I knew I could have requested anything after not seeing Mum for a fortnight. ‘Can we get takeaway pizza and watch something?’

‘Sounds good to me. Why don’t you order the pizza now and it’ll be delivered not long after we get home?’

After I ordered the pizza, I thought about what would be fun for Mum and me to watch. She seemed pretty distracted. Maybe she felt guilty about everything that had happened during the week? Or maybe she had a lot on at work.

‘What do you want to drink?’

I thought about the dinner with Caitlin at the pub and answered, ‘Coke.’

‘Sure.’ She pulled off into a nearby drive-through bottle shop. ‘Can’t eat pizza without a glass of wine,’ Mum said with a smile.

I didn’t know about that, but I did know that there’s nothing better than opening a pizza box, lifting out a slice of pizza and seeing all of the cheese stretch.

When we finally made it home, Mum placed her bag and keys on the kitchen bench and then poured a glass of wine. The doorbell rang – the pizza was here!

I placed it on the coffee table in the living room and threw my bag in my room. I then excitedly opened up the pizza box. My mind was blown as I took my first bite. Mum sipped her wine. The salami and pineapple tasted amazing.

‘It’s so delicious, Mum,’ I told her, encouraging her to eat before I scoffed it all.

‘I’ll get a plate. Do you want one?’ Mum asked as she walked into the kitchen, taking her glass of wine with her.

‘No thanks.’ I hit play on the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance. Being away from Dad and Caitlin for a little while made me feel a lot more chill, even when Mum poured another glass of wine. But when she poured another, I said, ‘Mum, haven’t you had enough?’

‘Phoebe, it’s the end of the week … and god it’s been a huge week.’

Fair enough, I thought. It’s not as if I wasn’t enjoying kicking back with Michael Jordan, a pizza and my guts bursting with Coke.

I was more than ready to jump in bed when the doco finished. I missed my room and wanted to make the most of a night sleeping beneath the air con.

‘Are you going to bed now, Mum?’

‘You go, Pheebs. I’ll finish this,’ she said, peering at about a quarter of a huge glass of wine.

‘I’ll see you in the morning then.’

I messaged Katie:

I slept until nine, and then checked my phone. After flicking through Instagram for a while, my rumbling stomach and the thought of cold pizza overtook how much I wanted to lie about without distraction.