At the bottom of the stairs Liv sat for a moment. She cried like she hadn’t cried for years. Pete and Anya back together; she hadn’t seen that coming. But then again, they looked good together, perhaps it would work out in the end for them, maybe. Anya would have learned her lesson. She was probably a lot brighter than Liv gave her credit for; she’d certainly seen through Eddie Quirke a lot faster than Liv had. Liv wasn’t sure how long she stayed here, sitting on that step, going over the last five minutes in her head, the last ten years, if she was honest. It was all such a total mess and now she wasn’t even sure what was real and what wasn’t anymore. She’d thought she and Pete were friends, the best of friends, but now, the way she felt – had she made a complete mess of that also?

There was nothing for it but to drag herself back to the flat.

She texted Maya to let her know she was home safe and sound then switched off her phone for the night. Whatever thoughts she had about making something for her supper had completely evaporated. She just dragged herself into the bedroom and crawled beneath the duvet. She didn’t even set her alarm clock for the morning; she was much too emptied out to think that far ahead. For now, all she could think about was nothing.

18

L‌iv supposed that at this point, if she was trying to cheer herself up, then being grateful for the Tesco Express that stayed open twenty-four-seven was as good a place to start as any. She stocked up on milk, bread, eggs and cheese on her way back from work that night. She knew there was no need to buy bleach or washing-up liquid or any sort of polish – Eddie and Anya wouldn’t even know where to find the supplies of those things when they’d used up everything else in her cupboards. That thought annoyed her more than any other, the idea that they’d just emptied her fridge of the bottle of wine, the cheese and butter. It was the selfishness of it and it was so typical of how Eddie had been for as long as she’d known him.