Watering Cans at Dawn

At 7.30 a.m. I am awoken by a text:

Are u up yet? I want to come over and water the plants.

Jamie has been my friend for a number of years and, until this minute, I have never known him to be out of bed before midday.

Full of beans and acting as if he springs joyously into life every morning at the crack of dawn, Jamie bustles around with the watering can whilst I stagger about in the bathroom. Once I’ve managed to struggle into clean clothes and apply make-up, Jamie has made tea. He squints a professional eye at me. “If you’re not going to wear mascara you should put some smudgy dark shadow along your eyelids.” I nip back into the bathroom and try it. He’s right, you know.