‘You did?’

Matt shifts slightly in his stance. ‘I’d say Sasha’s added some content for dramatic purposes. But yeah, I went and had a word. Couldn’t accept the way they had treated you and I told them as much. They do want you in their lives, Lex, they just wanted it on their terms and I made sure they were clear that would never happen. They were difficult at first but they came round.’

‘Turns out the coven are actually human after all,’ Sasha giggles.

I’m so shocked, I can barely take this in. ‘Matt, oh my goodness. I can’t believe you did that for me.’

He shrugs. ‘I care about you. It needed sorting so I sorted it. But to be clear, I won’t be fighting all your battles for you.’

‘That’s good to know.’ I smile, appreciating once more what a good match the two of us are.

‘Shall we go and say hi?’

‘OK, sure, but just give me a second to message Emmanuel.’

I pull out my phone and tap out a quick WhatsApp message.

You should be here. You’re as big and important a part of my life now as everyone else. Not just my boss. Such a great friend. xx

I see that she reads it straight away and starts typing, so I wait until her message comes through.

I’m honoured that you see me that way. I see you as a great friend too, Alex. Just thought I should stay with the team and make sure they don’t get lost. It’s like herding cats as you well know. See you shortly. x

I chuckle at her message. I do indeed know what the team can be like. But thankfully it’s a bit easier now, sans Danielle. I quickly reply that we won’t be long, then turn to Matt.

‘Ready?’

‘Let’s do it.’

Hand in hand, we make our way across to my mother, sister and John.

‘Hi, how are you all?’ I greet them.

‘Hello, love. It’s great to see you.’ John immediately steps forward and pulls me into a hug that suggests he’s really missed me, making me realise how much I’ve missed him too. ‘That was an incredible performance before.’

‘Thanks, John. It’s great to see you too.’

‘This place is sweet, Alex,’ remarks Carol, in place of a greeting. ‘You’ve landed on your feet.’ She eyes Matt approvingly.

‘Hello, Alex.’ My mother’s voice is more timid than usual, perhaps in fear that she’ll get another going-over from Matt. ‘That was quite a performance earlier.’

‘Did you enjoy it?’

‘It’s not my kind of music, but you did very well.’

‘Gosh, Mother, that’s quite the compliment coming from you.’

She purses her lips awkwardly. ‘Yes, well. Your Matt has helped me realise that I haven’t been as supportive as I could have been.’

That’s the understatement of the century, but I decide not to vocalise this observation. I’m actually really pleased to see the two of them, despite the way they’ve frozen me out all this time. I also don’t want to make things uncomfortable for Matt.