Page 1 of Oblivious

Chapter1

Adrian

“Addy, do you think I’d look good with a beard?”

I stare at Fitz, my pint-sized flatmate. He’s looking at his phone, turning his face this way and that with a bemused expression.

“No. What are you doing?”

“Looking at an image filter that gives you a beard.” He puts his phone down. “Youlook good with a beard.”

“Umm…thank you, I think.”

Fitz laughs. “It was a compliment. Why don’t you think I’d look good with a beard?”

“You just don’t have the right face for one.”

He folds his arms and narrows his eyes. “Uh-huh…and what kind of face is the right face?”

“My face. Apparently.” I skim my fingers over his jaw. “Could you even grow a beard?”

“I shave.”

“Once a week?”

He glares at me.

“Once amonth?”

He jabs me in the ribs. “You’re such a funny guy, Addy.”

And he’s the only person on the planet who can get away with calling me by such a ridiculous nickname.

“So…no beard?”

“Why the sudden interest in growing a beard?” I ask.

Fitz shrugs. “I thought it might make me look more rugged.” He grins at me. “Like you. Which is another compliment, so take it.”

I shake my head. “You wouldn’t get past the itchy stage of growing a beard.”

He shudders. “That doesn’t sound like fun. But beards must have advantages. Otherwise, no one would ever grow one.”

“It’s an aesthetic choice.”

“Keeping your face warm in winter,” Fitz says as though I haven’t spoken. “Oh! Somewhere to store food.”

“Ew, gross.”

He cackles, gets onto his knees, and looks through my chin-length beard.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask only half-heartedly, trying to fend him off.

“Checking to see if you’ve got anything saved in here. Maybe some of the chicken from dinner?”

“You’re disgusting.”

He folds his arms. “I’m not the one with the beard, Addy. I think I see something. Is that a carrot?”