You haven’t even said good morning to me. You never notice me, do you? Pushing your hair back from your eyes as you approach the kettle, you finally condescend to say, ‘Oh, hello, Caprice.’

Well done, Saffron. You’ve acknowledged me for once.

I smile a tight smile. ‘Good morning. I’ve just made coffee. Would you like some?’

‘Yes, please.’

I pour you a cup, and hand it to you. You blink sleepily, and start to leave the kitchen. ‘Please join me, dear. Sit down. I’ve got something to show you.’

You turn around and frown, as if joining me is the last thing you want to do. But you do as I request and sit down next to me. I whip my iPhone from my pocket and open my photos. My picture of Hayley and Miles embracing fills the screen. I took it the night after their opera treat. If she asks, I was by the kitchen window, on the way to water the hibiscus I had just planted, when I had my photo opportunity. But the truth is, I was hovering, warmly dressed outside – hoping to catch them together. And I’ve had it Photoshopped a bit.

‘Look at this, dear.’

You take the phone from me and sit studying the photograph. Your lips begin to tremble. And then your fingers. Your face reddens. You turn towards me.

‘I know what you did. This is all your plotting, Caprice. What a stupid ploy to resort to the same trick again. I know this was a stitch-up.’

I smile slowly. ‘Trick? Stitch-up?’ I laugh, a sharp little laugh.

‘Yes. It was a hug of friendship.’

My smile widens. ‘Do you really believe that? Why don’t you look at the photograph more closely?’

84

Saffron

‘Look at the photograph more closely,’ you say, curving your lips into a thin contemptuous smile.

I stand up and throw your iPhone to the floor. I watch it smash against designer travertine. I move towards you, press my fingers around your throat, and shake you.

‘If you behave like this again, it will be you I smash to pieces, not your phone,’ I spit.

85

Caprice

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s going to be a nuisance sorting out a new iPhone. But, Saffron, wait until I tell Miles you have assaulted me. Bruises on my neck and the remnants of my iPhone as evidence against you. Your intense reaction is far more than I could have hoped for.

86

Saffron

In the privacy of our bedroom, Miles is pushing concerned eyes into mine.

‘What happened?’ he asks. ‘What’s Mother done, this time? She told me you’d smashed her iPhone, and attacked her.’

‘And did she tell you why?’

‘Of course not. That’s why I’m asking.’