‘Er, I don’t think so, babe. Have you seen yourself? You need a set of dry clothes. I’ve asked Lily to take over for you – it’ll be good practice for her. Told your lady that you’re not feeling very well. You can go round the back, and I’ll let you in that way. Here…’ She hands me a thick parka and an umbrella.

‘I can’t put this on, I’ll get it wet.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s been in lost property for a month.’

‘Okay, thanks.’ I pull it on, luxuriating in its thickness. I take the umbrella and make my way quickly around the block, battling the wind and rain, until I reach the salon’s back entrance. Jennifer has already unbolted the gate, and I close it behind me before hurrying across the bare yard towards the warmth of the staffroom.

Jennifer opens the door as I approach and stands back to let me in. ‘God, Zoe, look at the state of you. You’re absolutely drenched. Here.’ She hands me two large black towels and a bundle of clothes. ‘Not sure if they’ll fit you, but at least they’re dry.’

‘Thank you,’ I reply sheepishly.

My boss rolls her eyes. ‘Get changed, and I’ll be back in a sec so you can tell me what all that was about.’

She returns to the salon and leaves me alone. I strip off all my wet clothes and let them fall in a dripping puddle onto the floor by my feet. I wrap one towel around my body and the other around my head. Then I examine the bundle of dry clothes – black jeans, a salon T-shirt and a salon sweatshirt – the uniform the juniors wear. After I’m reasonably dry, I pull on the clothes. The fit isn’t too bad except for the jeans, which are way too long, but they’re fine after I roll them up a few times.

Jennifer comes back into the staffroom as I’m gathering up my wet things from the floor and stuffing them into a plastic carrier bag.

‘Well?’ She raises an eyebrow. Jennifer is a lovely employer, but she can be quite scary when she’s cross.

I tell her about having twice seen a woman who I think might be my sister.

‘Wow.’ Jennifer motions to me to sit down at the table as she does the same. ‘That’s…’

‘I know, right. But still, I shouldn’t have gone running out of the salon like that without any explanation. I just wasn’t thinking.’

‘It’s fine, I understand. Is there anything I can do to help? Did you call the police?’

‘I will. Look, don’t worry.’ I blow on my freezing fingers, then shove my hands between my thighs to try to warm them up.