Milton found he was holding his breath, but, even as he focused his attention on the man at the front of the room, he noticed, from the corner of his eye, that Victoria was looking at him.

“I did and said some stupid things when I was drinking,” Lucas said, “but coming to meetings and listening to others who looked at the world in the same way—all of them bossed by their own egos and senses of self-worth, even as they hated their own guts—well, that was the moment I knew I’d found my tribe. And, as time passed, I tried to be more humble. I know now that it’s not all about me. I know what I think won’t always be right—hell, it won’t be right most of the time. I know now that I need to listen to others. I know not to decide things for others.”

Victoria reached across and put a hand on Milton’s knee. He looked over at her and saw that she was smiling at him.

“Anyway,” Lucas went on, “today is a special day for me. It was one year ago, almost to the hour, that I found myself standing on the edge of the cliff and I realised I had a choice: jump or get sober. I’m so grateful that I got to make the choice. Not everyone is that lucky.”

The room broke out into applause. Frank stood, took out a box stamped with the AA logo and took out a small plastic coin. It was a sobriety chip; they were handed out to mark milestones along the path to recovery. This one was blood red to mark the first anniversary.

Frank held up his hands for silence. “Congratulations, Lucas. I just wanted to say that I’m proud of who you’ve become. I remember you when you first came into this meeting, and the changes that you’ve made to your life since then are inspirational.”

Lucas stood, shook Frank’s hand and took the chip. He held it up and, buoyed by the continued whoops and hollers from the others in the room, he took his seat at the front once more.

Frank smiled broadly. “It’s always the biggest pleasure to be able to celebrate an anniversary among friends. Do we have anyone else with a milestone today?”

To his surprise, Milton found that he had raised his hand.

“John?”

Victoria was looking at Milton with a mixture of surprise and admiration. Milton found his mouth was dry. He cleared his throat.