I wandered through the petrol station my hands glided across the shelves of candy weighing up the options. The age old question…

MandMs or Maltesers. Duh-Duh-DUUUUUUHHH.

I laughed to myself at my terrible joke and grabbed one of each type before heading to the checkout. I checked out the clock on the wall above the till and saw the numbers 22:56 flash at me. After I’d finally made my way out of Birmingham, I’d found the most random scattered route possible to get me across country to London, taking roughly 9 hours to finally get to Greater London.

I smiled at the teenager behind the counter; I reckoned he was about eighteen or nineteen definitely a few years younger than my twenty-one. He was scrawny, pimply and had wide eyes that were staring at me intently making me slightly uncomfortable.

‘Umm, excuse me?’ I asked waving my hand in front of him trying to get a reaction.

He jerked back and cleared his throat. ‘Sorry, Miss… you… errr… you’re really pretty…’

‘Oh, thank you?’ I said more like a question than a statement.

He cleared his throat again and grabbed my treats scanning them in a rush as to get over his embarrassment. ‘You want anything else?’

My eyes unwillingly wandered up to the shelves behind him where there were stacks of what I wanted but I snapped my eyes back to the counter. ‘Y-Yes I’ll have a pack of gum… the green one... yeah that one. And the petrol for the Ford Ranger in Bay 6.’

‘That all?’ He asked again.

‘Yes.’ I swallowed and stammered, ‘A pack of Marlborough Gold, please.’

‘Ten or twenty?’

‘Ten…’ I said before giving in to the voice in my head. ‘Sorry, twenty...and a lighter too.’

‘Right.’ He said getting them and placing them in the bag. ‘That’ll be £70, please.’

I got out my credit card and swiped it through the machine, quickly typing in the pin to authorise it and put it back in my wallet. I smiled my thanks to the boy and took my stuff back to the car.

Vinnie was still asleep on the back seat so I put the car in gear and drove out of the garage back onto the road. After a few hundred metres, I pulled the car over and let it slowly roll to a stop. I undid my seat belt and picked up my phone from the dashboard. I had seventeen missed call, twenty two text messages and thirteen voice messages all from Sam. I flicked off them into my contacts, I scanned through them absentmindedly highlighting ones that lived in London who I knew well enough to ask to stay with.

My thumb hovered over a particular number before clicking the call button. I knew that Nick would hook me up, we’d been all over the party scene whilst I was at uni and even before that when I dabbled in a bit of modelling and PR work.

I put the phone to my ear just as the quirky Mancunian picked up the phone, ‘Hello?’

‘Hey its Allie. I need your help babe.’

‘Allie??!!’ He questioned shocked. ‘A bloody year, you don’t call and now this! Barely a hello. That's fucking friendship, isnt it?!’

‘Grim.’ I said sternly. 'I really need your help.'

‘Oh shit, how bad is it?’ He asked dropping his voice to a half whisper.

‘Gecko.’ I said simply.

‘Where are you?’ He said his voice dropping even more serious as he recognised our code word.

‘In London.’ I answered. ‘Without anywhere to stay.’

‘Fuck off, girl, of course you have somewhere to stay. Don’t be stupid.’ He replied sounding genuinely pissed off at my statement.

‘I’ll see you in 15?’ I asked hopefully.

‘Perfect.’ He replied. ‘I have some friends sleeping over but they’re already asleep so I’ll just let you in.’

‘Thanks, Nick.’ I said smiling at our reconnection; it was like we’d never been apart.

‘See you soon, honey.’

I hung up and put my phone back on the passenger seat before restarting the engine. I flicked the radio on and made my way to the one and only Nick Grimshaw’s house.


As I parked in front of his house, I watched his figure appear besides my car on the pavement. I quickly switched off and opened my door clambering out to hug him with all my might. I felt my strength waiver and swallowed hard against the lump in my throat.

‘Are you alright?’ He murmured into my hair.

I nodded unconvincingly.

‘Come one, let’s go inside. It’s bloody freezing out here.’ He said pulling back. ‘Is that Vinnie in the back?’

