‘Gosh, that Dove Letter eyeshadow looks great on you!’ says Verity, after applying blush and a gorgeously glossy lip tint called Rose Cream. ‘There we are. You’re all done.’

She stands back and I look into the mirror. What I see almost makes me cry. It’s the old Vanessa. She looks back at me and smiles: this groomed, perfectly made-up woman. And I tell myself that, no matter what it takes, I have to get her back.

I get down from the chair and go to the counter where Verity is standing at the till.

‘Oh, it’s okay, it’s already been paid for,’ she says as I offer my bank card.

Georgie is waiting outside the shop when I emerge.

‘Oh, wow, you look beautiful, darling,’ she says, her eyes welling up. ‘Just perfect.’

‘Thanks, Georgie,’ I say, hugging her. ‘Though you really shouldn’t have paid for it. Brunch was more than enough.’

‘I didn’t pay for it,’ says Georgie, looking confused. ‘I went for a walk up to the bookshop while you were in there. I wanted to see if they had the new Kate Atkinson.’

‘But the woman … Verity … she said it had been paid for,’ I say, glancing back at the shop, panic fluttering through me. ‘I need to go back and ask her who paid for it.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t bother,’ says Georgie, taking my arm. ‘It looks like she’s given you a freebie. I did mention when we first went in, on the quiet, that you’d worked for Luna London. She probably wanted to secure you as a contact. Now, come on, let’s go for that walk.’

We arrive back at the house at 1 p.m. As Georgie puts the key in the lock the door opens. Jack is standing there.

‘Oh,’ he says, looking surprised. ‘I wasn’t expecting you two back for another couple of hours.’

‘Well, we’re early,’ says Georgie, squeezing past him. ‘Honestly, Jack, this is my house too. Surely I can come and go as I please.’

I can sense the rumblings of a row so I excuse myself and head upstairs. After a couple of minutes, I hear the door slam. I look out of the window and see Jack storming off across the common. I flop down on the bed, the happiness of the morning dissolving. I know that the tension between Jack and Georgie is all down to me. They were always so loved up, so close, but since I turned up my sister is drinking every night and Jack can’t bear to be in the house.

I look at my phone. There are three notifications in my email inbox. Two are from recruitment sites, but the most recent one has no subject line and has been sent by someone called [email protected]

My stomach twists as I open the email and read: