Mission Improbable

"Quick," said Tom, "we have to do something to prove to the world that we are still a couple. Could you quit fiddling with the scatter cushions? I've only just arranged them in a spectrum of tonal hues."

Katie put down the green ("Tuscan olive" said Tom) cushion and thought long and hard. "We could just do what we normally do," she said. "Tell the press we are going to be somewhere at a certain time and then grin and kiss and hold hands in a really awkward way. They take the photos, plaster them all over the papers and we're off the hook again. You go back to make tapenade and bottling your own greengages and I get to sit on the sofa and eat."

"I like your style," said Tom. "Pass me the phone."