Straight to You Page 0,6

away. I could not stop myself from staring at my beautiful best friend and thinking what an incredibly lucky man her husband was. Now that she was happily married, however, we had come to share a close, symbiotic relationship whereby we both relied on each other for help and support. Over the years we had grown to be as close as brother and sister and I valued her companionship more than she ever could have imagined. I always meant to tell her just how much she meant to me, but could never find the right moment.

When I had first suggested the park, visions of lush, cool grass and leafy trees had flooded into my mind. The reality, however came as something of a surprise to both of us. The park stood at the end of the little road which we followed and it usually offered an unexpected oasis of greenery contrasting sharply with the dense, cold grey of the city nearby. While it still provided a welcome escape from the plastic and concrete, we found it to be in a desperately sorry state. The grass was brittle and bleached of colour the soil hard cracked and dry. Although the temperature had only reached such extreme and unusual levels in the last few days, there had been little or no rain for the best part of a month and the lack of moisture was killing the park almost as we watched. Undeterred, we walked towards a huge, old oak tree to sit down in the little shade that it offered. It was only the layer of dead golden-brown leaves on the ground around the tree's base and its savage, bare branches twisting into the sky above us which gave any indication of it being autumn at all.

Rebecca brushed away handfuls of crisp crackling leaves before sitting down on the hard ground. I did the same and sat next to her.

'This weather's incredible,' I said, loosening my tie.

'Oh, don't, Steve,' she sighed. I looked at her, confused.

'Don't what?'

'Talk about the weather. Christ, it's all I've heard this morning.' She spread her legs out in front of her and leant back against the rough trunk of the tree. 'Every single person that I've spoken to has mentioned it. "What a lovely day", "Isn't it hot for the time of year?" Honestly, there's only so much that I can take.'

I could see how the continually inane conversations that Rebecca had been subjected to could soon wear a person down, but I could not help thinking that it would make a welcome change for me to actually become involved in a decent conversation at work rather than being ignored and locked away in my office in tiresome, continual isolation. It wouldn't matter what the subject was, just to have a member of staff be pleasant and approachable for a while would be enough.

'How's Richard?' I asked, changing the subject. Richard was Becky's husband.

'He's fine,' she replied as she began to search for something in her bag. We never talked much about him - if I was brutally honest, I didn't really want to know anything and Becky seemed not to want to tell me much. As long as he was treating her well and was looking after her, I was happy.

She emerged from her bag clutching a small, cellophane-wrapped packet of sandwiches and a can of lemonade. She opened the sandwiches and took a large bite out of one of them. After chewing for a moment she stopped and a look of utter disgust spread across her face. She forced herself to swallow.

'What's the matter?' I asked. Rebecca wiped her mouth and grimaced.

'That's disgusting,' she said as she looked down at the half-eaten food in her hand. She slowly peeled one slice of bread away from the other and I turned my nose up at the slimy concoction which had been spread between them.

'What the bloody hell is that?' I asked, pointing at the revolting food.

'Tuna fish and salad cream,' she replied. 'It doesn't look too good, does it?'

I shook my head.

'You've got strange tastes,' I joked.

'It'd be all right normally, it just got a little bit warm in my bag.'

'I couldn't even eat that cold,' I said, 'never mind toasted!'

Rebecca looked at me and wrinkled up her nose before gathering up what remained of the sandwiches, standing and throwing them into a nearby waste bin. She walked back towards me and wiped her greasy hands clean on her smart skirt.

We sat and talked for