Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista

off!’
    ‘I don’t know how!’
    ‘There’s a tap next to the boiler, in the airing cupboard. Hurry!’
    Crisis averted, I set about the clean-up. I wrung out the sodden sarongs and used them to mop up the rest of the water. They were in a fairly sorry state by the time I was finished, just in time for Jude to come crashing through the front door with Jake in tow. Oh, perfect.
    ‘You couldn’t have used something of yours, of course,’ she said crossly, surveying the mass of filthy wet rags that her prized sarong collection had been reduced to.
    ‘I’m sorry, I panicked and your room was closer.’
    ‘Honestly, Cassie, how can you not know where to turn the bloody water off? You infuriate me sometimes.’ She grabbed the armful of sarongs from me and stomped off to the bathroom to rinse them in clean water. Jake was crouching down in front of the washing machine, looking at the display.
    ‘Lots of people don’t know where the water in the house turns off,’ he said, shifting the machine slightly so that he could take a look around the back. ‘So what happened? Did it just stop midway?’
    ‘It made a kind of grinding noise and then it stopped. And then there was water everywhere.’
    ‘You didn’t open the door, did you?’
    ‘Of course I didn’t! I’m not completely stupid.’ He got to his feet and grinned at me.
    ‘I know you’re not stupid.’ His smile faded and he stepped towards me, reaching out a hand as if to touch my face. More in surprise than anything else I flinched.
    ‘No, hang on, it’s just … you’re bleeding. You’ve hurt yourself,’ he said. He looked concerned. I told him I’d fallen and hit my head.
    ‘I don’t think it’s serious,’ I said.
    ‘Let me take a look.’ He pushed my hair back away from my face, leaning in to inspect the injury. He was standing very close to me. He smelt clean, like soapand water. Or perhaps that was just the laundry detergent. I could hear my heart thudding in my chest. Very gently, he slipped his hand under my chin and lifted my face to look at him.
    ‘I think you’ll pull through.’ I had to admit he has a very sexy smile. Infuriatingly, I could feel myself blushing. I looked away. ‘You should clean it up, though. Put some antiseptic on it,’ he said.
    ‘On what?’ Jude asked, reappearing in the doorway, eyeing us suspiciously.
    ‘Cassie slipped on the water, she fell and cut her head,’ Jake said. I liked the way my name sounded when he said it.
    ‘Oh, Cass,’ Jude said, her brow furrowing with concern. ‘I’m so sorry. Are you all right? I’m so sorry I yelled at you, you poor thing.’ Jude can switch from strict schoolmarm to concerned parent in an instant. Taking my hand, she escorted me to the bathroom to clean up my cut. As she dabbed Savlon on my head, I noticed a small smile playing on her lips.
    ‘What are you smiling at?’ I asked. ‘You think it’s Karma, don’t you, me cracking my skull open on the kitchen counter?’
    ‘No,’ she laughed, ‘of course not. I was just wondering if I interrupted something, back then, in the kitchen? Between you and Jake?’
    ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I said, but I felt my stomach flip excitedly at the thought.
    By the time we got back to the kitchen, Jake was on his knees on the floor, fiddling with something at theback of the washing machine. Apparently, the drum had not been unlocked correctly, which had caused the machine to vibrate excessively (or something) and because of the movement, the water inlet hose had become loose, allowing the machine to leak. It wouldn’t take him long to fix it.
    ‘That’s really sweet of you, Jake,’ Jude said, edging towards the front door. ‘Is it OK if I leave you here? It’s just I’ve got to be getting back to college.’ She flashed me a wicked grin.
    I made small talk while he fidgeted around at the back of the washing machine.
    ‘So, you’re doing cultural studies, are you?’
    ‘Digital media,’ he corrected me.
    ‘Oh,’ I said, trying to think of something intelligent to say, which was tricky since I didn’t really know what the study of ‘digital media’ entailed.
    ‘The course challenges technological determinism and over-optimistic visions of the technological future,’ he said, deadpanning. I gulped. He started to laugh. ‘It’s all bollocks really. I’m just interested in photography and film and I like gadgets, so I thought it might be fun.’ He got to his feet and slapped his