{"id":1610,"date":"2023-05-23T17:14:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T17:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1610"},"modified":"2023-05-23T17:14:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T17:14:29","slug":"together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/together\/1610\/","title":{"rendered":"Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back from the hospital Noel sipped tea hurriedly and Zoe said, \u2018What about our anniversary?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018A couple of hours. Tonight\u2019s a given.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018Doesn\u2019t his solicitor have people who empty property?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018I\u2019m not <\/em>emptying it. Don\u2019t you listen!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why was he raising his voice? Today was be nice day. The death had spooked him, that was what it was. He noticed a solitary blade of silver in her fair hair. Thirty years together, through thick and thin, it seemed to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

            \u2018I\u2019ve been wondering why he asked me,\u2019 he said, more gently. \u2018Perhaps he wanted somebody he could trust with his personal effects the same way a priest\u2019ll deal with his soul.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018Were you that close?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018He was dad\u2019s friend really, two County Clare men in Wales. Need to get there before the solicitor\u2019s guys, lovey.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Sean reminded Noel of a porpoise, big, awkward, fleshy bits in the wrong places, little holes for eyes, a gape of a mouth when he was swallowing a pint. The mouth then closed and joined the eyes in an expression of peace and pleasure. Early evenings, no matter the day, when Noel had gone into the Uplands for a quick gargle post-work, Sean was always at the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            He stepped into a frugal bachelor abode, as welcoming as a prison cell. A cupboard was full of bottles of whisky and beer, the fridge was empty. Nothing downstairs to detain him, he climbed the stairs, peeped into a chilly bathroom and vacant linen cupboard. Sean\u2019s bedroom was just a bed, wardrobe, and dresser containing clothes. The small back bedroom had no furniture at all. Where were his valuables? Then in a corner he saw a plastic bag, its sole contents a pack of letters.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He removed the elastic band around them, and flicked through the back ones. One sheet of writing paper was in each envelope, both sides filled with small town gossip: a death, a wedding, a cousin ill. They ended with a kiss, and sometimes the name, Moira<\/em>. The later ones used one side only, and ended with questions: \u2018Do you still want me to wait?\u2019, \u2018What do you want me to do?\u2019 The final one was the shortest, simply saying; \u2018I\u2019m breaking off our engagement. I\u2019ll write no more.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            At the meal in town, raising his glass, he said, \u2018Thanks for putting up with me for so long.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018Why didn\u2019t he ask Moira to come?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018Dad used to joke that Sean was descended from a long line of Irish bachelors. I had to ask you more than once. Remember? You weren\u2019t sure.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Noel thought of Sean supping alone in that desolate house. He took Zoe\u2019s hand, gripping it like he\u2019d never let go. \u2018You do make me happy. You know that, don\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018I wonder if he really saw Moira\u2019s side?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018He must\u2019ve done.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u2018Happiness involves insight. I get you, you get me.\u2019 She freed her hand. \u2018He didn\u2019t know her. Or himself.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Noel nodded. It was be nice day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back from the hospital Noel sipped tea hurriedly and Zoe said, \u2018What about our anniversary?\u2019             \u2018A couple of hours. Tonight\u2019s a given.\u2019             \u2018Doesn\u2019t his solicitor have people who empty property?\u2019             \u2018I\u2019m not emptying it. Don\u2019t you listen!\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why was he raising his voice? Today was be nice day. The death had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[695,734],"tags":[757],"class_list":["post-1610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-695","category-may-2023-commitment","tag-together"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sbrNJE-together","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1612,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610\/revisions\/1612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}