“Your legs are hilarious,” he said, and laughed as if it was funny, but though she was sure he saw the look on her face, he didn’t apologise after, or say it was just a joke, or that she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

She had to take out another credit card to pay for the upgrade, but it was worth it when, four days later, he kissed the inside of her thighs and whispered, “Much better,” quiet enough that she might have missed it, but just loud enough that she could hear.

“You’re not smiling much these days,” muttered Jiannis one weekend as they drove home from a dinner with his golfing friends. “You’re such a downer.”

The next day, he sent her a link.

Dazzling Smile – no more sad mornings! Before we created Dazzling Smile, women would have to regularly inject themselves with a deadly, paralysing toxin to bring the joy of youth back to their faces. How relieved they are to have a better, nano choice! In the event of sudden blindness, contact your healthcare provider.

She didn’t activate it, deleted the email, had a bad day at work.

He said nothing when she came home that evening, and they ordered Chinese – a whole crispy duck, pancakes, plum sauce, chow mein, sweet and sour pork, chicken and cashew nuts, sea bream, egg fried rice, beef and black bean sauce, chilli king prawns and prawn crackers – and watched the TV in silence.

The next day she stood in front of the mirror, and tried to smile, and it hurt.

She bought Dazzling Smile that evening.

It made her face ache for a while, and she didn’t like how it made her teeth so prominent, dragging her lips up and back while squeezing her eyes down so her vision sometimes fuzzed round the edge, but everyone else seemed to think it was much better.

Chapter 16

She saw her mum that Christmas, and realised it was the first time in ten months.

Karen Meads didn’t like to phone her daughter too much. “You have to live your life, don’t you?” she’d exclaim. “Don’t need to be worrying about me – I’m a coper!”

Jiannis was busy, so it was just her on the train to Bracknell. Karen met her at the station, which she’d never done before, leaning a little on a stick, head beginning to jut forward, shoulders high, swathed in a pale-blue coat.

Harmony tangled behind a small gaggle of boys pushing through the ticket barrier before breaking out on to the overhanging grey concourse opposite the empty bus station, squinting to bring her mum into focus against the ever-bright, ever-brilliant crinkle in her eyes.

“Dear God!” blurted Karen. “What on earth have you done to your face?!”

Dazzling Smile means that she is grinning ear to ear, a delighted, delightful presence, a laughing, merry explosion of joy as she starts screaming, then and there at her mother. She is pleasurable ecstasy, she is a measure of the goodness and wonder of the world, as she calls her mother a stupid interfering bitch, an ignorant old cow, a fucking shit excuse for a fucking mother, before marching back the way she came, in search of a train for London.