Can't You Be Serious?

          I met Robin for lunch today and told him all about the wedding crasher plan.

            “How amusing,” he said, when I was done, “but it’s all rather silly isn’t it? I mean, shouldn’t you be knuckling down to work now?”

            “Eh?” I said, rather nonplussed.

            “Come on Tom, you’re not yourself these days. Where’s the hard working man I knew who’d put the drive to succeed above all else. You were playing the game perfectly before you got all these non-conventional ideas into your head. You have to pull yourself back together and stop living this silly fantasy life.”

            “What’s your problem Robin? I don’t need all this negativity.”

            “‘Negativity’? I’m sorry Tom, but you begin to sound like a Scientologist. What’s Ed getting you into?”

            At that moment I received another text message from Fiona. She wanted to go out on another date. I decided to ignore it. The timing was good though. The tension broke and Robin tactfully changed subject. We sat through the rest of lunch with reasonable civility. Nonetheless, his words had affected me.

 

*

 

            This evening I sat down with Ed to have dinner.

            “Ed,” I began, “I want to have a serious chat with you for a moment.”

            He laughed.

            “I’m serious, Ed.”

            “I know, that’s what’s so funny.”

            “But you don’t even know what it’s about.”

            “Okay, okay,” he said, calming down, but preserving a sardonic smile.

            “Where are we going with all this stuff? Don’t you think we ought to think about the future a little more carefully?” Ed had begun laughing again. “Honestly Ed, pull yourself together. I’m talking about both of us now, even you have to consider the future at some point. What’s going to happen to you when this hedonistic life of yours is no longer sustainable?”

            Ed was by now uncontrollable.

            “What’s your fucking problem, Ed, can’t you ever be serious about anything, for even a moment?”