The Winter Project

6. Minoru

Time had moved so slowly all day and Minoru was started to feel the effects of staring at his computer for the last four hours without a break. His manager was working from home but would send him emails every thirty minutes or so reminding him of menial tasks that had to be completed before the day was up. Minoru suspected that the only reason he was doing this was to check that Minoru hadn't left early for the day. By 4:55pm, he was already packing up his bag to leave as he had grown disinterested with the concept of proving himself. He expected to receive a text message from Stephanie any moment advising him of what she would be making for dinner. By 4:58pm, he had learned that she would be making butterfly chicken. Again. He felt a compelling urge not to go home.

'Coming for a drink, Min?'

He looked up from his phone at his colleague Stuart. Stuart had worked alongside Minoru for the past six years but they had only become friends in recent months after Minoru spent more and more time in the bar next to the office after work in order to delay going home to Stephanie. Stuart was a few years older than Minoru; he was slightly overweight and always had a smile on his face accompanied by rosy cheeks and a look of enthusiasm that was infectious. Minoru liked to surround himself with positive people, and Stuart was exactly that.

'Of course,' Minoru replied with a smile after a brief pause. 'It's Friday after all!'

Minoru mentally thanked Stuart for giving him a reason not to go home, for he had been looking for one for most of the afternoon. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and followed Stuart out of the office and to the bar next door where he had spent many nights drinking with colleagues and friends. He ordered two pints of beer and carried them outside to where Stuart was sitting in the beer garden. The garden was huge, filled with wooden benches that would soon be full of happy groups of people carelessly chatting away in a few hours time. For now it was early, and they were the only people there.

'So,' Stuart said, taking one of the beers from Minoru and nodding in appreciation before taking his first sip. He let out a sigh of relief, then drank roughly one third of the pint before he spoke again. 'How goes it?'

'Not bad,' Minoru nodded as he distractedly fumbled around in his backpack for a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. 'How's things with you?'

'Well...having a wife who is seven months pregnant is exciting and all, but sometimes I find myself in this bar, texting her that I'm working late just because I can't bear to go home and complete her list of chores for the day.' He was clearly joking by the way he laughed after he said it, but there was a hint of seriousness in his voice and Minoru suspected that the laugh was only there in case Minoru had been somehow offended by Stuart's unwillingness to support his wife as she carried their first child.

'Okay, seriously,' Minoru began to babble excitedly, as he often did, especially when he had an opening to voice his thoughts and not be victim to judgment. He was always full of enthusiasm and would act over-excited and clumsy like a toddler every time he was enjoying a strong social interaction or relatable conversation. He found that most people found these qualities in him endearing, and only occasionally would people make fun of him for being so childlike as he approached his thirties. 'Stephanie tells me before I come home that she's making me food literally every day, and I can tell that she wants me to be grateful, but it just annoys me sometimes. I don't want to eat at 6pm and eat the same meals every few days on rotation! This pub is my sanctuary.'

'Well, there's a big difference,' Stuart thought out loud. He looked up into the sky as if he was contemplating deeply how to word what he was about to say. Stuart was a fun-loving guy, but he had the tendency to get very deep and emotional in his conversations and around the office people would make fun of him if he talked for too long or analysed what people were thinking and feeling out loud. 'Now, I love Jess. Unconditionally. She's the love of my life. And she's having my baby, so I appreciate that- but sometimes it can get a little bit much. That is standard of every relationship, across the world. You, on the other hand...you love this girl?'