I should’ve known by the grin on my ma’s face that she was up to something. She was never that happy to see me — not unless I brought her a coffee or I was here to fix something in the salon.

But nah, she was beaming when I walked in. Scissors still in hand, waving me over like I was a prize or something.

“AJ! Come ‘ere a second!”

I barely got two steps in before I spotted her. Sitting in the chair, black cape still around her shoulders, and hair like a feckin’ waterfall — jet black, glossy, thick, all of it.

She was laughing at something Ma had said, head tilted back just a bit. It stopped me in my tracks.

Ma clocked it straight away. “That’s her,” she whispered, loud enough for the entire salon to hear. “I keep tellin’ you about her — she’s the one I was saying you’d get on with!”

She looked up then, meeting my eyes. Christ.

I was about to say something smooth, something clever — I had a line in mind. But then she smiled. Proper, real.

I forgot the line.

“Eh — I’m AJ,” I said instead, awkward as fuck. “I’m her son — obviously. She hasn’t shut up about you.”

She laughed under her breath. “Same. I’ve heard loads about you.”

Ma was watching us like she was at the cinema, grinning ear to ear. “I told you! I told you he was a good-looking fella, didn’t I? You both owe me for this.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop grinning. “She’s gonna claim credit forever now, isn’t she?”

She nodded, playful. “Reckon so.”

Ma was already pulling her phone out. “I’ll get a picture of you both—”

“Jesus no, Ma.”

But even as I protested, she snapped the photo, and the girl in the chair was still smiling, still looking right at me.

And I was just stood there thinking — Yeah, alright. Maybe Ma was onto something.