‘No.’ He rubbed a hand through his short hair so it stuck up on end. I shook my head in confusion. ‘Hardly the Virgin Mary,’ he’d said. I didn’t understand. I remembered Sebastian – definitely the first man I’d so much as flirted with since I’d split with Alex.

He jangled his keys. ‘I need to get going. Serena’s expecting me.’

‘Alex, tell me the truth.’ I stepped towards him. ‘Were you there?’

‘Well, I was going to drop in, but then –’

‘What?’

‘I couldn’t face it, so I – I just sat outside in the car for a bit.’

With a shiver, I remembered the car that had nearly run me down.

‘Did you see me come out? Did you – you didn’t try to run me over, did you?’

Alex looked at me like I was mad. ‘Christ, Maggie! Are you insane?’ He retrieved the scarf from Digby’s slobbery mouth. ‘I’ll have that, buddy, okay?’ His voice softened talking to the dog, and I winced as I thought of all the times he’d talked that way to me. With a great ache in my chest, I considered the violence of change. I remembered the row that had propelled me onto the coach – and then, suddenly, something else. Slivers of that humid night in town, piercing the fog in my brain, slivers of a broken mirror unable to reflect an image accurately any more. I clutched my head – but they’d gone again.

‘I’ll be in touch about the flat.’ He broke through my thoughts. ‘Is it okay for the agent to come round to value it tomorrow?’

‘I suppose so.’ My turn to shrug. ‘But I might want to stay.’

‘Fine – if you want to take over the whole mortgage.’

‘Fine. I might do that. I’ll put the rest of your stuff in boxes, shall I, and you can collect it sometime.’

‘Fine.’

‘Fine. Sometime when I’m not here, obviously.’

‘Obviously. No problem. See you around.’ And he was gone, loping down the stairs with not so much as a backwards glance. Digby watched his departure mournfully.

‘I know, silly thing.’ I scooped up the trembling dog. ‘Too much excitement for one day, eh?’

On the kitchen counter, the little packet of confetti glistened in the artificial light. The phone began to ring again. When I picked it up, no one spoke.

The first time I met Alex he was in the middle of a huge row with his father. Back in the day when I still had zest and ambition, I’d finally convinced Charlie to give me my first show to produce alone. I was still a novice really, and impressing my boss mattered massively to me.