I was sleeping upstairs, even though it was nearing midday. Depression and a touch of anorexia equals big-time lethargy, in case you’ve never experienced the two together.

Bang, bang, bang.

It was the sound of a fist pounding, I was sure, but Michael would handle it. I rolled over in bed. There was nothing for me to do in a situation like this. My role was to stay quiet and out of the way.

Bang, bang, bang.

Michael still hadn’t got a doorbell or intercom fitted. After all, technically no one was living in this pile of scaffold and gnawed brick.

Bang, bang, bang.

Probably it was a tradesperson. Worse-case scenario, a journalist.

I heard Michael’s footsteps beat the flagstones and the door creak open.

‘Michael?’

The voice was young, breathy, female – and horribly familiar.

What the hell was she doing here?

‘You made it here all by yourself?’ I heard Michael reply. ‘I was going to send a driver.’

I threw off the covers and ran to look over the stairs.

Annalise stood in the entranceway below, kohl-lined eyes filled with giddy excitement. She wore an oversized Michael Reyji Ray T-shirt with a belt and Indian sandals. Slumpy canvas bags lay at her feet.

I couldn’t see Michael’s face, but I sensed excitement from him.

I cantered down the stairs, catching myself on the stair rail. ‘Hey,’ I said.

Michael didn’t turn around. ‘Good morning, Lorna.’

‘Annalise,’ I said. ‘What’s with the bags?’

‘Annalise has come to stay with us,’ said Michael.

‘She’s … what?’

‘She’s going to live here for a while. You’re okay with that, right, Lorna? Another girl around the place. Like sisters.’

I swallowed. I already have a sister. I just never see her.

‘She’s staying here?’ I asked.

‘She can’t live with her mother right now,’ Michael explained. ‘Cat’s falling to pieces. And poor Annalise has nowhere else to go so she’s gonna stay here. She’s a friend. We take care of our friends.’

‘A best friend,’ said Annalise, laughing and giving Michael a kiss on the cheek.

I looked at Annalise then – taking in her youth and prettiness and twig legs.

‘The best-friend role is taken,’ I told Annalise. ‘By me.’

Michael laughed good-naturedly. ‘Hey, girls. It’s not a competition.’

But instinctively I knew it was. And Michael was loving every minute of it.

‘How long is she going to stay for?’ I asked, voice tight.

‘Michael, doesn’t Lorna want me here?’ Annalise asked in her pretty London boarding-school accent.

I glanced at Michael too. ‘It’s not that. I just … I wish someone had told me.’

‘Annalise will stay as long as she needs to,’ said Michael. ‘Lorna, you need to accept it.’