Ferris Mx’s Reviews > Other People's Fun > Status Update

She describes that moment, listening to his voice as she stood beneath the oak tree, and how it wasn't necessarily about him: it was about feeling a sudden connection to her younger self, as if she had been given the chance to put something right, avenge something.

He's talking about fresh starts and second chances and how they owe it to themselves to act decisively; the subterfuge is becoming unbearable, and he thinks his wife has some suspicions. He asks her to decide, one way or the other.

I take a breath, summoning up my courage, or giving that impression. "This might be out of line", I say, "but I get the feeling you haven't been happy, really happy, for a long time."
It's a critical moment. Anything could happen now: she could burst into tears; she could tell me to fuck off. But I have nothing to lose so I press on. "You deserve to be happy, you of all people."

"Maybe it's none of my business", I say.
"What?"
I say I've been reflecting on the things she's told me about her marriage, and her dissatisfaction with it. I say it is difficult to watch a friend suffer when you are powerless to help. I hesitate at this point. It's necessary to hesitate. I have her full attention now, and it's an exciting sensation. I can feel how eager she is to hear what I have to say next.

I say, "Oh wait, Sookie. Hold it right there. OK. Now I see what's going on. It's happening, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"You care about him too. You're starting to change your mind.
I know it has lodged.

It is odd, I say to Clare, how all those years of intimacy and shared endeavour can lead to a moment when you realise you hardly know someone at all. At the time, it seemed completely out of character, but perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps this was the moment when he allowed me to see a long-hidden truth.

It might be enjoyable to punish her by letting the moment pass - playing dumb, offering sympathy but no solution, and in twenty minutes saying goodbye. But for all her tiresomeness, or perhaps because of it, I am curious. I wouldn't mind following developments. Why not stay close, witnessing the spectacle at close quarters? I am fairly sure that conflagration is coming, and I want to see who will be burned.