I was goading Ellie some more about how I was looking forward to seeing how much she liked being naked on Saturday night, and she just came back with taunts about if my cooking was so bad maybe it would be better if we forgot the whole thing and just went to a nice restaurant instead. Which was mean, but funny.

Anyway, when I did try and tell her seriously that she’d really enjoy it if she just took the extra step, she pretty much flat-out said that there was no way she would, not yet, because it might be better if she knew everybody really well, or nobody at all, but at the moment she wasn’t quite sure. I can understand that and don’t want to push her too hard.

I felt a bit sad about that, but she did say she’d make a deal: I’d be the naked one, but she’d come over in the afternoon and help me to cook. I liked that idea a lot, and then an hour later I got a list of things I had to buy on Saturday morning. I recognised most of them individually but would have no idea how to put them together into a decent meal so I’m glad she’s stepping up for me.