“Oh, Tay Tay. It’s going to be ok” I hugged my sad friend back, hoping to take her pain away.

Grace was Taylor’s nana. She had been unwell for some time now but never this bad.

“I’m going to go pack and drive down to Greenwoods. I wanna see her before anything happens,” she said as she pulled away and walked toward her room.

“Rosy, can you take the buckets over to 10B, please.” She said over her shoulders and disappeared into the room.

Crap! I wasn’t very good with new people. Even though my job required me to be sociable, I could never shake off the anxiety I got when having to be around new people. Taylor was the confident one, and she kept trying to make me like her. I still had a lot to learn.

I looked towards the buckets and felt sorry for this guy I hadn’t met. The last thing you want is to move into a new place and have something that adds more stress.

Suck it up, Rosy, let’s go I told myself and grabbed the buckets.

Walking out into the foyer, I saw the apartment door was open. I knocked anyway.

“Come in, I’m in here,” he yelled out.

I followed the voice down the hallway and into a bedroom. I could hear water dripping, followed by other noises from the ensuite. I walked into the bathroom to find the mystery guy mopping up water dripping from the bottom of the sink. There was a puddle on the floor, which meant the water had been leaking for a while. He must have heard me walk in because he went to turn around but slipped and fell.

“Oh my god, are you ok?” I dropped the buckets and rushed over to help him. “Ouch, that hurt. Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. Who are you?” He asked, looking up at me.

The moment our eyes met, a shiver went down my spine. Taylor was right. He was hot. Very hot. Those blue eyes, defined jawline, nice sculpted nose, and lips that you just want to…..

I stopped my train of thought and focused on the question. Was I seriously having such thoughts about this guy?

“Hi, I’m Rosy. I’m Taylor’s flatmate. She’s had something come up, so she asked me to bring you the buckets,” I said while helping him to his feet.

I felt an electric shock prickle through my fingers when my skin touched his. I recoiled from his touch and looked at my hands. When I looked up, his eyes widened, and he looked startled. As I shamelessly studied his face, his beautiful blue eyes went dark. I would have missed it if I hadn’t been paying so much attention to his eyes. What the hell?

“Oh right, thanks for that.” He blinked rapidly and shook his head a little like he was trying to clear his thought.

“I’m Blake, by the way. I just thought I’d put the buckets under the drip and keep emptying them instead of letting it flood the bathroom” Blake turned away from me and grabbed the buckets, placing them under the dripping shower.

He completely ignored the electric shock moment.

“Yes, that’s a good plan. Have you called a plumber?” I played along.

“I’ve asked my Manager to do that. I’m new in town and don’t know anyone.”

I felt terrible for him. The poor guy just moved into town, has a flooded bathroom, and doesn’t even have anyone to help him.

“Well, I’ve got a friend that’s a plumber. Would you like me to give him a call for you?” I didn’t want to push my way, so offering him options sounded better.

“Oh, that would be great! Could you please do that for me? I’ll be forever grateful.” The smile on his face just lit up the entire bathroom.

I shook my head to get rid of my trance and pulled out my phone. I dialed Rocky’s number and waited for him to pick it up as it rang.

“Sup, my delicious flower, what can I do for you today ?” Rocky answered.

Taylor and I went to boarding school with Rocky, just like us; he made his life here in Mariners Bay afterward. He was a super nice guy and was also Taylor’s “friend.” Taylor and Rocky had both decided that they didn’t want a label. Everyone knew they were a thing, but they didn’t know what that was. So they were happy just screwing around and enjoying each other’s company while also agreeing to be faithful to each other and not seeing or sleeping with other people. So as complicated as it sounds, it was straightforward for both of them.

“Hi, handsome. Are you busy? I need your help.” I explained the situation over the phone.

“Ah, right. Well, I will be over soon to pick Taylor up anyway, so I’ll bring my tools with me. Would that be ok? I’ll be over in about 10-15mins.”

“Sounds good. See you soon. Bye,” and Rocky hung up.

I turned around to tell Blake, and he was on the phone with someone he called Patrick. That name sounded familiar, but then again, there were hundreds of people with the same name.

Blake ended his call and turned to me. “Sorry, I just informed my Manager that I had sorted out a plumber.”

“That’s fine. Rocky will be here in about 10-15mins. Did you need some help with mopping up the floor?” I asked, trying to be a good neighbor.

“Umm, no, I should be ok. I wasn’t expecting my day to be like this. If I had known, I would have organized myself a lot better,” he laughed.

“Organised yourself better how? You don’t even have any furniture in here yet. Were you planning on sleeping on the floor tonight?”

“No, no. The truck hasn’t arrived yet. I should be here in an hour with all my stuff. It’s coming up from Huntly, but I meant I would at least have some food organized for myself. I didn’t think this moving thing through. It was very last minute,” he said, shaking his head.

Something that happened to him is all I could think. His words and tone implied that something had happened for him to want to move so last minute.

“There’s a really nice Chinese takeaway a few blocks down. I’ve got the number and a menu in my apartment. Did you want to order something from there, maybe?” I asked quietly. I felt like I was invading his privacy here, but the guy needed help settling in. Not just in his new place but also in this town.

“You are really thoughtful. Thank you! I would really appreciate that number, actually. I’m starving and don’t think I have the energy to be wandering around the town looking for food” he laughs and rubs the back of his head.

He was cute and hot. He was about 6ft tall and looked like he had a nice body under the jeans and t-shirt he wore. His smile drew me in, and I couldn’t help myself wanting to help him.

I laughed and walked out of his apartment back into mine. The menu and number for the Chinese place were on the fridge since we ordered a lot from there. As I grabbed the menu, I had Taylor coming out of her room. She had her suitcase trolleying behind her and a carry bag in the other hand. Her eyes were red from crying.

“Taylor, shall I come with you? I don’t think you should be driving by yourself.” I said as I met her in the lounge.

“Oh, it’s ok, babe. Rocky is coming with me. You’ve got your CEO in this week, and I don’t know how long I will be away. So Rocky will drop me off, maybe stay till Monday and come back. I’ll get dad to drive me back.”

“Ok, well, call me when you get there and keep me updated with what’s happening, ok,” I said, and she nodded her head.

There was a gentle knock on the door before it opened. A head popped through the open gap and the blonde guy slowly emerged into our apartment. Rocky was always a gentleman and knocked even though he had a key to our place. He said that even though he practically lived here, he didn’t want to invade our privacy, especially since I was single and could be doing anything and anyone at any point in time.

He walked in and went straight to Taylor, and hugged her. I smiled, watching them embrace. They were so cute together, and Rocky really cared about Taylor. I envied them sometimes, but my life was way too complicated, and I didn’t want a guy in it.

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