‘No, Vanessa,’ he says, handing the phone back. ‘It’s also a renovation job. Look at the photos. It’s the kind of place a property developer will snap up and turn around in a few months. It’s for someone with the money to do it, not us. Those kind of places are notorious money pits. It’s too much of a risk.’

He gets up and heads inside. Then, probably sensing my disappointment, he comes back out and kisses my head.

‘Our perfect home is out there somewhere, baby,’ he says gently. ‘But we just have to wait a little while. And as we both know, the best things come to those who wait. I waited years to find you. Right, give me ten minutes and I’ll have dinner ready.’

‘Okay.’

When he’s back in the kitchen I get out my phone and retrieve the estate agent’s web page. I think back to this afternoon, how confident I had been when I delivered the presentation, how I had felt in control of my own destiny. This flat could be the next step in taking control, I think to myself as I scroll through the photos. Just as I have outgrown disposable fashion, so I should be moving on from renting. I need to start thinking about the future, need something to show for all my hard work.

As I sit contemplating the flat my phone beeps. Sixteen Instagram notifications. I click on the app and see a stream of photos from Luna London, tagging me and the rest of the team, and congratulating us on our success. I smile. Today is a meaningful day. I’m about to click off the app when I see a post from Lottie, whose account I still follow. It’s a photo of the interior of a plane; a window to the left shows billowing clouds. I read the words underneath the photo with a heavy heart: ‘Off to find new adventures in South Africa.’ Accompanying the post are a series of hashtags and the name of the South African branch of the children’s charity Lottie works for.

So that’s it, I think. She’s got a new job in a new country and didn’t even have the decency to tell me or to even attempt to clear the air before she left. It’s then, in that moment, that I make my mind up. Connor and Anne are right: I have changed. But I’ve changed for the better. It’s time to stop living in the past and move on.