She should have known it would be like this, right from Robyn and John’s wedding, when the Mortimer side of the church was stuffed so full of relatives and friends that they’d had to edge into Robyn’s side, which consisted merely of Alison plus a handful of university friends. Even then, the balance had been there for all to see. Worse, Jeanie had made some comment to Alison a few years ago, out of misguided sympathy – ‘It must be hard, being on your own sometimes, Alison’, or something similar. Yes, okay, so no doubt the words had been meant with kindness, but all the same they had jabbed into Alison like little barbs. The other woman’s pity. The other woman’s condescension. How dreadfully hard it must be for Alison, with no husband and no huge family get-togethers and no flock of doting children!

Er, no actually. More like, how patronizing could you get? Because it wasn’t hard, and she wasn’t lonely, thank you very much. How could anyone be lonely when they worked as a mobile hairdresser and spent every day in different houses, cutting hair and listening to clients’ stories? Besides, she had all her pals on the Telly Addicts forum, some of whom had become dear friends over the years. She had her pride too, which was why she had said, ‘No thank you’ to Jeanie Mortimer’s invitations ever since. Because life was too short to have your nose rubbed in it, in Alison’s opinion. Count her out.

Twenty minutes later she had her feet up in front of the TV, a plate of microwaved lasagne on her knee, a glass of chilled wine on the coffee table and the laptop open at her side. The muggy weather had burst at last, and rain was pelting against the windows, leaving long wet streaks. There was even a rumble of thunder overhead. Good. Alison loved a thunderstorm when you were warm and cosy inside. And she’d just remembered there was one last Crunchie ice-cream bar in the freezer for afters. Heaven, right there.

Evening all, she typed between mouthfuls, once she’d logged into the forum. How’s everyone doing tonight? I see we have a few new members with us – welcome! We’re a very friendly bunch here and looking forward to talking telly with you! Now for the big question: what’s everyone watching tonight?