October 21, 2017

My dearest,

We are having breakfast at Some Time Blue in Phahon Yothin. One of our favourite cafés. A new favourite. Astonishingly good drip coffee for you, brewed with deep craft and a real smile. I love the deliciously nutty Gravity, the house signature espresso poured over cold milk. The owners help us order food from their neighbour, a Thai restaurant.

So we have fried fish, son-in-law eggs, tamarind prawns and rice. It’s strange to have such a traditional Thai meal with artisanal coffee, surrounded by Victorian-style furnishings, but it works some how.

We decide we have space for dessert and we order their banana flourless cake. This turns out to be literally slices of banana wedged between two layers of chocolate cake like pillars. Like columns. They don’t fall apart even as we carve out bites with our forks. They are steady.

They remind me of you, my darling. Steady, strong, always present. Even when you are engrossed in reading a fantasy novel on your iPad, you keep track of me somehow. One of your hands on my lap, your ears following the rhythm of my breathing or wheezing or coughs or laughter.

I should know; I’m the same way.

Yours, ever and always.