THE PINT THAT FOLLOWS

Story unloaded and beer sunk, he asks me: Do you think I’ve done the right thing? [Pause]. Yes, I say, but not because it’s what he wants to hear. Because it’s true. There really is no point in being unhappy.

We sit for a few minutes in comfortable silence. There are difficult weeks ahead, I say, but you’ll get through them. And then there’ll be something else, something new, and you’ll feel better. He smiles, half-believing me. I cringe at how rehearsed my response sounds, as if I’ve lifted it from a film.

frothy dregs drained,
a glass
ready to be refilled

We’ll be here again, having this pint. Maybe I’ll be the one with the reddened eyes and sleep-starved skin. Maybe it’ll be him. But no matter which one of us it is, the other will be here. Buying the pints. Lending his ears.   

Published in That Lone Ship  (2018)
Available to buy from Parthian Books