She wrote: “And for the first time, he didn’t wait for a cue. He just kissed her. And the whole world, for once, forgot to watch.”

Leila closed the laptop. She looked at Zayn, who was nervously flipping a coin – heads for the exit, tails for… what? They’d been paid in full. The billionaire’s son’s scandal was old news. The agency was already auditioning for their next contract, separately.

But it was too late. The storyline had achieved sentience.