Parting

The silence between them hangs in the air persistently. They begin to smirk at one another stretching their faces in unspoken tension. Neither seems able to continue the pretense of conversation. The younger woman begins to rise, gathering herself into her yellow handbag. From an adjacent table a 3 yr old looks on with wide blue eyes. ‘So, keep well then’ the seated woman just manages to verbalise. ‘I will’, replies the other. The standing woman motions her head to the floor in an imperceptible bow and disappears from the restaurant’s terrace.