‘I’m sorry for being a prematurely middle-aged boring bastard.’

‘Louder!’

‘I’m sorry for being a prematurely middle-aged boring bastard!’

‘Louder, like you mean it, my friend!’

‘I’M SORRY FOR BEING A PREMATURELY MIDDLE-AGED BORING BASTARD!’

He heard a crowd cheer on the other end of the line to match anything U2 would receive at Croke Park that evening, and then they hung up.

He glanced at the window and to his relief, the grumpy waiter was nowhere in sight. He relaxed into his chair and giggled at how he could be so gullible and at his old friend’s relentless juvenile stupidity.

‘Would you like me to call you a doctor or get you some help, sir?’

He turned and smiled weakly at the frowning man with coffee and cakes standing over his right shoulder.

25

By the time Bernadette returned, he’d spent a very pleasant hour eating delicious cakes with his new friend, who wasn’t Greek but Romanian. He’d travelled alone to Dublin two years ago to find work. He was six months away from being able to send for his wife and five children, whom he hadn’t seen since the day he left. From the many photographs, Cormac concurred that Nicolai junior most definitely had his father’s strong jaw line and little Nadia was indeed in outright possession of the most beautiful smile in all of Romania! Cormac agreed there was no need for him to visit Romania to verify this matter as it was clearly already settled!

He was still looking at the photos when the chair beside him scraped across the stone.

‘What a beautiful little girl.’

He lifted his head from the photograph.

‘Oh, Bernadette, I’m sorry - I was in a world of my own.’

She was sitting as close as one could be to another without any part of their anatomy coming into contact.

‘That’s quite alright, they are beautiful children.’

He looked at her. Her black tracks were erased and replaced with a touch of foundation. Her eyes, while large and bright, were, however, sat on two puffy shelves that told him instantly that she’d spent a considerable portion of their brief time apart in a less than happy state.

He leaned into her.

‘I’m sorry I was distracted because it meant I missed the opportunity of seeing you walk towards me.’

Her seat scratched the ground again so there was enough space for another person to fit between them - two, if they were small.

‘Cut all that crap out, please, Cormac! We’re not love’s young dream anymore! Can we just establish from the off that I came back to spend the day with you for old time’s sake as much as anything, but that is it. When today is done, it is done, and we can both move on with our lives.’

He pulled his chair into the space.

‘I’m sorry, Bernadette. I shouldn’t have said that. It comes out involuntarily. Thank you for coming back and I’m very grateful we can spend this time together. I can’t help noticing though, you have been crying. I hope I’ve not caused that?’