A couple of hours later Sacha was soaking in the bath when the 'phone rang again. She slipped further down into the water and put her hand over her eyes. "Oh, fuck off!" she groaned at the 'phone in the next room. After a few rings the answering machine picked it up.

Through the wall she heard someone say something into the answering machine from the other end of the line. The bath was hot, very hot, and Sacha felt that she wouldn't be able to get out even if she'd wanted to. She didn't want to. The smell of the soap was spread throughout the bathroom by the steam rising off the surface of the water; the bathroom mirror was steamed over, as were Sacha's glasses resting on the benchtop, and her eyes were shut. Her anger over Alain's 'phone call was on the way towards evaporating. It was only temporary, but temporary comfort was good enough for her.

Half an hour later she sighed and dragged herself out of the gradually cooling water. She wrapped a towel around herself and dripped her way into the main room of the flat. A cold change had swept over the city that morning and the heating had been switched to full all evening - bills be damned. Sacha pressed the button on the answering machine.

"Hi Sacha, it's Rona. Sorry I didn't catch you - maybe you've gone to bed already. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to catch up tomorrow arvo, if you're not doing anything. Okay, that's it, talk to you later."

Sacha looked at the clock on the far wall - it was 11 o'clock. Fuck it, she thought, I'll call her tomorrow. Right now Sacha felt like going to bed. She would read until midnight and then sleep 'til 10 or 11 the next morning. As long as she was unemployed she might as well enjoy it.