Contemporaneous: Chapters 70 – 72
70. Once we get to the strippers, I moderate my drinking so I retain a better sense of self – I used to be good at this when I was younger. While everybody else was getting insensibly drunk, I’d take it easy, or even pour the beer out when people weren’t looking. It probably comes from a lifetime of anxiety – while drinking gives me a buzz and relaxes me, I don’t want to lose control. Stan pays for several lap dances – I can’t remember if it’s in the same order he did last time. But there’re a lot of different dances, like he’s determined to sample as many…
Contemporaneous: Chapters 68 – 69
68. Over breakfast of cereal, I text Dom: Hey, mate, I have to cancel today. Sorry about the late notice. Some stuff’s come up. Please read the script. I know you haven’t, and I don’t want to get into an argument but I know you just bluff your way through these meetings all the time. Be prepared come Thursday. I want to succeed. I want you to succeed. But you really have to do this for me and for yourself. It’s a shit, passive-aggressive message, but I think of being straight out with Lana last night, and that worked. Well, sorta. Well, until the morning. Dom texts back immediately: Ok…