Go Away Chris
Near the end of the evening, David leaned over and said quietly, "She's right for you. And I mean that the honest way, not the polite way."
"I know," I said.
"Good. Don't make a mess of it this time."
"I don't intend to."
We moved outside at the end of the evening, the group of us, into the cool night air, and there were the particular goodbyes of people who are not quite ready to leave each other, slow and warm and a little prolonged. Eventually David and Clara got into a taxi and Marcus and Joelle walked to their car, and the street thinned until it was just the two of us under the lights outside the restaurant.