“This is nice,” Sarah says, about the restaurant decor.

Gary’s phone rings. She orders.

They both eat one-handed: Gary’s other hand clasped round his phone, hers holding a book.

In the car, driving home, Gary says, “That was nice.”

Sarah pulls a loose thread on her scarf, watches it unravel.

Laura Besley is the author of micro fiction collection, (Un)Natural Elements (Beir Bua Press, 2021), 100neHundred (Arachne Press, 2021), and flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers (Dahlia Books, 2020). Having lived in the Netherlands, Germany, and Hong Kong, she now lives in land-locked central England and misses the sea. She tweets at @laurabesley.