Free Friends Like Us by Siân O'Gorman Page A

Cormac looked at Walter who had balanced his chair on its back two legs. He was wobbling dangerously. ‘You’re a good team, you and Nora.’
    Walter nodded, returning to earth. ‘Every day I think that. Every day I look at this beautiful Irish woman and think how lucky I am.’
    Walter took out his phone and showed Cormac a new picture of Nora and Axel grinning for the camera.
    â€˜They’re gorgeous,’ said Cormac, wistfully. Wife and children, a family, love. What more could any man want?
    Walter nodded in agreement. ‘I’m a lucky man. And what about you, my friend? Still pining? Like a puppy or a little child who has been forgotten by Weinachtsmann ?’
    â€˜Who?’
    â€˜Father Claus. Whatever he’s called.’ Walter raised an eyebrow. ‘How long have we known each other? Seven years?’
    Cormac nodded. ‘Our eyes met over sourdough.’
    â€˜Seven years! Seven years you’ve been obsessing over Melissa. It’s too long, man. You need to let go and find someone who will want to be with you, sleep with you, be there in the morning, wave goodbye, say hello, kiss you… make love to you. Have babies with you.’
    â€˜No, I’m not pining. Anymore.’ Cormac had felt a bit defensive. ‘I admit I was but…’ he paused and took a deep breath. ‘It’s time. Time I moved on.’ For a moment, Cormac believed he was ready. He actually began to feel excited.
    â€˜Are you sure. Because you’re wasting your life. You are no longer a young man…’
    â€˜Jesus, Walter. All right.’ Cormac drank some of his putrid coffee. ‘I know that… actually, it’s something I’ve been thinking myself. I have to let go, to move on, to…’
    â€˜Good. Because, life is, as you all say, too small. Listen to me now, because we have an idea. A set-up, a fix-up… Nora’s got a friend who works on some international bank. She’s just back from New York – a banking exec person by day, a yoga teacher by weekend. Now, doesn’t that sound intriguing?’
    Did it? He supposed it did, but he wasn’t filled with great enthusiasm.
    Walter continued. ‘Erica’s her name. Something like that. Nora had the idea. She met her at some fundraising event and said as soon as she met this Erica person, she thought of you. Say the word and we can set something up. She is a very attractive woman – tall and stretchy, you know? She, apparently, is very conscious of her health. I thought that would suit you with your running and your swimming.’
    â€˜She sounds terrifying.’ And totally unlike Melissa, he thought. Part of him was hoping that there might be a doppelganger out there, someone like Melissa but better, because she liked him back.
    â€˜Listen, my friend,’ said Walter, all earnest and insistent. ‘You should do this. In fact, I am going to order you to do it. You need some exercise of the different kind. You know what I’m saying? Huh?’
    Cormac nodded. He did. He’d had girlfriends and lovers for years and years but none of them lit his fire. This time though, he was determined to just get on with it, with no comparisons with Melissa.
    â€˜Anyway,’ Walter continued, ‘Nora’s told her all about you. Said you know about bread. We couldn’t think of anything else, but it seemed to be enough. Men are few and far between when women get to a certain age so you should be taking full advantage of that, my man, get out there and enjoy your rarity factor.’
    â€˜Bread? Surely there’s more to me than that?’
    Walter shrugged as though there wasn’t.
    â€˜Well, that makes me sound mad. And sad.’
    Walter just raised one eyebrow. ‘I think she said that bread was the devil, but Nora couldn’t work out whether she was joshing or not.’
    â€˜Please let it be her wacky sense of humour.’
    â€˜She