Change of Scenery

This was written late yesterday - I meant to publish it but must have fallen asleep before I could.

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So, first of all, it is terrifying to discover that there are enough of you reading this to make that many suggestions in the comments on the last post. I’m doing my best not to think about it. Let’s blame comment spambots; those are a thing, right?

We arrived in Lyme* late today. It’s off-season so most of the little town is shut, but we've taken over a large B&B and the ocean is there year round, so I’m content.  Rietta managed to get time off her job so it's all of us - Rietta, Louisa, Mary, Charles, Wentworth, and me.

After dropping our bags at the B&B the next thing to be done was unquestionably to walk down to the sea. The town itself is not very remarkable, especially when it is all closed up for the season, but as you reach the water and see the view – the hills stretching out to the east, you can’t help but fall in love with the place. We lingered by the water despite the chill, as one must when arriving at the ocean.

Then we went to meet Wentworth's friends and they were super nice and welcoming. We met his buddy, Harvey, from university - they started Wentworth's first company together. And Harvey’s wife Sara who is a teacher. And Ben, another business friend who is staying with them. Ben was engaged to Harvey’s sister, but sadly she passed away last year while Ben was abroad on a project. Ben is pretty depressed about it, understandably.

We hung out at Harvey and Sara’s place and it was a wonderful evening. Seeing Wentworth’s friends so happy at the sight of him, seeing them all happy to be together was very uplifting. Harvey and Sara and Ben are all clever people and it was a lot of fun listening to them tell tales of their early years together as the boys tried to get their company off the ground.

I spent a good part of the night in one corner with Ben, who was not quite up to being as cheery as the others. Eventually, after some careful questions, I drew him out and discovered that he and I share some nerd things in common, including a passion for reading, a preference for science fiction over fantasy, and a secret enjoyment of zombie movies. We talked about books and tv shows. He tried to convince me to try reading graphic novels. I tried to suggest that he try reading some more lighthearted stuff (he did jot down some book titles and promised to check them out). I found myself at one point giving advice on how to heal a broken heart, which seems funny to me but he took me seriously and seemed grateful to have someone to talk to about it.

It was a really nice night with great company. As I sit here now, with everyone else in bed for the night, I can’t help but get moody and stupid and note that these great people would be my friends too, if I had stayed with Wentworth. Is it stupid that the loss is somehow compounded knowing that I missed out on great friendships too?

*not actually Lyme, this is an alias place name