‘Isn’t it amazing?’ Joanie giggled as she leapt across the floorboards.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ I nodded, looking around. The room had that brand-new echo that you only heard in a house when you were moving in and out.
‘Isn’t it funny how all of your stuff just… dampens your space,’ I nodded to myself.
‘What?’ Joanie frowned, lining herself to slide from one end of the room to the other on her socks.
‘Just thinking out loud, I guess,’ I slipped my hands into my pocket.
‘Right…’ she said, then launched into a run-up that would have put a professional sprinter to shame.
‘It’s just…’ I shook my head as she skidded past, ‘our lives are so transitory, y’know. Transpositional. Transactional.’
‘You’ve been spending too much time with those architects specialising in Brighton home designs,’ Joanie scoffed as she slid past my field of view again.
‘I have not,’ I frowned. ‘I’ve barely seen them, actually. Isn’t it funny how people slip away…’ I dropped into a whisper. ‘But only when we push them away.’
Joanie rolled her eyes at me from the opposite end of the room.
‘Bro, you’re really crushing my new-house vibes,’ she put her hands on her hips.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ I lifted my hands up in apology. ‘Maybe I do miss the guys. Truth is, I haven’t heard from them since they joined a company offering residential architectural services. Just too busy, I suppose.’
I let out a sigh and felt my shoulders slump. Joanie slid towards me slowly, tenderly, and placed an arm on my shoulder. ‘It’s going to be okay,’ she nodded. ‘You’ll get through this.’
‘Thanks,’ I flashed a forced smile. ‘I really appreciate that.’
‘You know what might help?’ she asked, the corners of her mouth twitching.
‘What?’
‘If you took those ridiculous shoes off and raced me from one end of the house to the other on the floorboards.’
I smiled again – less forced this time.
‘Isn’t it going to suck, losing so quickly in your new home?’
She punched me in the arm.