Maame

by Jessica George

realized then that our friendships were not based on loyalty or love but convenience and proximity. I went from a close group of seven to one. Nia.

When you’re in a job you don’t love but need, it must help to have someone close by to share light moments with.

If only logic and reason overruled emotion.

“What does love feel like?” “Sunshine and rainbows?” Nia offers. “She’s not seven,” Shu says. “It’s not always about what it feels like, Mads, because sometimes it feels pointless. It’s about what love is. Which is trust, commitment, empathy, and respect. It means really giving a shit about the other person.”

I cut the conversation off there because the way I see it, apologies only benefit the beggar. They get a clear conscience, and I get a sequence of hollow words incapable of changing anything.

I don’t even know exactly what it is that I no longer believe.