I fell asleep on the couch and Sam had to wake me up in time for midnight.
Partay!!!!!!
We covered Buddy and Bruno's ears during the fireworks.
We were in bed pretty soon after the new year began.
Happy New Year.
The end of the parliamentary year is a moment of reflection, and there is not much to show for six years of Coalition government. With drought and wildfire ushering in a frightening summer, the economy floundering and banks gone rogue, something near panic about China, schools going backwards, and sorry revelations from royal commissions underway into aged care and disability (and possibly a inquiry into veterans’ suicides inquiry)
The Morrison government was “working to make this future even better”. These words, the siren song of conservative optimism, but are without a good news story to back it up. Deny, deny, deny seemingly the order of the day. So Morrison falls back on his trademark bluster.
Morrison axes departments. The Canberra Bubble eating itself.
Email to my boss, I'm still sick, banged out and fired off without a seconds hesitation, not a care in the world. Unashamed.
I'm lying on the couch, when I can wrestle it away from Buddy, watching Netflix and YouTube on the teev, drinking coffee and eating far too much bread.
Cuddling up with Bruno, he is a cuddly pup, a good time being had by all.
We were heading to Coles to do some shopping. As we walked down Smith Street a voice said,
“That is Christian Fletcher, I know that voice.”
It was Jeff Titan heading to the optometrist. Fancy seeing Jeff, after he was mentioned by BigAnge, and then I wrote about him recently. There he was, looking shiny and new and smiling and saying hello. He looked good, he hasn’t changed.
It is interesting how those coincidence happen all the time. Of course, the cave dwellers amongst us would make more of it, even David would say it was a sign from Shiva herself, of some such nonsense, but it is just a coincidence.
“Hi Jeff, how are you?” Cute as ever, I think.
Sam walked onto the super market.
"I'm good, Christian, how are you?"
Still got a thing for you handsome, even I was surprised. "I'm good. You got trouble with your eyes?"
“No trouble. It’s just twelve months is up.”
“That’s very organised.” Ha ha,
“I’m organised, what can I say.”
You’ve still got nice eyes, kiddo. “Life’s good?”
“Life’s good,” said Jeff.
We gazed at each other after that. I have no idea what Jeff was gazing at. I was gazing at him. I’ve always liked gazing at him. It never worked out between the two of us. Pity. But that was last century.
“Well, good to see you,” I said. And it was. “You’d better get to your appointment?”
“Yes,” said Jeff.
“And I’d better get my groceries home,” I said.
“Good to see you too,” said Jeff. And there was his sweet smile.
BigAnge is talking to some of her team about the time she was drunk after a Xmas party with a partner at her old law firm and, I assume a junior lawyer at the time, Jeff Titan.
My ears prick up. Jeff Titan. How many Jeff Titans can there be?
"Jeff would be a QC by now, most likely," says Ange, almost as an after thought.
"Jeff is a magistrate," I say.
BigAnge looks over at me, her eyes widen, her eyebrows rise up. (I wasn’t actually a part of their conversation) "You know Jeff Titan?"
"Yes," I say.
"How do you know Jeff?" asks BigAnge.
I think about my dick in Jeff's arse. "Um, er." I can't lose the image from my mind quick enough. "Ah." Think quicker. "We used to…" no, I can't say that, but that’s how I knew him. I feel my face break into a smile to bide my time.
Ange tilts her head and purses her lips.
Does anyone, actually, know Jeff is gay? "Ah…" He always told me to keep my mouth shut when it came to him, me working in law firms and all. "Um." Nyr, what do I care, Jeff and I don't see each other anymore. "Jeff and I had a thing… once," I stumble. "I guess that is what you'd call it."
BigAnge tilts her head the other way. “You and Jeff?”
“Yeah, it was a long time ago. We were,” I laugh self-consciously, I can hear myself. “Friends with benefits.” There, I’d said it. Oh well, fuck Jeff, he’d pretty much dumped me as a friend, more recently, so what do I care. All is fair in… “He’s some sort of mediation expert with the courts now.”
“I didn’t know Jeff was…”
“Oh, he is, as Xmas,” I say. I’m not even sure I understand that expression, but oddly I like it. Bright and cheery. I could feel my face crease into a big smile. I picture Jeff on all fours in front of me… his hairy arse. He had a way of grunting, deep and low, kind of contained, as though being fucked was a very personal, like it was just him, there, in that moment... “I can vouch for that.”
Suddenly, I think I am getting far too eager to blab. Pull back I think.
BigAnge laughs. “Well, you learn something every day.”
Jeff is a year younger than me. And we look a bit alike, like brothers might. And we have identical dicks, I smile slightly at the thought of telling that to Ange. Oh, could you imagine? I used to fanaticise that he was my little brother, that I was screwing him, my hot little brother… when we were together. Yes, that is where fantasies go, you are surprised, but it is just a fantasy, settle down. And Jeff was sexy and handsome and he looked hot in his red MX5.
It really fucken hurt |