If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

I said who was there that I know?

She said some names, and they were people that I remembered, and I said so how come no one told me?

She said oh it was just a last-minute thing, it was nothing special she said.

But this guy she said, this guy was asking me about you, and he said he wanted to get in touch with you.

She said it was that nervous guy’s brother, you know the guy at number eighteen who always blinked a lot, didn’t say much to anyone, it was his brother.

I don’t know what he was doing there she said, I think Jamie knew him or something but he was dead nice.

She said he wanted to get your number off me, he’s heard a lot about you from his brother apparently.

He’s really nice she said, I think you should meet him, his name’s Michael.

So I said okay, without really thinking about it, and she said she’d phone him up and give him my number.

And he phoned me about half past four, very politely, and said he hoped I didn’t mind him doing this or think he was strange but he was interested to meet me.

I said no, not at all, no.

He suggested a pub, and a time, and he said you’ll know who I am I look like my brother.

I didn’t spend much time getting ready.

I ate something out of the microwave, I put on some clothes that didn’t smell of photocopy ink, I switched the answerphone on.

I kept wanting to change my mind, but I didn’t have his number and it seemed rude to just not turn up.

So I went, and I met him, and we bought drinks and started to talk.

And he was very easy to talk to, and we talked a lot.

We said so where do you live, and what do you do, and where did you live before, and how did you get here tonight.

We talked about people we knew and didn’t know, piecing together our connections like genealogists.

It was tenuous, there was Jamie who used to live with Rob with the skateboard, and as of a few days ago there was Sarah.

And there was his brother, although I didn’t really know him at all.

I started to feel relaxed, the way sometimes a new person in an unfamiliar pub can make you feel, with the loud music and the smell of beer and cigarette smoke.

I said I thought it was a strange thing to do, to come and meet him like this, but that I was glad I had.

He said he’d been worried about calling me, but more worried about not calling me, and did that make any sense?

I thought about all the people I haven’t called or written or spoken to and I said yes it makes a lot of sense.

I said but what made you want to get in touch in the first place, why now?

He said oh no it wasn’t deliberate I didn’t come looking, it was just a chance thing he said, meeting Sarah at the party and her saying she knew you.

He said my brother told me a lot about you it made me curious, and I said oh nothing bad I hope.

He told me his brother had gone away travelling somewhere, and I said by the way you really do look very much like him.

He said I should think so too we’re twins and I said oh I didn’t realise.