Thankfully, there’s hair. Which is where I’m heading now. Burke said not to change any of our usual routines, to leave the boys in the crèche as normal and let the staff there know they are not to allow anyone in to visit the boys. They’d never do that anyway. My mind attempts to set to normal mode while I continue down the city street with all its urban smells. The clicking of my heels on the cobbled pathway announces my arrival.

When I reach the salon door, I hand Elsie her breakfast. A wave of warmth washes over my body. Megan is waving at me through the window before I push on the handle.

‘Hi, Sal,’ she says when I enter, the scent of coconut dressing the air.

Megan’s face glows with a smile. ‘How’s things with you?’

How’s things with me? If only she knew.

‘Fine, all’s good and yourself?’

‘Grand.’

Unbuttoning my coat, I continue to walk through the salon to the staffroom at the rear of the building. Anna is inside when I open the door.

‘Hi, Anna, how are you?’

‘Okay,’ she says, immediately leaving the room and walking out to the salon floor. Have I done something wrong? If I have, I care less, I’ve no room in my head for paranoia today. I came here for a break from my problems not to embrace someone else’s.

Marie walks in just as Anna leaves. ‘What’s her problem?’ she says, without expecting an answer. ‘Did you have a nice weekend?’

‘Quiet.’

‘Me too, ate too much though.’ Pulling the belt on her wrap-around skirt, Marie complains about the size she’s getting. But I don’t indulge her. She’s about two sizes smaller than me with legs twice as long. I hate when skinny people talk like that.

‘Are you going to the hair show, Saturday night?’ she says, jogging my memory with a commitment I made to Megan two weeks previously, when I volunteered to look after the trainees at the event. Stop them from getting drunk too early and dragging the good name of the salon into disrepute.

‘I’m supposed to be, anyway.’ If my world hasn’t caved in by them. Not surprisingly, the idea of enjoying a night out with the staff doesn’t hold the usual excitement. There was a time I would prepare for weeks in advance. What will I wear? Who will do my make-up? What will I drink? Now I’m lucky if I get ten minutes to have a shower.

My first client is checking her new hairstyle in the mirror when my phone rings. The guy is ready to see me now. I tell Megan I have to leave, something important. Megan tells me to take my time; the shop is quiet today.