Cassidy gave up.

He couldn't see how it was done. The mirror was a mirror. It held no secrets. He pursed his lips and sucked air in, expelling it noisily through his nostrils. It was meant as an insult to whoever was trying to make him think he was losing his mind and, whether they'd realise that or not, it made him feel a little better.

Well, 'Amy' wasn't being very talkative, so he'd leave her to it. He had a life and, he saw, checking his watch, he needed to go live it. He had to shower, get dressed and go, or he'd be late.

He didn't see his brother very often. Busy lives, jobs and relationships made it difficult to meet up, though they regularly spoke. His brother, Ethan, liked to send memes and most of them Cassidy found funny. The odd one fell a bit flat or stepped a touch over the line of acceptability, but they were all meant in jest, so Cass accepted them and smiled either way.

The pair were very close when they were in contact. There'd been a couple of times, mainly due to the partners they had at the time having intense dislikes for each other over things the brothers found incidental, that they hadn't spoken for a time. When they did get back in touch, both picked up their relationship as if nothing happened.

Considering Cassidy's life had been upended, he was pleased he and Ethan were not presently estranged. The lunch and a pint they had planned had been welcomed, anyway. After the events of the last day or two, it was more so.

It was often said the town they lived in consisted mainly of eating places and so called 'pound shops,' the type of retail outlet where everything was cheap in price and quality. There were masses of takeaways, especially those selling kebabs and pizzas, and a good supply of pubs, too. Once upon a time, a pub was a place you went to for a drink and to watch the latest football game on a massive television. He wasn't a fan of any sport, really, so he'd go for the drink and to socialise, with the game something he'd watch but not take any notice of. Nowadays, eighty percent of pubs sold food too. There were few 'drinkers' establishments anymore.

Cassidy and Ethan, when they met, would choose a different place each time. As it could sometimes be weeks or months between, they'd yet to repeat an option. At 1pm, they were trying out The Wheatsheaf, once a haven for students attending the college up the road, and now a more upmarket eatery whose salted caramel profiteroles were apparently a must eat dessert. And there was always room for pudding.

The Wheatsheaf, sitting at the junction between two very busy main roads, was rarely quiet. They'd been serving breakfast for three years, a necessity when most others were too, so there was a steady stream of customers throughout most of the day. At 1pm, the lunchtime rush was petering off as people returned to work, but there were still plenty of tables taken.

"I'll get the drinks in while you grab a table," Ethan said when they entered. "What do you want?"

"I'll have a Peroni," Cassidy replied, looking around the upper of two levels for a spare table.

Spying one, he hurried over. There was no sign of anyone else aiming for it themselves, but he didn't want to risk it being stolen from under his nose. Once seated, he took a menu and started looking it over. For some reason, with menus, it took him a few reads for the contents to sink in. He'd be talking to the person he was with or perusing whilst scrolling through his phone. When Ethan arrived, a pint in each hand, Cass had yet to decide.

"What you having?" Ethan asked.

"No idea. You got any ideas?"

"Give me chance!" Ethan laughed.

He handed his brother one of the glasses of lager and sat down. Picking up a menu himself, he glanced through it.

Small talk is a suitor at the hand of the bigger subjects. It pads around time, filling it with insubstantial words of meagre meaning, waiting to be invited to the more important conversations. It holds out for an opening that would allow it to slip in and take its place with the real matters at hand. Until that opportunity presents itself, small talk remains the warm-up act.

Cassidy and Ethan chatted about the incidentals of their lives, tossing the small talk into the air between them, letting it dance upon their tongues as it wished and fill the period until their food arrived and they could get into the things they really wanted to talk about. Such things covered a range of issues. Work Relationships. Health. It was how their meetings always progressed and wasn't a conscious effort on either part. They just left the major aspects of their lives until they had full plates, empty stomachs, and no interruptions.

Once their food was brought over, Cass nudged the small talk to the background, where it waited in case there was a lull needing to be filled.

"How's Nellie?" he asked.

Nellie was actually Chloe, Ethan's fiancée. She was known as Nellie by everyone, thanks to her father repeatedly calling her a 'noisy Nellie' when she was young and enthusiastic about everything she encountered. Nellie was a very focussed woman who ran her own successful accountancy business. Ethan wasn't nearly as driven, though he was much less a procrastinator than his sibling.

"She's good. Business is going well. She's taken on that kid who was doing work experience with her."

"Work experience?"

"Yeah, Matt. How long is it since we've met up? He was just finishing his course at college and started on with Nell for experience. She's kept him on."

"Cool. What's that, three working for her now?"

"Yep, three."

"When are you retiring?"

"When I'm dead," Ethan laughed. "I'd be bored stupid if I stopped working before then."

"As opposed to just stupid?"

"I get that from you, bro."

It was Cassidy's turn to laugh.

"So, when are you making me an uncle?"

"Why are you so keen on us having a baby? You always ask this."

"Cos, the way I'm going, I'll never have any kids myself."

"Well, I was going to tell you today, anyway," Ethan said, smiling.

"Tell me?"

"You'll be an uncle in about seven and a half months."

Cass gasped, then grinned.

"No way! That's brilliant news!"

"I think so too."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"We haven't actually known for long, but I wanted to tell you face to face."

"Amazing. I can't wait!"

"Us neither. But talking about you and not having kids, how's things with Elise?"

Cassidy felt the air being sucked from his lungs. The two of them were in regular contact, so Ethan knew all about the break up. He, along with Nellie, had been witness to Elise's moods and her intense jealousy. Messages were cold and lifeless, however. They could not fully convey the emotions felt. An emoji didn't count as feelings. Just as his brother had waited to tell him about the forthcoming baby, he'd waited to say anything to Ethan.

This wasn't entirely because he wanted to do so in person. If he didn't talk about it, it could stay sealed in its locked box. Talking about it broke that seal and threatened to free the beast.

"Don't you want to tell me more about the baby?"

"So far, there's nothing more to tell. We're having a baby. We're excited. Nell's doing well. So, Elise"

"Well, you know," Cass said vaguely. "Same as ever. She might be messing with me now, though."

"Oh? What's she doing now? You're not even living together. Can't she leave you alone?"

"I don't know, for sure, that it's her. I just can't think who else might be doing it."

"Doing what? What's she done?"

Cassidy paused. He suddenly felt extremely foolish, thinking through what he was going to say. He saw it from an outsider's viewpoint. One who hadn't experienced it. If Ethan had been having conversations with an invisible woman through a mirror, a call to Harrison House, home to the area's delusional and mentally or emotionally pained, would have been on the cards. Dr Connors, the local semi-celebrity psychiatrist who ran the place, would take Ethan in and give him his own little padded cell to rest easy in.

He had to say something, though. He'd started, so should finish, and the only way to do that way to tell everything. So he did.

https://youtu.be/--s_imczG4A