rum. Then continue to cook the sauce over high heat until the rum burns off – the sauce will foam.

Slice cooked banana into quarters and place in dish. Scoop vanilla ice cream on top. Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the bananas and ice cream and serve immediately.

Pearl got home late and was bone tired. Louis had uncharacteristically whined the whole way. It had taken a lot longer to cash up and clear up without Issy there, and that was before they batched up for the next day. Because Pearl did so much of the cleaning, she often felt she worked very hard. Which she did, but as she filed the payroll reports, she realised she didn’t quite appreciate how much Issy did to keep everything ticking over. No wonder she couldn’t think about going to New York without falling into a panic. There were a million different things to remember.