You Are Here

by David Nicholls

Sometimes, she thought, it’s easier to remain lonely than present the lonely person to the world, but she knew that this, too, was a trap, that unless she did something, the state might become permanent, like a stain soaking into wood. It was no good. She would have to go outside.

At home he was merely lonely. Stepping outside transformed loneliness to solitude, a far more dignified state because it was his choice.

Cleo was her oldest and best friend but also her most successful, and the qualities that had brought this success, her confidence and directness, sometimes left Marnie feeling daunted, as if their friendship was a job for which she must continually reapply.

When had it started, this wild self-consciousness?

encounters with other men always seemed pre-loaded with rivalry and suspicion, the handshake tight, the smiles too, and he wondered if, after a certain age, men could ever really like each other.