If I Could Turn Back Time
NEXT|April 2018

Spurred by nostalgia for the freedom of youth, Sarah makes a snap decision...

Sarah Quigley
If I Could Turn Back Time

It’s a sparkling spring day, but I’m feeling dispirited¸ and not just because InStyle has announced that capri pants are back.

“I don’t have many rules.” I sip Ray’s matcha tea even though I don’t really like it; today I need all the positive power I can get. “But I have a few. One, I won’t start a relationship with a man who’s still married. Two, I will never, ever –” I reel back at the sight of a tourist in tight, semi-transparent white cotton capris – “wear those.”

“Good for you!” chorus Ray 1 and Ray 2, both of whom have meticulous societal and sartorial standards.

“Such a trouser,” frowns Ray 2, using the singular with deference to his native German, “should not be publicly worn.”

“Trouser-S, plural,” corrects Ray 1. “There is more than one here?” Ray 2 swivels his well-groomed head in alarm. The waitress appears, doe-eyed and dewy-faced, like a Maybelline ad. I’m mesmerised by her rounded arms and perfect skin, unblemished by age, stress, accidents and other misfortunes.

“Carrot cake?” She has the radiance of a happy millennial.

“Danke.” I accept a sliver of cake buried in a mound of raw grated carrot. “Boy, you  Berliners sure like to make the literal point.”

“Are you really willing to wait for Mr Stable?” Ray 2 returns to the main conversational topic, concerned not just about legal contracts but also, endearingly, about my levels of loneliness. “German divorces move at glacial speed, you know.”

This story is from the April 2018 edition of NEXT.

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This story is from the April 2018 edition of NEXT.

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