STICKS AND STONES #05

Nine damning words from one insecure, petty-minded lover: one encounter trashed, one joyous relationship smashed. The most powerful and rankling four, “she , always, centre, attention.”
“She”; the root cause of his problem. “Always”; they’d only met twice. “Centre”; his displacement in the affections of his man. “Attention”; to her not him. Spitefully he voiced his opinion loud enough to fill an auditorium, certain she would hear and willing each syllable to lacerate.

Driving the motorway, she was overtaken by the jagged barbs and cursed the inevitable crash ahead, workshop excitements, new friendships and shared experiences now irrevocably dislocated.