"We're out of milk," Michelle stated calmly.
"You're joking," protested Suzy.
Michelle shook her head.
"But we can't be," Suzy almost wailed. "I checked last night before I went to bed. There was enough for coffee this morning."
"Coffee sounds fine," stated Andrea as she strolled into the little kitchen, wearing an attractive lacy nightie. "I could kill for coffee right now."
"Well, I hope you like it black," said Michelle with a smirk, knowing that the scatty brained Andrea absolutely detested black coffee.
"Why would I have it black?" asked Andrea. "You know I always have it with milk."
"We're out of milk," Michelle stated calmly.
"You're joking," protested Andrea.
Michelle shook her head, again.
"Well where did the milk go? I know we had some last night."
"Because you were drinking it, perchance?"
"Well, yes, but I only finished off the little bit that was in the open bottle. I didn't open a new bottle," protested Andrea.
"Possibly because we don't have a new bottle?" suggested Suzy.
The full horror of the situation was slowly dawning on Andrea. No milk meant no coffee. No coffee in the morning meant she was dead. Something else slowly registered from the way Michelle and Suzy were looking at her. No coffee in the morning meant that Suzy and Michelle might kill her.
"Um. No milk. What do we do?" Andrea asked, hoping for salvation.
"We'll borrow some," Michelle said smiling, reaching for a jug. "All we need is someone to go to the unit next door and ask if they have some to spare, because we're desperate. So kind of you to offer, Andrea."
"When did I offer to go," demanded Andrea indignantly.
"Last night when you were guzzling the last of the milk," came the reply.
"But I've only got my nightie on. It'll take me ages to get dressed."
"We're not exactly dressed to go out either," pointed out Suzy. "Just sling on a dressing gown and go knock at the unit across the way. It's not as though we're asking you to go down the street."
Andrea looked at her two flatmates and conceded. Without coffee they'd nag her until she went so she might as well just go and get it over with. She fetched her dressing gown, grabbed the jug and flounced out of the room and across to the neighbouring unit.
Michelle and Suzy waited. Then they waited some more. They said some nasty things about Andrea and waited a bit longer. What the hell? How could even Andrea get lost between their unit and the one next to them?
"Maybe," suggested Suzy, "they had no milk and she's wandering from unit to unit, searching."
They were debating whether to go in search of her when Andrea finally returned, holding a jug half full of milk.
"About time," snapped Michelle, reaching for the milk.
"What happened?" asked Suzy. "You couldn't have got lost."
"Um, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," muttered Andrea. "Let me get my coffee."
In a very short space of time the three young women were all sitting down, drinking their morning coffee.
"Give, Andrea," urged Suzy. "What took so long?"
"Um, did you know that there's a new tenant in the unit across from us."
"No," said Suzy, with a "Yes" coming from Michelle.
"I saw him when he moved in," Michelle added. "Quite a nice looking guy."
"And you didn't think that I might be interested in the fact that I was going to be greeted by a man instead of old Mrs Carney?" asked Andrea. "You didn't think that my wearing a nightie and dressing gown, hair in a mess, and no makeup, might not be the way I would choose to meet a man?"