Think Ill be running after you? she snapped, Ive got a whole crowd of people like you for a penny.
Then go buy your own bundle for a penny and leave me alone.
Who do you think you are?
Theres a saying that whats on a sober mind stays but Emily, who spent most of her youth in a roughandtumble council estate in Manchester and still owned a tiny flat with a notorious bottleshop downstairs, would have twisted it into something like, Whats on a sober mind ends up in a drunks deeds. After a few pints, people dont just blurt out what they think they behave in ways that would make their sober selves gasp.
If a few glasses of lager loosen the inner frames, then perhaps a night of drinking doesnt make someone lose themselves; it makes them, oddly enough, more themselves.
Take Emilys father, for instance. He never kept secrets from the family, never raised his voice, never cursed. He drank the same way quietly, calmly and even in his tipsy moments managed to tidy up after himself.
When he fell back into the bottle again, Emily and her mum figured it out because hed disappear to the cottage with a crate of whisky, living on a strict wake up drink sleep schedule for a whole week. Hed return as if nothing had happened and the household would go on as usual.
Next door, the neighbours husband was a bit of a nightmare, roaming the hallway in a drunken haze. The neighbour, a frazzled mum of two, would often pop over to Emilys flat for a cuppa and vent about how lucky she was that her own husband was quiet and sensible.
Emily knew her own mum had once had a lover whod been tossed out for his drunken antics. Shed been taught that if a bloke gets smashed, its not a tragedy nowadays everyone either drinks, plays, or is glued to some other habit to blow off steam. If the habit makes him start behaving badly, you ditch him straight away, no second chances, no promised reforms.
Emily gave no chances. By then shed earned a reputation as the woman who couldnt stand a drop of booze. The occasional lets have a glass invitation was met with a collective eyeroll from the gossip mill and promptly ignored. Dont drink near her thats the rule, theyd mutter. Perhaps thats why her third boyfriend (the first two ended because of their drunken shenanigans) swore he never touched a drink.
On one hand, that was splendid Emily had grown up watching the various shades of drunkenness and could spot a problem a mile away. On the other whatever mischief a lad might be up to, youd find out when you lived together. If something didnt sit right, you could simply pack up and leave no one was expecting you to sprint down the aisle after a first meeting.
So you could size each other up in a natural setting, as they say. Emily did just that, and she concluded about Nick that it would have been nicer if hed just stopped drinking altogether.
It all started at a celebration for a successful exam season. Emily was finishing her final year at university, while Charlie had graduated a year earlier and, thanks to a sprawling network of friends among her classmates, slipped into the party crowd.
Where there are students, theres booze, scant snacks, and the kind of rapidfire ideas that spark after the third pint like a play Truth or Dare round. Someone from the cohort forced Emily to grab the karaoke mic, arguing that shed always declined to sing and never once reached for a microphone, even when the group managed to drag her to a proper karaoke bar.
Darling, I was looking out for you, worried youd lose your voice you know, not something youd want to happen unless it was Halloween, she thought, rolling her eyes. Still, the mic was in her hands, and she managed a single line before the same person snatched it back.
Blame yourselves, she muttered. You asked for it, now you have to swallow it.
A cheeky handout was arranged to share notes, and everyone whod been part of the scheme got a copy. The everprincipled Kat, clutching her textbooks, shambled back to her room for a cheat sheet.
Someone clucked, someone danced in their seat, and at some point the night went completely off the rails Emily couldnt even recall when. The real loser turned out to be Charlie, whod stayed stonecold sober, when suddenly Marina, a friend infatuated with Masha, dared him to kiss her.
Emily watched from the sidelines as Charlie, all cleareyed and crystalclean, grinned, stepped toward the flushed Masha and planted a lingering kiss on her lips. He lingered, waiting for her to respond, while Emily exchanged bewildered glances with the other stunned classmates. Then, as if a spring had snapped inside her, a bottle of sugary fizzy pop burst over the kissing pair, and Emily, letting out a profanityladen exclamation, bolted from the room into the night.
She gulped the cold, bitter air, feeling on the verge of tears like a petulant child whod just been denied a candy bar.
Youre lucky this time, you found happiness! she thought, only to be cut off by a shout.
Emily! Emily, wait! Charlies voice rang out just as a taxi screeched to a halt beside her. She flopped into the back seat, rattled off her parents address, and, halfrelieved, grabbed her bag, wallet, and phone sparing herself the horror of having to stare at the same old mess later.
Her mum, spotting the distress on Emilys face, didnt pry. She poured a mug of hot tea, sat beside her, and sipped while Emily inhaled the steam. Everything will sort itself out, she cooed, as if life were a batch of dough that would eventually rise. Youll have enough flour for a lifetime of baking if you keep grinding it this way.
Im going home, Emily announced. Ill collect my stuff from his flat tomorrow and move out. Is that alright?
Why ask permission? her mum replied. Your home is still there. Nobodys chased you away. The spare room is ready, the furniture is still in place, and your dads never been one to mind a bit of chaos.
Even if mum had kicked Emily out with a curt, Grow up and live on your own, it would have forced her back to Nick, trying to forget the whole circus. But now, with a reliable safety net and her parents quiet support, Emily felt on top of the world and wasnt about to settle for less.
So where have you been all night? Nick asked, peering at her as she unlocked the front door.
Thats none of your business, she snapped, striding to the bedroom and methodically pulling her belongings from the wardrobe into a oversized checkered suitcase. Two trips would do, then a taxi, and shed forget this whole relationship nightmare like a bad dream.
Ey, you trying to bail on me? Not even a proper goodbye?
Whats there to talk about? You went and kissed my fellow student right in front of me, and you did it with gusto. Why should I stick around for a cheat?
Your heads full of cockroaches. It wasnt even a proper affair just a kiss, and it was a task they gave me. Whos to blame?
So if theyd asked me to sit on someones lap or dance in my skivvies, thatd be fine?
Dont compare apples to oranges. No one ever gave you such a task. I just did what I was told.
Dont overreact. Youve made up some nonsense in your head, and now youre trying to wreck everything.
Go ahead, wreck it. Think Ill chase after you? Ive got a whole bunch of people like you for a penny.
Then buy your own bundle for a penny and leave me alone.
Who do you think you are?
As it turned out, she did need that sort of attitude. Six months later Emily found a new beau, and this time he was genuinely decent luck finally turned on her after the fourth try.
Charlie, now an occasional passerby on the high street, still tries to convince Emily that she imagined the whole thing, that she wrecked the relationship for no reason and will suffer for it. Hes a softhearted chap, always ready to forgive and take her back.
And whos really the victim here, Charlie? He shouldnt have been kissing anyone else, and theres no excuse for it Emily did the right thing by walking away.
