IV."Morning, John," I say when I reach our desks, tea in hand.
When I initially came in, he was here already in much the same condition as yesterday, so I headed for the hot drinks machine straight away. Perhaps this is going to turn into a ritual of sorts.
He takes the cup, giving me an apologetic smile.
"Rough night?" I guess that wasn't really a question.
He responds with an unintelligible noise rather than actual words.
"I wish you'd take it easy on yourself." s**t, did I actually just say that?
He instantly looks up in surprise. I wish the earth would swallow me whole, but here I am. All I can do to deflect is to fidget with my cup some more.
Shut up, woman! The last thing I want is to remind him of his mum.
"Anyway..." I say, in a desperate attempt to fill the awkward silence
