“I promise my fidelity.”

I believe that the toast, even more than the celebration of a moment of joy, is a pact between friends.

A commonality of thought, an affinity of purpose, a moment in which the sip becomes the centre of the world.

A suspended glass that suspends the worries, the cries, the noise.

He puts the wineglass down, but I stay to watch his back, to speak in his absence as not even his voice could.

And to defend him from a thousand pitfalls, those of life.

A thousand aphorisms, a thousand sentences about friendship. I will not recount any.

I wait for my friends to come back, without having to justify themselves.

In silence, we will toast together.