Page 42 of Just a Taste

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I pull up my message history with Roland and thumb in a quick message:

ALEX

Roland, do I have any spare portable heaters in the house? In the loft, maybe?

As a general rule, I try not to bother Roland when he’s on leave. He’s spookily efficient at his job on a day-to-day basis and I know, better than anyone else, how much he deserves a true break. But this is an emergency.

Noelle is, quite literally, freezing to death here.

And so am I. Kind of.

A particularly loud gust of wind slams against my home and I can feel the cold seeping in with each passing second.

I glance back at my phone. Still no response from Roland. I suppose I can’t blame him. It is the early evening in Australia, and I imagine he’s enjoying quality time with his boyfriend’s family. The last thing he should be doing is looking at his work phone right now. A twinge of guilt pricks at me.

ALEX

Sorry. Ignore.

Reluctantly, once I’m sure I’ve exhausted every avenue the internet has available to me, and I haven’t missed something ridiculously simple, I pull up my chat history with Luca.

ALEX

Any idea how to fix a heater from this brand?

IMAGE SENT

Luca’s response, as always, comes in almost immediately. I swear, the man is glued to his phone.

LUCA

Not a clue. Why?

ALEX

Why do you think?

LUCA

Fair point. Have you checked the manual? Googled?

Or even tried Reddit?

ALEX

Yes. Yes. Yes. All three have been equally unhelpful.

LUCA

Got nothing for you then, man.

Sorry.

I roll my eyes and move to stuff my phone back into my pocket, but then it buzzes again with another message from Luca.

LUCA

You good, though?

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