‘This is pretty bad, isn’t it?’ Ellen looked for reassurance.

Alexa was quiet. ‘It’s not great,’ Alexa agreed, finally.

Another pause.

‘But how did it go?’ Ellen mouthed, raising an eyebrow.

Alexa was – if not prudish, exactly – uncomfortable with volunteering details. Once, when drunk at their friend Kim’s birthday dinner, Alexa had tried to make a principled argument for keeping ‘the intimate sacred’. Ellen had heckled her so loudly the whole table had started listening.

On cue now, Alexa squirmed. ‘It was really good,’ she frowned, embarrassed. Briskly, she added: ‘I think I really like him.’

‘Yes, we’ve all noticed the hand holding and lingering glances.’

Alexa flushed, but Ellen could tell she was pleased. ‘Sorry. It’s definitely a bit weird having Jack watching us.’

‘He is the world’s most awkward man. There’s nothing you can do about that.’ She prodded Alexa in the knee. ‘It all sounds fun. Definitely worth skipping out on me last night for. Don’t overthink it.’

Alexa gave her an anxious look.

‘Fine. Do overthink it. In fact, think of it like this: he could be your only chance to have a baby. If we’re stuck up here for a decade you might have to bite the bullet. We can raise it together, I’ll forgo bearing a child myself. I’m not breeding with Jack.’

‘So mean.’ But Alexa laughed. Ellen shot a look over her shoulder and observed that both Ben and Jack were pretending not to watch them.

She prodded Alexa again. ‘Also, I don’t want to alarm you but –’

‘What?’ she asked, sharply.

‘But as well as us being fucking stuck here while the house floods, I am also absolutely desperate for a wee.’

Alexa was relieved enough to laugh again.

Ellen glowered.

‘Sorry – um –’ she made a hopeless gesture – ‘maybe there’s a bucket somewhere.’ Ellen gave her a hard stare, and she added: ‘I can’t believe the house is flooding too. This is a nightmare.’ Outside in the distance, a lorry sounded a long, mellow note.

Ellen looked heavenwards. ‘Don’t say it. I might look calm but I am very much not.’

‘You don’t look that calm.’

‘Shut up and help me. I’m serious. I need a wee really badly. I can’t hold it much longer. We need to designate a corner as a loo.’

‘I mean, I don’t think it has to be an entire corner.’

Ellen tried a beseeching look, but it turned into a sort of moaning laugh – which set Alexa off too.

‘What is it?’ Jack called from the skylight. He sounded a little paranoid.

‘Yeah, what are you cackling about?’ Ben asked. Unlike Jack, he seemed pleased, clearly assuming (rightly) that he had been the topic of the furtive conversation. He was massaging his pectoral again, the other hand running through his hair.