Waving Not Drowning

"First, do no harm. Second, do your best until you know better then, third, do better." Jake stares at her eyebrows. Actually the space between her eyes so it looks like he's making eye contact but he's avoiding her eye line completely. He saw that in a movie once and stole it. Not that he doesn't want to look at her, but he finds it uncomfortable to sit in a chair for an hour, across from this middle aged woman he just met and tell her his life story. It's a lot. "Ok Jake, yes, that technically answers my question but I have to be honest with you- I'm not buying it. Sounds pretty rote to me, like something you've learned to say to keep people happy and stop them from continuing to engage. When I ask you for three principles you live by I would like more than a Yogi Tea bag quote. How about you try again, hm?" Janice does this thing with her head, a soft side tilt while raising her brows and giving what must be an unconscious nod. Jake figur...

Oh come on, really? You can't be serious- I mean, I heard her. She said it was 5, not 6. Why do you think she said 6? Cause that's stupid, it's completely idiotic and if it's true then we're completely screwed, ok? Like totally shit outta luck. So why don't you call her or text her or bloody well send up the bat signal and see if you can get her to confirm your story because I am not going to take the heat on this one if we miss the plane. Can you do that? Can you make that happen or do I have to do it for you, like every other single thing in your life. Really. You are unbelievable. A fully grown man and you can't get your shit in order- why are we even having this conversation? Just do it, do something, do anything. DO IT! Grant studies the phone in his hand, too tired to respond. Every year it's the same thing. Home for the horror-days. He stayed away last year, took extra shifts at the bar and made hand over fist in pity tips from the barflys who h...

Mickey and Mark are identical twins, born into a family of ancient parents. A last ditch attempt at conception and they hit it out of the park, a real two for one special. Mickey and Mark are impossible to tell apart, even their parents confuse the two, hence the colour coded wardrobe. Red for Mickey, blue for Mark. Matching, of course, throughout their childhood but even now as adults they find themselves more often than not wearing the same outifts by happenstance. Perhaps it's that secret twin ESP spidey sense that they are rumoured to share. Regardless, Mickey and Mark are wearing the same skinny tobacco coloured chinos, Tom's slip-ons with a white t shirt under a casually wrinkled shirt. Together they are a mirror image walking side by each down the corridor, past cubicle after cubicle. They work together at McCann and McCann, a marketing firm specializing in on site bilboards and placards, primarily on University campuses and in pubs. Occasionally one twin covers for the ...