Something To Wish For by Scott Merry

Author:Scott Merry [Merry, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I sneak in the next morning, bag of English breakfast food in tow, surprised to find Joe already in the kitchen.

‘You coming in?’ Joe asks, a suspicious glint lurking in his expression, his beard freshly groomed. Some sort of oil is involved, I’m guessing. It sickens me with its glossiness.

‘I’m not going out,’ I say, putting my bag-for-life on the worktop.

‘You look shattered.’

‘Not a morning person,’ I mutter. ‘Promised everyone I’d make them breakfast.’

‘You took your ukulele with you to the shop?’

I realise I’m holding my case in the other hand. ‘Thought about playing on the beach.’

‘All that’s missing is a Hawaiian shirt.’

I ignore him and unpack my bag.

‘Oh come on, that was funny! Where else in the world would it be normal to play a musical instrument on a beach?’

‘Stereotype much?’

Joe shoots me a disgruntled look. ‘Apart from cooking breakfast for your buddies today, what else you got planned?’

‘No idea. Depends on what time they all head off. I’m not working again since Mum reduced my hours.’

‘Good to see them all again?’

I hesitate, my mind springing to think of all the negative events in the last twenty-four hours. ‘Sort of.’

‘How come?’

‘It’s different now. Everything’s changed. I’m sure I said that before we arranged it all. It’s only confirmed what I thought.’

‘To me it sounds like you’re suffering from confirmation bias.’

I screw my eyes shut, inwardly cursing myself for having managed the situation so poorly to give Joe an opportunity to go into management mode and lecture about some miniscule component of human psychology.

‘Do you know what that is, Matt?’

I sigh and shake my head; the tornado that is Joe Conway is too close to escape from now.

‘Think about it this way: have you been looking for everything that has changed? Even subconsciously?’

‘No,’ I reply, my voice sullen.

‘My advice? Reframe it. Try looking for everything that’s still the same rather than looking for everything that’s changed.’

I turn to look at him. ‘That sounds stupid.’

‘Try it. That’s all I’m saying. If you want your friends to stick around, don’t let your mental bias push them away.’

‘Why would I be looking for everything that’s changed?’

Joe spreads his arms. ‘How would I know? That’s on you.’

I take a deep breath as I return to readying the bacon for the grill. Joe at least has the common decency to head off for his round of golf, which I’m grateful for. I hate to think what would happen if the gang ended up in conversation with him.

Joe has yet again managed to flummox me. I continue to question myself on whether he’s any good for my mum. She seems happy enough with him. There’s a nagging feeling, though, buried in the pit of my stomach, that something, beyond the beard, isn’t quite right. Is it some sort of prop? Does he glue it on? It looks so luscious and sleek. If I attempted to grow anything on the bottom half of my face it would look like roadkill, I’m certain. It also crosses my

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