‘Yeah, is it cool if he comes too? He can always sleep in the yard if not.’ I tried but Nick had already opened the door

He was trying to attach Vin’s lead to his collar encouraging him to jump out of the truck. I whistled softly between my teeth low enough as to not disturb anyone so late but loud enough for him to hear me. He immediately threw himself from the seat and lolloped over to me making me smile despite myself. I grabbed my phone and purse and locked the truck before following Nick and Vin into the house.

I wandered in after them and shut the door as quietly as possible so I wouldn’t wake up Nick’s guests. Nick led me into the kitchen where his dog was curled up on his bed by the aga, I watched him open one sleepy eye and stare at Vin. You could tell he was visibly torn between making a fuss and going to sleep, but slowly I saw sleep overtake and his head bob back down to his mat. Nick grabbed a spare dog bed that was a lot bigger than the others so that it would be alright for Vinnie but even that was small for my Mastiff. But I think Vinnie was just glad to be on land and not in a moving vehicle. Even though I’d stopped four times for him to stretch his legs and do his business, he was a big dog who didn’t like being cramped in the bed of a truck for hours on end.

‘Do you want a drink?’ He asked grabbing some glasses and pouring a whiskey for himself.

I nodded eagerly, after the day I’d had I needed some of the good stuff.

‘So…’ He said handing me my glass. ‘Gecko, huh?’

I took a gulp of the alcohol and winced slightly when it hit my throat. A few of years ago, I could drink this stuff like water but Sam wasn’t into drinking so I’d been on a ‘purification’ since we’d started dating. Now it just seemed stupid, if I wanted a drink I should be able to have a drink.

‘Wow, didn’t take long for you to throw that one out there…’ I said chuckling to myself.

‘Oi, don’t blame me; you can’t throw around words like that and not expect me to get curious. I mean come on it was you who pushed for it to be so exclusive and specific, I mean there are only 6 of us who know about it…’

‘Sam cheated on me.’ I interrupted his rant.

‘Crap.’ He mumbled.

‘With his fitness coach.’

‘Shit.’

‘For the last three months.’

‘Bollocks.’

‘I walked in on them in my shower fucking eachothers brains out.’

‘Motherfucker…’

‘Actually it’s gym-bunny-fucker to be specific.’ I laughed at it sadistically. ‘Oh and the best
part is that according to him: “It wasn’t even that good” .i.e. he broke up our three year relationship for shags that weren’t even that great!! So, in conclusion, it basically meant fuck all to him.’

‘Son of a bitch.’ Nick replied shaking his head in misbelief. ‘Is he absolutely stupid? Crazy? Loco? Messed up in the head?’

‘Yep to all of the above.’ I replied pouring myself another glass of whiskey.

‘So did you have any hint before this morning about what had been happening?’ He asked.

‘Well, now I know I feel like it should have been obvious. There were so many signs I just
failed to notice or maybe subconsciously I did know but I didn’t want to accept it.’ I explained sitting down on one of the island stools raising my glass to my lips. ‘Like the lipstick on his shirt that he convinced me was either mine or a client’s even though I don’t wear lipstick and what client kisses your shirt. Oh, and then there’s the necklace I found…’

We spent the next couple of hours bitching about Sam, Michelle and boys in general making it all feel like the old days when Nick and I would get horribly drunk and rowdy whilst sharing all our secrets with each
other.

‘You see there’s one thing I don’t get…’He slurred, taking the second bottle from me to fill up his glass again.

‘Shoot.’ I said encouraging him to continue as I lifted my whiskey to my lips.

‘Why did you even stay with him in the first place?’

I paused and took a sip of my drink before answering him. ‘I honestly have no idea.’

He staggered off his stool and walked over to me to pull me into a hug. ‘I’m here for you, always.’

‘I know.’ I smiled up at him. ‘Thanks, Nick. You’re awesome.’

‘I know.’ He copied me.

I laughed, ‘Come on bedtime for us.’

He giggled with me as we staggered into the hall and up the stairs.