Blind Date with a Book

Chapter Two

I tried to forget about the contents of the crisp white envelope as I carried on with the rest of my day, but terrifying words such as ‘failure’ kept leaping out from the pages of the book I was attempting to distract myself with, and even Hilda’s tail seemed to be beating in rhythmic clusters of four and a half thuds reminding me I had to somehow find a thousand times that amount by the end of the summer.

If only I were a pampered pooch whose biggest worry was how long it was until my next walk.

‘Maybe I should set you up as a doggy influencer? The Hildabeast does Only Paws, what do you reckon?’ I suggested to her. Her unimpressed response was to unleash a silent but deadly protest fart and go to stand staring pointedly at the door which led through to the private part of the boat.