I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.

‘So,’ says Luke. He leans back on his elbows and stares up at the darkening blue sky. ‘We made it.’

‘We made it.’ My garland of flowers is starting to fall down over one eye, so I carefully unpin it and place it on the grass. ‘And no casualties.’

‘You know... I feel as though the past few weeks have been a weird dream,’ says Luke. ‘I’ve been in my own, preoccupied world, with no idea what was happening in real life.’ He shakes his head. ‘I think I nearly went off the rails back then.’

‘Nearly?’

‘OK, then. I did go off the rails.’ He turns to look at me, his dark eyes glowing in the light from the marquee. ‘I owe a lot to you, Becky.’

‘You don’t owe me anything,’ I say in surprise. ‘We’re married now. It’s like... everything’s a joint account.’

There’s a rumbling sound from the side of the house, and I look up to see Dad loading our suitcases into the car. All ready for us to go.

‘So,’ says Luke, following my gaze. ‘Our famous honeymoon. Am I allowed to know where we’re going yet? Or is it still a secret?’

I feel a spasm of nerves inside. Here it comes. The last bit of my plan. The very last cherry on top of the cake.

‘OK,’ I say, and take a deep breath. ‘Here goes. I’ve been thinking a lot about us, recently, Luke. About being married, about where we should live. Whether we should stay in New York or not. What we should do...’ I pause, carefully marshalling my words. ‘And what I’ve realized is... I’m not ready to settle down. Tom and Lucy tried to settle down too early, and just look what happened to them. And I adore little Ernie, but seeing what it was like for Suze... It made me realize I’m not ready for a baby, either. Not yet.’ I look up apprehensively. ‘Luke, there are so many things I’ve never done. I’ve never really travelled. I’ve never seen the world. Neither have you.’

‘You’ve lived in New York,’ points out Luke.

‘New York is a great city and I do love it. But there are other great cities, all over the world. I want to see those, too. Sydney. Hong Kong... and not just cities!’ I spread my arms. ‘Rivers... mountains... all the sights of the world...’

‘Right,’ says Luke amusedly. ‘So, narrowing all this down to one honeymoon...’

‘OK.’ I swallow hard. ‘Here’s what I’ve done. I’ve cashed in all the wedding presents we got in New York. Stupid silver candlesticks and teapots and stuff. And I’ve... I’ve bought us two first-class tickets round the world.’

‘Round the world?’ Luke looks genuinely taken aback. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes! Round the world!’ I plait my fingers together tightly. ‘We can take as long as we like. As little as three weeks, or as long as...’ I look at him, tense with hope. ‘A year.’

‘A year?’ Luke stares back at me. ‘You’re joking.’

‘I’m not joking. I’ve told Christina I may or may not come back to work at Barneys. She’s fine about it. Danny will clear out our apartment for us and put it all in storage–’

‘Becky!’ says Luke, shaking his head. ‘It’s a nice idea. But I can’t possibly just up sticks and–’

‘You can. You can! It’s all set up. Michael will keep an eye on the New York office. The London office is running itself, anyway. Luke, you can do it. Everyone thinks you should.’

Simply Divine (by W. Holden)

Extract 1

Jane tried to pin down the exact moment when she realised Nick didn’t fancy her any more. If she was honest, it was about six months ago. Around the time she had moved into his flat in Clapham.

‘Are you sure it’s a good idea?’ Tally had cautiously asked at the time.

‘Of course!’ Offended, Jane had rebuffed her best friend’s obvious conviction that it wasn’t with all the brio she could muster. ‘Nick needs me,’ she had explained. Tally looked unconvinced.

‘Are you sure he doesn’t just need you to pay half the mortgage?’ she asked gently.

Jane winced. Nick was not exactly famous for his generosity. Tighter than a gnat’s arse, if she was to be frank. Last Christmas she had bought him a Ralph Lauren bathrobe and a Versace shirt. Nick had reciprocated with a twig pencil and a teddy bear which had been a free gift from the petrol station.

‘Honestly, Jane,’ Tally went on, exasperated, her big grey eyes wide with sincerity, ‘you’ve got so much going for you. You’re so pretty, and funny, and clever. I just don’t understand why you’re throwing yourself away on him. He’s so rude.’

Tally was right. Nick was rude, especially after a few drinks, and especially to Tally. The fact that she was grand and had grown up in a stately home brought Nick out in a positive rash of social inferiority.

But it was all very well for Tally to be censorious, she thought defensively as she burrowed yet further beneath the duvet. It was just fine for Tally to declare she was holding out for Mr Right. Or Lord Right probably, in her case. She didn’t understand that relationships simply weren’t that straightforward. They didn’t just happen. You had to work with what you had, particularly if you were twenty-four and didn’t want to be a spinster at thirty.

‘You’ll be saying you want to marry him next,’ Tally had almost wailed. Jane judged it injudicious to confess that this was die whole point of her moving in. Not that it had worked. On the contrary, judging by present form, Nick’s plighting his troth looked more unlikely than ever. Plighting his sloth, however, had been the work of seconds.

Once Jane was on site, Nick had seen no further point in squandering both time and money on trendy restaurants when there was a perfectly good TV at home to eat Pot Noodles in front of. Similarly, all trips to cinemas, bars, concerts and parties had come to an abrupt end now that they no longer needed to leave the flat to meet each other.

Jane’s evenings consequently divided themselves between working out how to fit her clothes into the minute amount of wardrobe space Nick had allocated her and scenting and oiling herself in the grubby little bath that no amount of Mr Muscle made the faintest impression on. She, at least, was determined to keep up her standards.