Emma stared out of the café window at two gulls fighting over a burger carton. She’d no idea what had possessed her to tell her mother that she’d be bringing a date to her sister’s wedding. Or why she’d let Tracey take charge of solving her dilemma, other than the ceremony was in a week’s time and there was no way she was asking one of her exes to play the part.

‘One grande cappuccino.’Julian placed the coffee on the table and slid into the seat opposite. ‘And one black tea.’ He took a sip. ‘Lovely.’

Emma tried not to cringe. They already seemed mismatched. She was wearing a crumpled Joy Division T-shirt, black jeans, and blood red Doc Martins. In contrast, his blue dress shirt and tan chinos were pressed and his white Nikes scuff-free.

She pulled a weak smile. ‘Thanks. So, how do you know Tracey?’

‘School. When she lived in Dublin. You?’

‘University. In London. We shared a bedsit in Crouch End.’

‘You’re thatelectronic engineer?’ Julian laughed.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Nothing. I mean, you know, she’s told me a few stories. Like how you wired the windows to stop thieves and electrocuted the landlord.’

Emma shook her head. ‘That’s not entirely true. I made some adjustments to an existing system and that creep deserved the shock.’

‘Sounds like I’d better behave myself then.’

‘Always a good idea on a first date, Julian. Any date, really. So, tell me about yourself. What do you do?’ Please be normal, she thought to herself.

‘I’m an anthropologist.’

Emma was reasonably certain she’d caught the eye-roll in time.

‘I work in an interdisciplinary research institute,’ Julian continued. ‘Technology and Society. I study how digital tech is built and used. My thesis examined the politics and praxes of a couple of start-up companies who were developing new apps.’

‘The politics and praxes?’ Emma sighed. Only Tracey would think a preppy anthropologist who saw politics everywhere as a suitable wedding date for her. She was an engineer. Creating an app was code and applied maths.

‘You know, all the pressures shaping how a company operates – raising finance, legal compliance, relationships with investors, in-team relations, trying to create a new market.