Laura had blocked his number and unfriended him from her social media but he’d kept trying to contact her. He hadn’t come back to the flat but the next day he’d appeared outside her work. By then Laura had had the strength to send him on his way but yesterday he’d been waiting for her when she came out of the gym. He’d been angry, a side of him she’d never seen before, and it had frightened her. She’d firmly told him to stop harassing her, made it to her car, locked the doors and driven away. She hadn’t seen him since but it had shaken her up. Spritzi hadn’t been home when Laura had arrived so she’d rung her mum. She hadn’t mentioned Kyle of course. It had been enough to hear her mother’s reassuring voice and tell her she was coming home; she just hadn’t let on for how long.

“What on earth will you do with yourself?” Spritzi’s question startled her back to the present. Since she’d quit at the salon almost a week ago, Laura had asked herself that same question several times.

If working in the city for the last six years had taught her anything it was that she didn’t want to live there permanently. Trouble was, she wasn’t sure where she did want to live, or how she was going to earn an income for that matter.

She stretched her arms above her head, drawing in a deep breath. “Sleep in, for starters. Let Mum spoil me. When I get sick of that I’ll think about the future.”

Spritizi’s phone let out its crazy ringtone. She picked it up. “That’s Jazz wondering where I am.” She unfurled herself from the couch and gently hooked her fingers around one of Laura’s rainbow locks. “Are you sure you won’t come out with us? You know Jazz was only trying to help when she coloured your hair.”

Laura shook her head. “I don’t care about the hair. And we were out together on the weekend. I’ve got a bit more sorting to do before I head off on Thursday.”

“I’ll see you in the morning?”

“I’ll be here.”

“Good. We’ll have breakfast together.” Spritzi bent down and air kissed Laura’s cheeks, stepped around the boxes and let herself out.