-This was Simone’s office

Mrs. Herberton said showing me a small room

With a table, a computer, and a leather armchair

That looked out of place.

-She was a good friend of mine, helped me a lot when I needed it.

I nodded. Simone had been very popular at the school

But she had lost her job over an indiscretion.

I put my coat on a hook and sat down at the desk.

I had been out with Simone,

We had gone to the XYZ bar, off Towners Street.

We talked about our lives,

She kept drinking whiskey.

She praised the student captain,

A boy named John.

She spoke of him a lot.

I was glad when the night was over.

I tried to imagine what would happen to Simone,

Years in the future,

As I sat in her dark office.

All I could picture was a person

Lonely at Christmas,

Living in a shared house, off a narrow lane.

I imagine her looking out her shared kitchen window,

At the sunset,

Wondering where the boy is now.