Beautiful World, Where Are You

Alice Kelleher waits in a hotel bar for her date, Felix, whom she met on a dating app. The two drink over light conversation, but their questions are simple for a first date. She tells him that she is an author, and he says he works in a warehouse—“Nothing too exciting” (5). After a few pints, she invites him to see the rectory where she is staying. As the two walk along, their questions linger in extended silence, Alice asking most of them and Felix responding minimally. Alice explains that she’s lucky she’s not paying rent for the house, which piques Felix’s interest. Alice shows him her bedroom, and while he shows polite interest in the house, he appreciates most that she’s taking advantage of a rent-free situation. He tries to ask her what she writes about, but she answers vaguely, and he loses interest. The two awkwardly part ways for the evening after futile attempts to decode each other’s nonverbal communication cues.

Alice writes emails to her friend Eileen as a way of documenting and preserving her existence through their friendship. She preemptively chastises Eileen for working too hard, and she remarks about the unaesthetic view from the characteristic Dublin streets: “Nothing ever intervenes to block the [sky] from view.