I couldn’t bear to go back to the hotel suite to get my things, so Adzo went for me. I’d asked the driver to take us to the house – but when we arrived it turned out I didn’t have a key, what with it BEING MY WEDDING DAY, and so Dad had to go across the road to the neighbours’, Dash and Lenny, who kept our spare set.

The church was small and we only knew them a bit, so we hadn’t invited them to the ceremony, but they’d been expected at the evening reception, along with their twin toddlers. The evening do was going to be a live band and a dance floor and a hog roast out in the gardens behind the venue.

I’d gone to bed dreaming of that evening reception for months. There’s something about all the formalities being over, when folks no longer have to be on their best behaviour. The evening part is always the best bit of a wedding, so I’d really focused a lot of my meetings with Happy on making sure there were going to be flip-flops in a basket by the dance floor for when everyone’s dress shoes started to rub, and there was going to be two children’s entertainers so parents could relax too. We’d ordered thousands of lights for the trees and hundreds of candles for the outdoor tables so that the last of the summer could be enjoyed when the music got too much. I’d even made sure the smokers’ corner was comfortable since everyone would inevitably end up out there anyway – even if, like Alexander, they’d given up their smoking years ago.

I stood and watched Dad knock on Dash and Lenny’s door, and the ensuing conversation. Dash shook his head as Dad spoke, as if he couldn’t digest what was being said, and then Lenny joined him in the doorframe, looping his arm around his husband’s shoulders casually, the perfect illustration of exactly what I’d lost. All three men turned in my direction, catching me staring, so I lifted a hand to confirm that yes, the balding sixty-something in the wedding suit was my father, and yes, we were indeed locked out of the house.

Lenny slowly, uncertainly, raised a hand back, and wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was as he looked my dress up and down with pity. Dash dipped his head to say something to him, and then Lenny retreated back inside. They both lingered at the front door after he reappeared with the key and watched, slack-jawed, as Dad trekked across to me. It was as if they were eating popcorn and watching a heist movie with a plot twist, not bearing witness to my disintegrating life.

I assumed they didn’t need it explaining that there would be no party for them to go to tonight.