I fizz with irritation. ‘I do earn a living, Douglas. I’m fine for the time being, and Nick will be back before it gets to the stage where we’re in trouble.’

‘So, when did he go? Did you argue? There must be a reason why he’s disappeared.’

‘Of course there’s a reason. Don’t treat me like an idiot.’

‘Calm down.’

‘I’ve got to go to work, Douglas.’

He comes closer, reaching past me to take a glass from the cupboard. He fills it with water and drinks it in one go, before rinsing it and placing it upside down on the drainer.

‘Are you picking Lottie up from school on Friday?’ I ask, pointedly moving towards the door. Sometimes he has to come here instead, if he’s running late.

‘Can we take a rain check on that?’

‘Fine.’ He touches my shoulder briefly, before strolling out into the warm April morning. The door shuts behind him, but not firmly enough to engage the lock. I give it an aggressive shove.

Sometimes I hate Douglas. I see him regularly because he has Lottie every other weekend and for part of the holidays. She idolizes him, and that’s a worry. When I was with him, it was made abundantly clear I could be a better version of myself, and that that was something I should desire and work towards. Every day I failed a little bit more. I don’t want that for Lottie. Nick’s influence is healthier. It wouldn’t occur to him that I could be anything other than the woman he wakes up to every morning, with her mussed-up hair and smudged eyeliner; the woman who wears his Chelsea T-shirt to sleep in and refuses to buy her own socks because men’s are better; or that Lottie could be anything but Lottie: imperfect but beautiful, funny and wise.

My job is to mitigate my ex’s influence on our daughter; to ensure that she knows it’s OK to fail, important even, and that she doesn’t have to be anything other than herself to be loved.

I put on my leather jacket and zip it up, frowning. For all my detachment, my constant analysis of his character, my efforts to stay one step ahead, he can still get under my skin. It’s hardly unexpected, given our history, but that doesn’t make it any easier.