He was doing exactly what I, and I bet most people here, do when they're glad someone's leaving but don't really want to say so. There was a real element of "didn't you say you ABSOLUTELY HAD TO get the last bus?" to him this afternoon/evening.
Or, alternatively, what I, and I bet at least some people here, do when they reckon someone's saying "I'm going to do X" in the hope of provoking a barrage of "oh no, PLEASE don't do X" as a sort of how-loved-am-I test. For what it's worth, I think he'd probably be (mostly) wrong to make that assessment of Dawn but, after a week of Shahbaz's manipulative self-destruction, I can't bring myself to blame him for getting snippy when the next thirtysomething adult appears to be doing the same thing.
For some reason, Richard makes me think of my time working on a post-overdose ward, assessing people who'd self-harmed the night before. When one's tenth cry-for-helper of the day says, "if you discharge me, I'll kill myself", one really is tempted to say, "fine, just remember cut up and down rather than across, and don't make the mistake of telephoning for an ambulance this time". |
