We both fell in love with her. The way she would make us feel, dare us to do things we wouldn't normally dream of trying. She could make us love or hate in the space of a heartbeat. I think either of us would have stood up and faced the gods themselves if that was her will. We admired her that much.

She asked me to leave my family, to stay with her and I did, for nothing else mattered to me but her. You left even more, didn't you John? You left your wife and family for her. I believe I may have met her first but I never thought for a single moment that I could ever live without her. I stayed with her through the worse of times and I thought she would always love me, as much as I cherished her.

I don't know precisely how it occurred John, but one day I just stopped loving her. It was the most difficult time of my life, the days after I first left her. I couldn't go anywhere and not hear her beautiful voice whispering to me. I saw her John, I saw her everywhere I passed. My friends all told me that I was a fool to leave her, that it would only be a question of time before I came crawling back to her. That one day I'd beg her to take me back.

I never did and slowly I found another woman to love and cherish, almost as much as I once desired her. We both loved one and the same woman, John, but you never left her. You stayed with her and loved her and in the end she murdered you, just when your life was about to change for the better. I'll never forget you John, you and I were kindred spirits. We both fell in love at an early age with alcohol.
(This story is dedicated to the memory of John O'Brian who after selling his first novel, Leaving Las Vegas, set off on a path to ruin that ended with his dying)