Luke Turns Forty

Luke turns forty today. Forty. 4, 0. (I must get that Bette Davis dialogue from All About Eve to play to him.) Not 20, not 30, but 40, 4, 0.

Milo was very keen for some loving at 6.50am. Sam mumble something about him being heavy, which I think translates to annoying, except the next minute Sam is saying, “Milo, Milo, Milo,” and patting Milo too.

It was a typical morning. I looked at my laptop, Sam ate crumpets and strawberries and Buddy lay between us. Sam headed upstairs. Buddy headed upstairs with me. He lay on the bed while we showered. He went back downstairs when Sam did. Sam got my apples for me. No lunch today as we ate wraps last night. Sam watered the front garden as I got my shit together. We both walked to work in the glorious morning sun.

I was in at 8am, nobody else was in.

The sun blared in my office window, I had to close the blind again.

Pretty soon the most boring man in the world and the harping woman were assaulting me with their hideousness. He’d crinkled his breakfast food bag, talked on the phone, with the silky tone of beige and then continued to eat noisily. She just squawked away at the end of the walkway that joins her desk to mine. If I could wish them both dead, I’d rise to my feet and clap when their lifeless corpses hit the floor.

I was so going to pack my journal away at 9am and do some work, but F went to a meeting for 2 hours at 10am and I couldn’t resist.

This job is too much for one person? This job is too much for one person to handle, it sent Mazz running, Kerin screaming and caused Rita to be walked out. You know, I’ve spent so many days writing my journal and generally pissing around, that I am not so sure about that any longer. Touch wood, I seem to be doing it with ease. I always speed up or slow down to just enough effort to get the job done. No more, no less. I guess I should have been more ambitious, but I wasn’t, and that is that.

I went over to the other building and posted mum’s bills. I bought a coffee at the café downstairs.


I had to call Luke. I’d sent him a message on Facebook this morning, about him falling down drunk in the gutter after his 21st and chipping his tooth, but was that enough? No, I had to call. I didn’t want to call too early, Luke is not an early riser. I waited till 10.20am. The phone rang for a while before a croaky voice answered. He was clearly just waking up, drinking his first coffee.

“Yeah thanks… you…” he used his nickname for me, which I don’t share here.

“I was going to call an hour ago, but I thought that may have been too early.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, that may have been too early.”

"Happy birthday."

"Yeah, thanks," said Luke. He sounded bemused. Maybe, just delirious from early morning.

"Did you feel the fortiness creeping up on you in the night?"

"Yeah, good on ya," said Luke. "It is a lovely morning, now that I look around."

"A lovely morning on which to turn forty."

"As good a day as any."



Mark arrived back with Sebastian, who had just returned from Japan, consequently he was speaking Japanese down the phone.

“Kon'nichiwa” came Sebastian's voice suddenly on the phone.

“So you can speak Japanese now?”

“Gomen'nasai, which is sorry, ” said Sebastian.

“What did you do to have to say sorry?”

“No nothing, you know how people say sorry all the time. Sorry for anything.”

“I do, for no reason too,” I said. “I always want to ask them why they are saying sorry.”

“Me too, me too,” said Sebastian. “We just need to tell them Fuck off.”

So it is not just me who notices the addiction to saying sorry. I’m still not exactly sure why?

“When my father comes to stay,” said Sebastian, “It is too much for you…”

“I don’t mind…”

“No, it is too much to ask…”

“No, I really don’t mind…”

“But, I do,” said Sebastian. “I do.”

“I see…”

“Can we find a hotel close by?”

“Yes, we can.”

“Oh good,” said Sebastian. “I just want o enjoy my time with everyone.”

“Sure,” I said. There were two I had in mind.

“I don’t need to be sharing my toilet with him.” I guessed that was an Italian expression. Sebastian’s father doesn’t speak English either.

Everyone is gathering at my place in a few weeks for a big birthday for Luke. Everyone is coming together for that coming event. Sebastian has come from Tokyo.



Sam text me and told me that I should have a big lunch. I knew what that meant. I told him he was naughty. He said we had a small amount to use up.

I went to the latest interns farewell lunch at in Brunswick Street, as I had to buy lunch anyway. F didn’t go, she had too much work to do.

I worked away all day, doing what I choose. My mind was now distracted.

I left work at 4.30pm.

We had our first pipe at 5pm.

I remember 6pm, 9pm, 10.45. It getting dark. We smoked the rest at midnight. I remember it getting light again seemingly moments after it got dark.