Alison stops to pick out three red apples and two green ones. Maddy sees that she’s not always so precise; taking a handful of potatoes she pushes them into a bag. Then she chooses a pineapple, turns it over, sniffs it, and adds it to the shopping. She click clacks away in her kitten heel mules. Her calf muscles are tight. She must work out every day. An unwelcome image of Alison’s legs wrapped around Max pushes its way into her head.

She pulls into the meat aisle, but Alison misses it out completely. Bet she’s a bloody vegan, can’t believe he went along with that. He loves his steak and chips. Is she going to be the one to tell her he’s missing, presumed dead? She follows her to the dairy section. He must have enjoyed being two different people, leading two lives. Maybe that was part of the appeal: that, and having sex with two women. Not as often as she wanted though. She should have realised there was someone else. There must have been signs, how could she have missed them?

Maddy drops a bag of stewing beef into her trolley. She imagines the security cameras watching her, knowing that she’s not really shopping. Alison comes to the end of the aisle but instead of turning down the next one, she is spinning round, heading back towards Maddy. There’s nowhere to hide. She is certain Alison will know who she is. Maddy backs up, crashes into a shelf. Alison stops next to her, peers into the fridge. Maddy freezes holding her breath. Alison moves on and Maddy slowly exhales.

And then she’s gone. Vanished. Maddy races down the centre of the shop, scanning up and down each aisle, both sides. Perhaps it dawned on her she was being followed. Maybe she recognised her from when she knocked at her door. What if she knows who she is? She’s probably calling security right now. She’ll be frogmarched off the premises. How humiliating. She wants to shout, but she’s been living with my husband!

There she is, standing at the Pharmacy counter, talking to the chemist. She’s unbuttoning her coat. Maddy edges closer, gripping the trolley. Alison is rubbing her belly, which should be flat on someone so tiny, but it’s not, there’s a distinct swelling. As Alison talks, she wipes her eyes with a tissue. The chemist brings a chair forward, and as she sits down, her hands reach around the now unmistakable bump. Maddy’s mouth opens in a silent scream. A pain shoots through the side of her head. She abandons the trolley and presses the heel of her hand to her temple, running haphazardly towards the doors, colliding with people as she tries to escape.