It wasn’t like Mark was exploiting us, and we weren’t in any danger from him as far as I could see. But mixed in with everything else, I still felt a bit of the same kind of resentment towards him. It wasn’t even really a personal thing. It was because he was a man and he had money and that gave him power, and I couldn’t hide from that and I didn’t know how else to deal with it.

Should I be grateful? It was all right for Mum – she was clearly smitten, and that let her off the hook. She could accept all of this almost as if she’d earned it. But what about me and Ellie?

He pulled up outside our flat and leaned across to kiss Mum goodbye on the cheek as if they were an old married couple or even brother and sister, not a hot young-ish couple in the first flush of romance. It could hardly have been a more a demure sort of farewell, and I guessed he was trying not to make us uncomfortable. Another point in his favour. Then we said our final thank-yous and got out of the car and Mark drove away.

Mum rummaged in her handbag for her keys and let us in. She looked more flushed and brighter in the eyes than usual.

‘So that was all right, wasn’t it?’ she said as we went into the downstairs lobby.

Neither Ellie nor I said anything. Mum closed the door to the block behind us. ‘Don’t fall over yourselves rushing to tell me what you think of him.’

‘He’s nice,’ Ellie said. ‘Also, he really likes you.’

‘Why do I hear a “but” underlying that sentence?’ Mum said. She looked on the verge of being upset.

‘No buts,’ Ellie said diplomatically. ‘The only problem is what he thinks of us.’

‘Not so much of a problem,’ Mum said. ‘He thinks you’re both great. What did you think of him, Ava?’

‘Why does it matter what we think? He’s your boyfriend.’

‘Ava, of course it matters.’

We made our way up the stairs to our flat. Mum unlocked our front door and we went in. I said, ‘Does Dad know about him?’

Mum stepped out of her shoes. She’d put on her best high heels for the occasion. ‘It’s nothing to do with him.’

‘So I shouldn’t mention it?’

‘When are you going to get the chance? We haven’t heard from him for months.’

‘Which means we’re probably about due,’ I said. ‘If you’re really sure about this, if you think Mark’s going a big part of our lives, sooner or later one of us is going to have to tell him.’

‘Let’s worry about that when the time comes, all right? It’s still early days,’ Mum said.

‘Yeah, except you’ve known him since before Ellie was a baby, and you were pretty keen for us to make a good impression. You know what, Mum, it’s either serious or it isn’t. You can’t have it both ways,’ I said.