As she got up to her room her phone buzzed with a message.

Mum:Hello, Ashleigh, how are you? Nice to see the ban on decorations is ending at your end.

Ash typed out a quick reply as her mum was obviously still there, holding her phone at that moment in time.

Ash:Hi, I’m great thanks! I thought it would be nice to join in with the whole street when they switch on the lights on Wednesday. Are you still coming over for it?

Mum:Sorry, no. I won’t be able to make it. I have an audition for a film. Absolutely fantastic director! I’ll get in touch soon to confirm the date I’ve transferred my flights to.

Oh. It wasn’t really a surprise that she couldn’t make it. Ash had suspected as much but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to come at all. They still had a couple of weeks before Christmas and she said she was going to transfer the flight.

Ash:Sounds exciting! Good luck. Let me know when you have a date for your new flight.

She waited for her mother to reply as she packed her things away and got changed into her pyjamas but her phone stayed silent other than a text from Romesh telling her that he needed to speak to her tomorrow and was going to try and call her on his lunch break. She tapped out a quick ‘OK’ and slid it onto her bedside cabinet, too distracted by her mum’s messages to wonder what that was all about.

Ash couldn’t believe she’d bought all those lights to entice her mother over. She should have known better. Out of sight was out of mind. As always.