Beautiful World, Where Are You

On a sunny Tuesday morning, the four friends pack a picnic for the beach. Felix and Simon wade out in the water and discuss work. Felix admits that he has been avoiding his brother’s request to sell their late mother’s house. He asks Simon about his political career, and Simon smiles, saying that even at work, he thinks about other things. Felix gestures at the women on the shore: “The likes of them, [Felix] said. Smiling now, Simon turned his eyes away and said yes, the likes of them” (261). Back on the beach, Alice asks Eileen about her situation with Simon, and Eileen dodges the question and calls Alice “intrusive.” Alice says that Simon clearly loves Eileen, but Eileen says that if things didn’t work out, she couldn’t stand losing his friendship. Felix goes to work in the afternoon, and as the remaining three friends wander the streets, he works the trolley in a “certain precise manner” (266), carrying out the same action “identically again and again, never seeming to think about it” (266).

The four meet at a pub and talk about living and working in different cities. Simon has broken up with Caroline, and Eileen is surprised to hear that he’s officially single.