‘It’s over,’ I say, crying so heavily my voice is barely audible. ‘Connor and me, we’re … oh God, Georgie, I don’t know what to do.’

‘Shh,’ says Georgie, stroking the back of my head just like my mum used to. ‘It’s okay, darling. You’re here now.’

‘Can I stay for a bit?’ I say, easing myself from her embrace. ‘Just until I get myself sorted?’

‘Of course you can,’ she says, wiping a tear from my face. ‘You can stay as long as you like.’

‘I … I need to get back on my feet,’ I say, trying to steady my voice. ‘I haven’t told you, but I quit my job.’

‘What?’ says Georgie, her eyes widening. ‘But why? What happened?’

‘It’s a long story,’ I say, trying not to think about the pain of the last few days. ‘I’ve been a bit stressed and …’

‘Come on, darling,’ says Georgie, taking my arm. ‘You need a good rest. We can talk about it in the morning.’

She leads me upstairs to Imogen’s room where she hands me a pair of freshly laundered pyjamas and settles me into bed. As I get under the covers I think of clever, funny Imogen, who is doing great things at Oxford, blissfully unaware that her sad, washed-up aunt is taking up residence in her neat, pretty bedroom.

‘Try to get some sleep now,’ says Georgie as she turns out the light. ‘Whatever it is, we can sort it out, Nessa.’

She stands for a moment in the doorway, the light from the landing illuminating her strong, solid figure. So unlike mine, which is so small, so insubstantial, I sometimes wonder why I haven’t floated away.

‘Thanks, Georgie,’ I whisper. ‘Night, night.’

‘Night, night, my darling,’ she says as she closes the door.

I lie for a moment looking at the shadows on the ceiling and try to make sense of what has happened. I think back to the text message from Sara, her flirtatious behaviour at the burlesque club, and I realize with sickening certainty that this must have been going on for a long time. I recall the day I came home early from work and found Connor dressed only in a towel. I’d heard voices as I came up the stairs and smelt cigarette smoke but, as always, he convinced me it was nothing. I think about the abortion, Connor’s mother lecturing me on morality. All the time he was sleeping with someone else behind my back.