pub chat ii

She made her way back through the rapt crowd. They stared at the televisions suspended from the ceiling.
She stared at him. Her fingers flicked as she took her seat again. Her hair fell again. She cursed and pushed it behind her ear.
‘Fucking smoking ban.’
He rolled his eyes. She was already fiddling with another cigarette. [...]

pub chat

‘So.’
‘Yeah.’
‘So what’d she say?’
‘She said she’d think about it.’
He drank his pint and fiddled with the beer mat, spinning it on its corner. Everyone else’s eyes were stuck to the television. It was some manner of football final, he thought.
She didn’t touch her beer. Her hands lay on the table, her long fingers splayed [...]

lochside

The water lapped the rocks with a murmur. Calming, whispering; an eternal conversation that all could hear, but none understand.
She skipped a stone across the gentle waves. It hopped four times then skidded along the surface before sinking beneath. Her fingers snapped and she faked a pout.
‘I can do better you know.’
‘I know.’
The [...]

an atypical conversation

her “You screwed it up.”
him “How? How did I screw it up?”
her “You screwed it up because you don’t get it.”
him “That’s why. I asked how.”

her “You told her. You’re never supposed to tell her.”
him “Tell her what?”
her “You told her you liked her. You just came out and said it.”
him “Of course I told [...]

seat on the stairs

Bong?
No thanks, I’ve already eaten.
Huh?
Nevermind.
The room shudders and swims a bit. She walks towards the stairs and takes a seat on the lower steps. A small sip from her plastic cup. Warm lager. A grimace follows.

aesthetics

No. She’s not beautiful. Or if she is, you’re not allowed to know she is. You can’t know she is.
I don’t get it.
No. You don’t.
But she’s hot!
Hot is fine. She is hot. But she’s not beautiful.
Right. I still don’t –
I know.
she smiles.
he shifts and takes a sip from the bottle between them.
Beauty [...]