‘Oh, we saw the guy from the house opposite,’ Ellen replied. ‘But we’re not getting anywhere. He hasn’t heard from the locksmith in a while.’

‘Eek,’ Alexa said. After a second, she suggested, ‘Sit down?’

Jack watched as Ellen lowered herself to the floor.

For a moment or so, no one said anything. Alexa looked like she was about to, when Ellen started up again. She was quiet, and her bravado at the window was gone; Jack felt a little apprehensive.

‘So, I’ve had a think,’ Ellen said haltingly, addressing Ben. ‘And a conversation. With Alexa. Anyway. Look. I don’t know. I remember what I remember.’ She saw Ben open his mouth to say something, but she continued, heedless. ‘And look, you remember what you remember. Which is different to what I remember. But anyway. That’s not – anyway, it’s fine. It was all just this teenage thing and … well, I should be done with it. Over it all. That’s the real … that’s what should … should happen. So you know.’ She stopped, squirming.

Jack had not expected this.

Ben clearly hadn’t either. He seemed to reel slightly, before offering a weak, ‘Thanks … thank you.’ He cleared his throat.

Jack noticed that Alexa had reached for Ellen’s hand.

Ben started speaking again. ‘Um.’ A hard swallow. ‘Look, I’m … I’m sorry all that happened. And I feel … it’s horrible. But also, I remembered’ – his voice strengthened – ‘well, one thing came to me while you two were talking. In the corner …’ A pause. ‘I was just telling Alexa, actually.’

Jack noticed she looked a little uncomfortable at this.

‘Well, it’s just that in our last year of school, I had this girlfriend. Imogen. Like a real girlfriend.’ He added, quickly, ‘No offence. But it’s just that, well, timings-wise, I just don’t think it makes sense. Because we were together from sixth form until the end of my first term at Bristol. So I don’t think I’d have been talking to another girl on MSN, you see,’ he said, finally.

Jack wondered why Ben hadn’t mentioned Imogen sooner.

‘A girlfriend,’ Ellen said, eventually. ‘Right.’ Her voice was even, but she was chewing her thumbnail.

‘Yeah, we were serious for quite a bit. So, I’m not sure, but look, as I said before, maybe we chatted at some point? I mean, we clearly almost knew each other,’ Ben added, quickly. ‘We were in the same town, going to the same pubs, the same parties. We know so many people in common …’ He trailed off, shrugging. ‘Maybe the timeline is a bit off or … I’m sorry, I mean it’s obviously weird that I’ve turned up here with Alexa and …’ He trailed off again and stared at his feet.

‘It’s definitely weird,’ Alexa said, quietly. ‘But –’

‘Look,’ Ellen interrupted. ‘Thanks for all that. Especially the bit about how you had a “real” girlfriend instead.’