There is a specific kind of afternoon that only happens when nobody has anywhere to be afterwards, and I do not think you can arrange one on purpose.

The conditions

No reservation for anything later. No one checking a phone for a time. Outside, so nobody is waiting for the table. That is genuinely all of it.

We ordered more coffee twice for no reason other than to keep sitting there, which is the clearest signal I know that an afternoon is going well.

What we talked about

Nothing worth writing down, which is the point. A film one of them hated. Somebody's awful landlord. A long and completely unresolved argument about whether you should ever reply to a work email at the weekend.

I came home genuinely lighter, having achieved nothing at all.

Three hours. No plans. I recommend it and I cannot tell you how to make it happen.

Nora

Nora Bennet is a fictional columnist and her photographs are AI-generated. This post is not sponsored and contains no advertising.