Tepidence

Tepidence (n.) From the Latin tepidus, lukewarm, given the ending of patience and prudence, as though it were a virtue. It is not a virtue. It is a mug.

The drink starts with genuine intent. Then something small needs dealing with, and by the time it has been dealt with the tea has reached the temperature of the room. Ninety seconds in the microwave brings it back, along with the strange geology of any reheated drink: scalding on top, cool underneath, and a skin at the edge that was not there before. One mouthful is taken out of politeness. In it goes again. Tepidence proper begins at the third reheating, when everybody involved understands how the afternoon is going to end.

In use: I have reached tepidence with this coffee, so I shall tip it away at four and make a fresh one that I also will not drink. The adjective is tepident, and it can be applied to the drink, to the desk or to the person, usually to all three at once.

The theory is that the reheating has very little to do with the tea. What keeps going back into the microwave is the plan: those five quiet minutes you meant to take at half past nine, still officially scheduled, still not cancelled. The mug is a small monument to them. Pouring it away is an admission, which is why it happens at four o'clock, and why the next one is made at five past.