“I’m blushing at my own stupid, nonsensical, meaningless thought process, which, by the way, nobody knows about except me.”

“Spoiled?" Mum cuts her off with a laugh. "Nonsense! There's nothing wrong with Minnie, is there, my precious? She knows her own mind!" She strokes Minnie's hair fondly, then looks up again. "Becky, love, you were exactly the same at her age. Exactly the same.”

“It’s the way he had a cup of tea waiting for me when I woke up. It’s the way he turned on his laptop especially for me to look up all my Internet horoscopes and helped me choose the best one. He knows all the crappy, embarrassing bits about me that I normally try to hide from any man for as long as possible… and he loves me anyway.”

“We’re on this planet for too short a time. And at the end of the day, what’s more important? Knowing that a few meaningless figures balanced—or knowing that you were the person you wanted to be?”

“Your job is obviously very pressured.""I thrive under pressure," I explain. Which is true. I've known that about myself ever since...Well. Ever since my mother told me when I was about 8.”

“Becky! Love!" Mum has pushed her way through her dancing guests to reach me. "What's wrong? Has labor started?"Honestly. My family has no idea about contemporary urban street dance trends.”

“The thing with giving up is you never know. You never know whether you could have done the job. And I'm sick of not knowing about my life.”