Oliver's day

Wednesday, the day before the headline, on the bus home from the bookshop at six. The chest does the thing two stops before his stop, and he lets it stay, and he gets off and walks the rest of the way, and the walking is the thing he has been doing for a month. He calls Kate from the bus stop on Calvert Avenue. He says, I'm scared, Ol. She says, I know. The two minutes is the most honest phone call he has made in seven years, and the honesty is the armour he is taking off, and the taking-off is the risk he is taking to the stage tomorrow at the Cadogan Hall, and the risk is the door.