Potholes
by Gus Kaikkonen

Philip and Sophie Nibs are a young couple singled out by their friends for the apparent bliss of their marriage, although they aren't convinced themselves that their union is quite as idyllic as others may think.

While having coffee at a cafe they are joined by a friend, Leonard Joy.

He, like the others, rhapsodises on the Nibs' happy state while lamenting his own inability to establish a solid, lasting relationship with a member of the opposite sex.

Urged on by his friends, Leonard makes a halting approach toward a very attractive young lady, Debra Scattergood, who is enjoying her newspaper at an adjacent table.

But when his overtures are positively received poor Leonard is suddenly flustered and unsure of what to do next until Philip and Sophie, good friends to the last, come to his rescue.

When Debra and Leonard go off together, Philip and Sophie at first share a sense of pleasant anticipation as to what might lie ahead of them until they realise that they may have witnessed the creation of another relationship similar to their own, in which others will cluck over an envied felicity which may be more hoped for than real.