Liv stood for a moment, surveying the mess her flat had become. To anyone else, she knew, it would look as if the place had been trashed, but beneath the hair crimpers and killer heels and what she estimated to be about a hundred pairs of skinny-leg jeans, she could see all her own familiar belongings. She picked her way through the chaos, towards the kitchen, checking the fridge and switching on the kettle absent-mindedly. Here too, every available surface was covered in the debris of Eddie and Anya’s recent stay. They had obviously had takeaway – Indian and pizza –and the stale remaining food added to the cloying intimidation of them both still hanging in the air.

She filled the sink with hot water and wash-up liquid, dropped in cups and cutlery from the draining board; if she only had this small space cleared off it would be a start. Liv didn’t expect there to be milk in the fridge for a cup of tea; instead, she took down the only clean cup from the cupboard and dropped a camomile teabag into it. She wanted to cry, but somehow the tears just wouldn’t come. Instead, she walked about her little flat that somehow seemed to have been stolen from under her nose, in a complete daze. Her mobile phone ringing out pulled her from the edge of what felt like a huge precipice of wretchedness.

‘Liv,’ Pete said. ‘You okay?’

‘Sure,’ she said, although she knew her voice had come from somewhere outside herself. Maybe, it was a coping mechanism. After all, taking in the fact that her boyfriend and the woman he’d been carrying on with behind her back thought that it was acceptable to come into her flat and dump all their belongings there as if they had the God-given right to move in on top of her, took a bit of getting used to.

‘I just thought I’d let you know Anya seems to have emptied everything from my apartment.’ He sounded relieved and she could imagine it was a major headache sorted; it cut out any need to let her back into his life.

‘I know.’

‘What?’

‘I know. She’s taken all her stuff from your apartment because she and Eddie have just moved them into my flat.’ Now she heard the betraying wobble in her own voice.

‘Oh, come on, seriously? How low can those two be?’ He sounded completely different to the Pete she’d known for so many years. Angry – it wasn’t a word she’d ever have associated with him. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll come back straight away, help you sort it all out,’ he said and she could imagine him, turning on his heels and dropping whatever plans he’d had for his afternoon to help her.