Written in 110 installments and published five times weekly in The Scotsman, Smith's comedy swiftly introduces its major characters, then follows their separate and shared adventures. Pat, a university student muddling trough her second "gap year," nurses a hopeless passion for handsome and narcissistic-"flatmate" Bruce, while politely deflecting the hesitant attentions of Matthew, in whose mostly unpatronized art gallery she more or less works.