What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver

Just then, Mel returns with the new bottle of gin and proposes a toast “to true love.” As the friends toast, the sun washes over them, making them feel warm and comfortable.

Terri teases the couple about their affectionate relationship, lightheartedly warning them that things will be different once they’ve been together longer than a year and a half. She playfully bumps Nick’s knee with hers, and in response, Nick makes a show of kissing Laura’s hand. Laura then chimes in to say that she and Nick know what loves is for them. After this story, Terri finishes off the bottle of gin, so Mel goes to get another from the cupboard. Mel, however, remains staunch in his belief that this doesn’t constitute real love. Presently, Terri insists that Ed really loved her because he was willing to die over their failed relationship. Terri and Mel had gotten into a fight about Terri wanting to visit Ed and sit with him while he died (which she eventually did). The shot didn’t initially kill Ed-he lived for three days, his head swelling to twice its normal size. Eventually, Ed shot himself in a hotel room, and he was brought to the hospital on a night when Mel was on call. The gun Ed used to shoot himself was also the one he later used to continually threaten Terri and Mel-he was clearly unhinged over his breakup with Terri. Mel remains firm that the kind of love he’s talking about is something absolute and nonviolent.Īs the friends continue sipping their gin, Terri and Mel recount Ed’s two botched suicide attempts: first by drinking rat poison, and later shooting by himself in the mouth. During this exchange, Nick touches Laura’s hand, and Laura smiles at him. Mel asks Nick and Laura what they think, but neither of them have an opinion since they didn’t know Ed personally. Mel is adamant that this wasn’t real love, but Terri is sure that it was. Terri recounts how her ex-boyfriend, Ed, used to beat her while telling her that he loved her. The four friends are drinking gin and tonics and talking about love, which Mel (a cardiologist and former seminarian) believes is spiritual in nature. Two married couples- Mel and Terri, and Nick and Laura-sit around Mel and Terri’s kitchen table as the afternoon sun streams in through the window.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver