We All Fall Down
Part Six
Hi there,
This is the sixth part of my novella We All Fall Down.
To read part five:
Immediately inside, a booth, opposite each other, they take their places.
”The regular?” a voice calls from the corner. Tristan holds up two fingers.
“Oooh, get you!” the voice calls again. A head pops up from behind the counter. “Oh, sorry. I thought maybe you’d finally turned up with a lady. My mistake! Sorry gents, two big breakfasts coming up”
Jack looks at Tristan, observing his reactions. Nothing but a smile.
They sit and idle at the room, the tiredness catching up. Tristan can see it Jack’s sullen eyes, the black eye, the bagging skin, the sapping stares.
“What are you thinking about?” Tristan said, breaking the silence.
“I need to take better care of myself, don’t I?”
Tristan nods.
Jack continues “I really do. I honestly feel like I’m trapped in this cycle of endless self-torture. I need routine and rhythm. I need his love, that’s what I need.”
“Maybe not his love, but love indeed.”
Jack proffers a smile.
“I know what you mean” encourages Tristan. “I’d argue I have too much rhythm and routine, and that’s just as murderous. I’m so comfortable within it that it scares me how desperately easy I find choosing alone to be. But it’s making me sick. Like you say. It’s making me sick, too.”
“You know what you did was wrong, but that’s it, that’s the end of it.”
“Maybe. I wish I could forgive the whole sorry situation and move on.”
“I think you’re there, no?”
“I’m glad I met you tonight, Jack. Do you…”
Tristan stops himself. Jack, leaning forward, eyes begging for him to continue.
“Do you think maybe we could be friends?”
“I’m glad I met you too, Tristan. I’m glad all of this happened. Maybe it’s tired daze of 6AM, maybe it’s an epiphany, maybe it’s stumbling dumbly across half-truths in greasy spoons and in strangers bed sheets. Who knows? But I know that I’m glad I met you.”
A pause.
“And Yes.”
The waiter, two massive plates of cooked breakfast slotted in front of the pair, whose eyes immediately grow ravenous.
“I would like to see you again. Definitely” Jack concludes.
“I find myself at peace around you. It’s all rather magical.”
Jack takes a bite, Tristan follows suit. After a moment. ”You know you’re not dead, right? You know you’ve your whole life ahead of you to live as you are. I mean to say, to live as who you actually are.”
“Darling, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you, too. My goodness.”
“This feels like therapy”
“I think it is.”
The pair jump into their food.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you enjoyed it, or want to know what happens next, hit subscribe.
Until next time,
RC Stacey