He didn’t speak for a long time. I didn’t think he was going to say anything at all. As the car passed the front gates of the Hacienda and swung a left onto the hard standing at the back, he switched off the engine and leaned across to remove a leaflet from the glove box. He handed it to me.

‘The Xochiquetzal Clinic and Medspa Centre,’ I read aloud.

‘It’s not far. Cabo San Lucas. I had some work done there myself. Dr Gonzales is a good friend of mine – I would trust him with my life.’

‘Please, Tenoch.’

‘Your first consultation is next week. They will do the first procedure the week after. If you want to be truly free, you have to change your face. It’s hot property, and it’s becoming more recognisable by the day, you understand?’

‘Yeah, but—’

‘But what?’ he glared at me.

‘Nothing,’ I said, all fizzy in my chest again. It was useless nagging him. He was a closed door and surgery was the only one open to me. I had no choice but to walk through it.

‘What work did you have done?’

‘I had some tattoos removed. And a facelift. Rhinoplasty. A few chemical peels. I’ll show you a picture of how I looked before.’

When we got inside, I sat at the dining table and flicked numbly through the leaflet. Every picture was of some scraped-face angel-white-toothed pre-pube who’d had every procedure going and felt ‘fresh and ready for life’s challenges’. I was not these women. I did not want to improve my face or brighten my outlook. Though the tummy tuck was worthy of a second look.

Tenoch brought in a scrap of paper and slid it across the table top. It was a mottled photo of a family sitting by a pool, raising a drink and squinting into the sun. A woman handing out slices of cake. A twenty-first birthday balloon tied to the back of a young woman’s chair. The man sitting next to her had his hand behind her head, doing bunny ears.

‘Can you see me?’ asked Tenoch.

‘No,’ I said. ‘Is that your daughter?’

‘Yes,’ he said, pointing to the birthday girl. ‘And that’s me next to her.’

‘Seriously?’ I said. ‘That’s you? Your face…’

‘That’s what a facelift and a nose job does. It changes the fundamental parts of your image.’ He stared hard at the photo before lifting it to his mouth and kissing the girl, then the woman handing out the cake.

‘What happened to them?’

He didn’t answer that. Instead he said ‘My point is – there is life for you to live after surgery. New face. New name. New people.’

‘Is Tenoch not your real name?’

He didn’t answer that either. ‘You have given yourself a second chance. My advice – take it with both hands. Get out there and make good of it.’