Jem: Have the best time

Jem: I wanna hear all about the stem in vase action tomorrow tho!

Ezra: Are you sure Jem?

Jem: enjoy yourself

I tossed my phone aside, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes hard. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Tears leaked out, trickling down my wrists anyway. I gave into my loneliness, flopping back on the sofa and just letting those tears flow.

Sometimes it was the only way.

When I was done, I sat, blotting my eyes with the sleeves of my jumper. I poured another very large glass of wine. I’d had to throw my ruined dinner out. I really should get up and grab something to soak up all the spicy grape juice sloshing around in my belly, or I was going to be a mess in the morning.

“Eighty gluten-free cinnamon donuts would have done the trick,” I mumbled, sniffing and brushing at my cheeks one last time. “Hell, one would have been adequate … well, maybe six. Why did that gorgeous blond beast have to be such a shithead?”

The heat of my earlier rage over the oversized donut thief built again in my belly, burning outwards along my limbs.

Or maybe that was just the alcohol.

“No one needs eighty flipping donuts!” I snarled. “Especially not gluten-free ones! He could waltz into a random shopping centre and be bombarded with a dozen different options for cinnamon donuts. Meanwhile, little ol’ allergic-to-gluten me … I get to starve. Well, I hope he made himself sick … eighty bloody donuts!”

I reached for the cask tap, ready to pour myself another wine when my phone made a very odd, crackling sound. I peered at the screen. There was a message notification. But it wasn’t green, or blue … it was a purplish maroon colour.

FriendPay: Are you craving something that’s just out of your reach?

I covered one eye, attempting the words again. FriendPay? What the hell was that? Had I signed up to some subscription that I didn’t remember?

“Ez? D’you know what FriendPay …” I trailed off, because Ezra wasn’t here. I was alone.

But I had no more tears to cry.

My phone crackled again, zapping me with static electricity. I dropped it, shaking my hand out as another message lit the screen. Tentatively, I picked it up.

FriendPay: WE want to help YOU! Anything your soul desires, delivered INSTANTLY! No upfront payment required*

Another zap shot through me as I was reading.

“Jeez! Did someone turn my phone into the electricity room or something?”

FriendPay: To make a request, simply speak clearly into your phone speaker. You’ll have everything you ever wanted in the blink of an eye!

Another zap.

FriendPay: *Repayments made in four simple instalments**

FriendPay: **T&Cs apply

Huh. What was this? Uber Eats meets AfterPay? Because suddenly, all I could think about was eighty gluten-free donuts.