The Coffee We Never Finished

The Coffee We Never Finished

I met Clara on a wet Tuesday in October, the kind of Dublin day that makes everyone look like they are apologising for being outside. We had arranged to meet in Bewley’s…

The Coffee We Never Finished

I met Clara on a wet Tuesday in Dublin, which is to say I met her in weather that made everyone look like they had survived something. We were both sheltering under…
I Learned to Love Again After Forty

I Learned to Love Again After Forty

I was forty-three when I decided I was finished with romance. I didn’t announce it dramatically. There was no throwing of rings into the Liffey or tearful speech in a pub. I…
He Was Everything Except Mine

He Was Everything Except Mine

I met him on a wet Thursday outside the Abbey Theatre, when the rain was coming down sideways and everyone at the bus stop looked personally betrayed by the sky. He offered…
The Love I Couldn’t Explain

The Love I Couldn’t Explain

I met Lina on a wet Tuesday evening outside Temple Bar, though neither of us was going in. I was sheltering under the shallow doorway of a closed souvenir shop, pretending to…
We Shared Dreams but Not a Future

We Shared Dreams but Not a Future

We met on a wet Thursday outside Whelan’s, both of us pretending we were grand with the rain while standing under the same useless awning. I had come from a late shift…