I look along the endless line, squinting in the sunshine. I’m twenty-nine years old. I can go anywhere. Do anything. Be anyone I like. “There’s no rush,” I say at last, and reach up to kiss him again.
Husband disappeared? Order in your lover instead.
Yes, Ermintrude.” I muster a smile. “Ermintrude the hamster.” The spotlight finally moves off me, and Dix Donahue comes to the end of his speech, and I look up to see Luke giving me a little wink as he approaches through the crowd. “I’ll get you a new hamster this Christmas, darling,” he says over the sound of applause. “We’ll fight the discrimination together. If you can be brave enough, so can I.
Love is finding one person infinitely fascinating.
We’ve all got to have some kind of failure in life, and I had mine early. I got back on my feet. I learned that failing doesn’t mean you are a failure; it just means you’re a human being.
Family bloody first. I’m not saying Dad was wrong, I’ll never say that, but maybe I’m starting to see “family”differently. It’s not just the people you share genes with; it’s the people you share loyalty and friendship and respect with. It’s the people you love.
I think talking to other people can bring its own unhelpful baggage. Sometimes you just need to talk to an entity. The void. Your God.
Because the thing about letting people into your heart is, you can just push them out again. Easy.
But sometimes it’s hard to bear his disappointment at life as well as my own.
I think your smile looks like an orange segment.
Some things are private. I mean, we’re grown-ups now. You don’t share everything.
But at the same time, my resolve is hardening like lacquer. I’m taking time out, but I’m not giving up. I mean, I’m only in my twenties; am I going to let one setback crush my ambition? No.
I feel a blinding shaft of terror, which I tell myself to ignore, as my brain will often try to send me messages that are untrue and I do not have to listen to them. This is lesson one at St. John’s: your brain is an idiot.
Well, I don’t howl. Not quite. But I feel like howling.
Yes!” I perk up. “Actually, I was wondering, do the mothers have lots of coffee mornings, parties, that kind of thing?” Erica shoots me an odd look. “I meant socialization of the children.” “Right.” I clear my throat. “The children. Of course.
A break from what? Until that moment we’d been fine. So clearly what he needed a break from was the risk of hearing the word “marriage” again.
It’s just, there’s something compelling about very beautiful people. Especially strong-jawed men with stubble and intense eyes. You fall under their spell and believe anything they say.
Buy calmly and with meaning.
People move on. Friendship end.
You can Cut Back or you can Make More Money.
If I ran the country there’d be courses in things that you’d actually use your whole life. Like: How to do eyeliner. How to fill in a tax return. What to do when your loo blocks and your dad isn’t answering the phone and you’re about to have a party.