Friday Flash Fiction - week 37

U is for Unconditional

‘You just couldn’t wait, could you?’ 
Tim took a sip of his beer. 
‘I saw you talking to that woman at the first opportunity.’ 
‘You were on the phone.’ 
‘I saw you eyeing her up as soon as we came into the pub.’ 
‘I didn’t.’ 
‘You did. That’s why you asked for a seat at the bar, didn’t you? Cos the seat next to her was free?’ 
‘She was here with someone else if you hadn’t noticed.’ 
‘Since when has that ever stopped you?’ 
‘Christ almighty. Enough.’ 
‘Why don’t you just say it?’
‘Say what?’
‘Go on, say it. You know.’ 
‘I won’t.’ 
‘I dare you.’ 
He put an arm around her shoulders. ‘I love you.’ 
‘Not that.’ She shrugged him off. ‘You don’t mean it anyway.’ 
‘How can you say that? We’ve been together five years and you don’t believe I love you?’ 
‘You might’ve done once, but you can’t anymore.’ 
‘Oh really? Why don’t you tell me why I don’t love you anymore?’ 
‘You just can’t.’ 
‘Because you’ve had surgery?’ 
‘Yes.’
‘Because you look different now?’
‘Yes.’ 
‘Because you feel less sexy?’
‘Yes.’ 
‘Well, let me tell you one thing and that’s this little thing called love. It’s unconditional. Unconditional. I’ll love you no matter what.’
‘But you could have someone younger and prettier and sexier.’ 
‘Shh.’ He placed his fingers on her mouth. ‘But then I’d never get to kiss your lips again. Or stroke your hips. Or squeeze your bum. Or hear you laugh. I wouldn’t want to be without those things.’ 
‘Really?’
‘Really.’ 
‘I’m sorry.’ 
‘Don’t be. Now, let’s order.’ 

Laura Besley

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Flash Fiction diary

This piece was inspired by a couple we saw sitting at an adjacent table to ours whilst on holiday in Cambodia last month. I have absolutely no idea what their back story is (I made that bit up!), but she took a phone call during dinner and he looked a bit bored. Initially I had a different idea in mind for the direction of this story, but my pencil thought otherwise! 

I love travelling and am lucky enough to be able to do that. Sometimes I wonder at the impact mass tourism has on the locals of those popular destinations. Read on for Confessions of an Ageing Tourist.



News: As mentioned previously, in March this year I'll be featured in IMPRINT, the annual anthology of Women in Publishing Society. Also, the committee have asked me to read my piece at the launch party on 15th March. Very honoured and excited to have been asked. Despite getting up to talk in front of my students every day, reading in public makes me extremely nervous. I can only hope it goes as well as last time. I'll keep you posted!   
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count. 

On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.  

Thanks, as always, for reading.