“Is that better? You’re all good.”
“I’m all good.”
“Okay. Let’s finish our meal. Do you want to hear what else happened today?”
“I think that’d be a good idea.”
For the rest of the meal, he talked about his day. He laughed at Sully and how every other word was fantastic, how he’d been treated almost like royalty.
“What did you sing today? You said you had a session in the recording studio.”
“Yeah, I did. I sang the song I sang at the festival. Took me a while to get it right, but I did. Sully loved it. Said it needed to go on the new album.”
“Album? You didn’t mention that.”
“Didn’t I? He’s going to put me with some songwriters. I might even get to write my own. We’ll put them on the album. If I decide to go sign up with them, of course.”
“You should, you know.”
“Eh, I need to do the checks first, but I might never get this chance again. I told you before, I’m not getting any younger. This could be it for me.”
“I have faith in you, Killian. You have a unique voice. I haven’t told you this before, but I only went back to the pub the second time to hear you sing. I don’t know what happened the night I collapsed. I don’t know if it was exhaustion or what, but since I met you, I’ve wanted to get to know you.”
“Even though…”
“Even though I might cut myself. I can’t explain it any more than you can, but since meeting you, the desire I have to hurt myself is outweighed by my yearning to get to know you and maybe…”
This was something I hadn’t completely admitted to myself.
“Maybe, in time, we could be more than friends. It started with me wanting to be just that, but the more I got to know you, the time we spent together, it made me think that there was more to life than what I’d experienced so far.”
“And you’d be right. There’s so much more to experience in this place.”
“I was disappointed when you cancelled yesterday. I know it was important to you, but I’m not used to these feelings, nor do I know how to handle them.”
“You’re doing just fine, Harv. One step at a time, and I’m here to help you deal with whatever you’re going through.”
“Thanks. That means a lot. I can’t promise I’m going to be any good at this.”
“Well, as we’re doing confessions, I wanted to know you, too, so I was glad to see you again when I did. I kind of wish all this wasn’t happening right now, but I really think if we take it one step at a time, we can manage all this change together.”
“Talking of change. I’m going to quit my job, too. I hate it so much and have for years.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet. When Grandma died, I hated being in the house on my own with nothing to do, wandering from room to room. I had no purpose and no life. I took the first job I found, and I’ve been there ever since. But it’s time for a change, like you said.”
“That’s a huge step. Won’t you be bored?”
“I might do something with my art. I haven’t decided yet, but I could ask Rafi if he’d want some of my designs. He’s the tattoo artist I use.”
“That sounds like an amazing plan. Look at us getting our shit together. We should celebrate.”
“With sparkling water?”
“If that’s what it takes, yes.”
He held up his glass, and I did the same. “To us and change.”