He’s just had his third kid, so she doesn’t want to pressure him, but still it’s frustrating the way he can’t give her one evening of his time. Nick is the same, except he’s too busy ‘looking for work’ to help her. He’s wearing his battered, muddy trainers inside. Once she gets the wooden floors done properly she will insist everyone remove their shoes at the door. She might even invest in slippers for guests. Anything to ensure the flat stays perfect and clean, far from the worn grubbiness of the house she grew up in.

‘Your phone keeps going,’ her mum says.

Yvonne checks, it’s a message from Emma with dates.

‘Look at you smiling, is that Jaden then?’

It was unfortunate, that one of the first times Yvonne was out for the day with Jaden, she would bump into one of her brothers and his wife in Borough Market. It didn’t take long for every member of the family to hear the news. Her parents have been pestering her to meet ‘the new man’ ever since.

‘So,’ Mum says with a smile, ‘was it him then?’

‘No, actually, it’s Emma.’

‘Oh, how is she getting on?’

‘She’s alright.’

‘Has she met anyone yet?’

No matter what achievements Yvonne shares with her parents about herself or friends, the only thing of any real importance is if they’re in a relationship or not.

‘She’s a single mum. She’s not got time for that.’

Mum tuts, ‘Is the dad a bit more involved now?’

‘A bit, I’m not sure.’

‘Is Emma the rich one?’ Nick asks.

‘Hardly, she lives in a council flat in Stratford.’

‘But isn’t she that white African girl? The stuck-up one?’

Yvonne ignores him and again relishes in how good her decision was to buy such a small sofa.

‘I feel bad,’ Claude says. ‘I’ve got my tools in the van, I can do a few bits now,’ he says standing.

‘Don’t be silly. I didn’t mean it.’

But he doesn’t sit back down and follows Yvonne as she goes in search of sugar.

‘Claude, seriously don’t worry about it. I know you’re busy with work and the baby. My bathroom can wait.’

‘I’ll get round to it one day, I promise, alright.’

She finds a few loose packets of sugar in a drawer, ‘Here, will you take this through to Your Highness?’

‘Sure. By the way, why’s Mum going on about meeting Jaden? I thought you broke up with him?’

‘No,’ she says, annoyed he remembered her saying that. She wasn’t serious about breaking up with Jaden, simply exploring the idea. But things seemed a bit better now, especially since everyone at work found out about them.

‘You’re leading the poor bloke on,’ Claude says. ‘You said he was boring.’