"Hey, birthday boy" is the greeting that she gave me that caused the nearly fully seated bar to look my way. She wasn't having a good day, she had only gotten an hour's worth of sleep. She kept apologizing to me when the silence came as she stood by my side.

"You're going to have to carry the conversation today."

"Then we're in trouble," I said.

"But it’s good when friends don't have to say anything, they can just be near."