‘Nice of him to box everything up for you, I s’pose,’ Jemima said as she gathered an armful of yoga mats and headed up.

‘Yeah,’ Simi said, ‘except… he never made room for me – in the flat.’

Meagan looked at all Simi’s neatly packed belongings.

‘Unbelievable,’ she sneered and just as she was about to launch into a colourfully worded rant, Jemima came thundering down the stairs.

‘He’s back!’

Simi sniffed her armpits and ran a panicked hand over her pyramid of uncombed afro hair.

‘He’s early, isn’t he?’ she hissed, darting around the room like a trapped ant.

‘It’s gone eight. He’s not early. We’re late!’ said Jemima, hovering halfway down the stairs.

‘Hide me!’ cried Simi, turfing Oscar’s camping gear out of a trunk.

She pulled a dusty groundsheet over her head and collapsed into a ball.

‘Simi?’ Oscar called from upstairs.

Jemima and Meagan stared at the pathetic, quivering plastic sheet.

‘Tell him I’m not here!’ Simi hissed.

‘You’re not,’ Meagan murmured as she clacked up to the ground floor.

‘Hey, Oscar!’ trilled Jemima trotting behind Meagan, straining to sound casual.

In the hallway, Oscar propped up his bike. He unclipped his helmet and wiped his face, still glistening with sweat. Meagan arched an eyebrow at his skin-tight, bright red and yellow cycling outfit. Dork, she sneered to herself. Stringy, decaf dork.

‘Where’s Simi?’ Oscar asked peering down the basement steps as Meagan blocked his path.

‘Not here, babes. Prepping… for a role… new IPC show with Bradley Tyson and Cameron Christiansen,’ she said nonchalantly, ignoring Jemima’s glare.

So it was a big, fat fib. So Simi hadn’t even auditioned for, let alone got the job. There was no harm in making Oscar jealous in the meantime.

‘Cameron Christiansen? Is she the actress from that mermaids and zombies thing?’ Oscar asked.

Meagan crossed her ankles to stop herself kicking him. For his taste in film alone, Simi should have canned this guy ages ago.

‘No,’ Meagan said through gritted teeth, ‘she’s the actress from that winning-an-Emmy-last-year thing.’

Meagan felt a sharp jab in her back and conceded she may have lost track of her objective.

‘Anyway, we just came to get Simi’s things,’ said Jemima stepping in.

‘Fair enough.’ Oscar nodded, moving towards the basement.

‘We’re good,’ said Meagan, casually resting her hand on the doorframe in front of him.

Oscar’s eyes narrowed, ‘Not that I don’t trust you. I just want to make sure our things aren’t mixed up.’

‘But it’s so dark down there. Don’t you get umm… scared?’ said Jemima.

Meagan glowered at her as Oscar moved past them.

‘Pathetic!’ she scowled, clipping Jemima around the back of the head, fluffing her bob.

Stick to correcting people’s grammar, she wheezed as she flapped down the stairs after him. In the basement, Oscar took a deep breath. After a quick scan of the room he started handing bags and boxes to Meagan and Jemima who were battling hard to keep their cool as they ferried everything up to the landing. Oscar smiled sadly at the space where some of Simi’s belongings had been before noticing his unpacked outdoor gear.