Cherry Coloured - Alex Turner

28. Trials and Tribulations of Triangular Affairs

   Alex hadn't shut up about Maeve even before he had her; and now that he did, his infection was gradually becoming lethal.

  Had his tongue been a pencil, the only word it knew how to trace out would be her name. If his lips were waves they'd only know how to form over her name, crashing her up onto the shoreline of his heart. And the deep, selective fluctuations of his voice only knew how to come together to make the one cohesive syllable that was her name. He was sick and spreading it like wildfire in a forest of dried trees. So far passed the point of obsession that only love could come to explain his madness. Only love could tear him inside out like she had.

  As he waited in a shaded seat outside a quaint cafe, he found himself scribbling words into a napkin with a pen he found in his trouser pockets. Prophetic, pathetic words that he'd never let anyone read. Not even their intended recipient. Silly thing, Alex thought, to write to someone about love. Maeve didn't need him to explain that feeling to her. She'd felt it all before.

  Alex refused jealousy as an option but oftentimes found himself mulling over the story of Maeve and Day. He'd never heard her speak so fondly of someone that was no longer in her life. Not an ounce of hate or resentment or embarrassment or dismay. Having the courage to admit to having someone fall out of love with them was something Alex never believed he'd ever be able to do. Perhaps not even to select audiences. The thought pained him and so there he sat, in the mild heat of the morning, scribbling ludicrous sentences into a paper napkin as he waited for his company to arrive.

  "Took yer time," Alex said when Matt finally stepped off the street and took the seat opposite him. Slyly, Alex crumpled the napkin and slid it off the table to be stuffed away into his pocket.

  "Cut us some slack, you're one to talk. This is the first time you've ever beat me to anything," Matt said and removed his sunglasses and hung them on the front of his shirt.

  "Already ordered coffees," Alex said.

  "Cheers. So, what's got you so eager to the point that yer not only on time but yer early?" Matt asked.

  "Nothing, just didn't sleep in," Alex shrugged off and glanced at the menu even though he already knew what he was ordering. "How'd that visit with yer brother go?"

"He's engaged to a lass he's known for three months," Matt laughed, "we all spent the entire weekend grillin' him about it. The man's fuckin' lost it. She's gotten him in to all her 'chakra's and 'positive body aura' shite. Apparently we all emit colour."

"What colour are you?" Alex chuckled, thanking the waiter who placed two coffees on the table.

"Turquoise or summat," Matt said and sipped his coffee, "no clue how it works and he's on one if he thinks I'm believing a word out of his mouth. He FaceTimed her and she had me whole family sat down listening to her assign us all colours. Then this morning, actually, he texts me and says they've broken up."

"Fucks sake," Alex laughed and brought the coffee mug into his hands. "Props to you though, for sticking through all that."

"I didn't," Matt said, "I pretended you locked yerself out of home and got the fuck out of there as fast as I could. No disrespect to her of course, but me brother has never looked more a fuckin' fool." Alex ran his tongue along the back of his teeth, feeling the sharp burn of the hot milk tingle the tip of his tongue as the bittersweet flavour flushed through his mouth and down his throat. "How are your folks?"

"Doing well," Alex nodded. "All things considered. They managed to get an insurance claim for all the books and shite that got ruined with the leak which was a lifesaver. The auld man's had a couple health hiccups and Mum's still got that cough but they're doing well."