Page 68 of The One That I Want

‘I could tell,’ he replies, sniggering.

‘Is there a real reason or…?’

‘It’s going to sound wildly out of character.’

‘I’m all ears,’ I say.

‘Well, I was with a mate at a pub, and I told him I was considering stepping away from my job for a year?—’

‘Is this the mate with the sick toddler?’

‘Different mate – he doesn’t work in finance – he’s a teacher, actually… Anyway, we started “riffing”, I guess is the best word, on the sorts of things I could do instead. And we ended up in this word association game and he said, “Whatever you answer to the next question – you have to do something related to that,” or something similar.’

‘And what was the next question?’ I ask, literally on the edge of my seat as I inch closer, my eyes fixed on his.

‘He asked, “What’s the one thing – not a person, nothing essential, and nothing abstract – that you couldn’t live without?”’

I blink at him, my mind instantly chewing on the question from my own perspective.

‘You’re trying to figure out what your “one thing” is, aren’t you?’

I nod.

‘Don’t think about it too much – just say whatever comes to mind.’

‘Reality competition shows,’ I blurt. I clap my hand over my mouth. ‘That’s so ridiculous. I’m sorry. I could have said any number of things. Like magazines, for example!’ I shake my head at myself and take a sip of my coffee.

‘Ahh, but that’s the thing – in your profession, magazines are essential.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Which makes yours a perfect response.’

‘Maybe…’ I say, still feeling a little foolish. ‘So what didyousay?’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ he asks with a smile. ‘I said, “Coffee”.’

‘Oh, of course.’

‘And I thought, “Why not?”. It was as far away from my profession as I could get, and I have a friend in commercial real estate and another in small business management… I called in some favours and bit the bullet and?—’

‘Other pertinent idioms.’

‘And other pertinent idioms and’ – he throws his hands out wide again – ‘I’m the proud owner of a thriving coffee shop in Central London. Who knew?’

‘I suspect that deep down, you knew it would take off.’

‘I honestly didn’t. These past months have been the steepest learning curve of my life.’

‘But you’ve loved it.’

He grins. ‘I have.’

‘Oh, I’ve just realised… The Daily Grind… You named the coffee shop after what you were leaving behind.’

‘That’s it exactly.’

‘Well, I love it – very clever.’

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