Cherry Coloured - Alex Turner

25. Take the Breath That's True

  The night always began when the first dispute set off. Rarely did Alex ever entertain such pointless discussion and so stood making himself a drink in a plastic cup whilst everyone who sat around the outdoor table fired on about opinions of no significance. Vienna had been home a week which had stirred a small handful of problems in itself but it didn't prevent him from attending this drinks nights with his mates.

Ever so generously, his friend Josh had offered his house for the night's proceedings and seeing as he was one of the wealthier people among the group, Alex was able to make his drink at the outdoor bar whilst tuning in to his friend's aimless conversations. Lime juice on his hands and salt dusted over the steel countertop. The small cuts around his fingernails stung sharper than when the skin had originally been sliced. He lifted his pointer to his lips and sucked off the acidic juice.

"I don't know why yer such a pussy about it," his friend Dave was saying, "there's nowt more masculine than walking into a pub and starting a brawl."

"There's just no fuckin' point to it," Matt replied with a shrug. "What's the point of getting into a fight for no reason?"

"Pure adrenaline," said Dave, "make sure every wanker in that pub knows not to fuck with you."

"What if you lose?" Jamie butted in. Alex swished his cup around, hoping to mix up the liquor and lime evenly.

Dave scoffed, "unlikely. Even if I did who gives a fuck?"

"Pretty much everyone," Matt pointed out, "if you storm into a pub like some hot shot and start a fight that you then lose everybody is going to know yer a right old tosser and you're never going to want to show yer face in public again." Others around the table laughed in agreement.

  "Fuck up Helders," Dave scoffed and took a swig of his beer, "speak for yerself. There's nowt embarrassing about losing a fight."

  It was conversations like these that Alex enjoyed listening into but avoided joining in with everything in his power because he knew if he did, his brain would just go numb.

  "Bullshit," Nick laughed.

  "If McGregor challenged someone to a fight and lost even he would be embarrassed Davey, get a load of yerself," Matt cackled.

  "Get a load of your own shite! If by some miracle I ever lost a scrap at the pub I'd walk it off like a man," Dave contested.

  Alex laughed and sipped from his cup, "that's a load of bollocks. That would single-handedly be the most embarrassing and pathetic thing you've ever done and that's saying a lot." A shared laugh bounced around the table once more.

  "Says the twat with a lass's drink!" Dave fired back, "you've been hanging round Vienna for far too long."

  "He wishes," Josh laughed as Alex reluctantly came down to sit back with everyone else at the table; Matt to his right and Jamie to his left. "She back from her trip yet?"

Alex nodded. "There goes yer bliss," Nick said as if Alex was a man married for thirty years where the bond had been weakened out of any ounce of love into two housemates who wore identical rings.

Giving it some thought, Alex decided he would prefer to phrase Vienna's return differently. His bliss wasn't gone but some part of him was. The same part that had been missing for three years, that he'd almost forgotten existed until she left him alone in this city. He had surprised her with a night in London when he went to pick her up from the airport once more, organised a glamorous hotel even she would be amazed by, did everything she wanted when and how she wanted. There went his entire bonus. She talked his ears off, retelling every last detail of the final few days of her trip she was yet to catch him up on but Alex could have listened to her talk for years on end and never once bore.