I got on a plane to my mother’s hospital and my husband was eleven rows in front of me with my best friend. There was a note of hers in my handbag that she’d written on my fridge that morning.

That is in Part Two and it is the whole of this, so I will leave it there for a minute.

I got to the gate with eleven minutes to spare and I had not eaten and I had my coat over my arm and I was somewhere else entirely.

I was in 14C. I got on, put my bag up, sat down, and did not look at one single person on that aircraft.

And then I heard a laugh.

Not a laugh like somebody’s. The laugh. I have known that woman since our boys were in reception in 2014 and I would pick her out of a crowded station.

I stood up about four inches and looked up the cabin.

She was in 2B. Blonde, done, that green coat, and she was leaning into the man in 2A with her hand on his arm.

And for about two seconds I thought: what a mad coincidence.