Review: Alex, Tea and Whitmore.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 12, 2013
'Friends of Whitmore' is an original, short story, which left me creating my own, happier ending.When Tea chats to Alex after the CPR session, she tries to keep his interest by asking him if he knows people she knows. He admits to not knowing any of them, but desiring to know Tea better, he says he knows Whitmore. From this moment on, Whitmore will be their 'collage', and an important person in their lives.Although Alex has inherited a house in Connetticut from his parents, he prefers to live in a studio-appartment in town, as an art critic.Tea works in a restuarant at first, but later takes the role of photographing solitary, older men.Alex's and Tea's relationship deepen to the point where they share his appartment, and discuss details of their work, and Whitmore is omnipresent. Alex feels sorry for Tea when he imagines the squalor of the rooms through Tea's photos of these 'harmelss' men, who do not provoke him to jealousy.Eventually Alex suggests they move into his former house. He manages to sell off most all his mothers porcelain collection and some of his father's items to make room for himself and Tea.One day Alex escorts Alistair, a Scott painter, to an art gallery. Tea is present and meets Alistair. Her relationship with Alex tends to sour. She asks him to drop Whitmore from their conversations, saying frankly that he is an imaginary figure. Alex suggests they replace him with Alistair, to joke about and have something in common.The end of this short tale is, in a way, unexpected. Nevertheless, it is an interesting read.