Helen delivered drama to the street from the moment she moved in dressed in the latest ASOS creation, driving a Mercedes Cabriolet – tops down. The jury of worthies was out about whether she would enhance our lives. Twenty’s Plenty was meaningless to her, as was turning the noise down after eleven – her car thundered through the streets whenever she was returning home and … Continue reading Hell on Wheels

The scent of cut grass and creosote, the colour of the ocean after a storm, vanilla, the soft sourdough of the baby’s neck. The oyster slick of Andrew as he slides down your throat, the taste of yourself on his hands, frozen margaritas in a kidney-shaped pool. Sun-bleached images of the baby’s tilting totter listing towards you like a lush, oxeye daisies and dandelions in … Continue reading Things you think about as you drown

I was famished when I got home. So I wasn’t pleased to find a man in my bedsit. ‘Mr Godber? Your landlady kindly let me in. I have a proposition for you.’ I’d spent the afternoon factoring bank holidays into my ‘working days to retirement’ spreadsheet, seething after being volunteered for the department’s paperclip audit. ‘I don’t need any life assurance, thanks.’ He chuckled. ‘No, … Continue reading Finest Hour

I never meant to bump into you in the supermarket with my mask on. Your eyes were a dead giveaway. I once imagined abandoning you in the frozen food section before resentment had time to thaw. Our first kiss. On that hillside. On a cold winter’s day. Excited messages, back and forth, like we couldn’t keep our fingers off each other. Smiley faces, love hearts, … Continue reading Checkout

Cherry liqueur chocolates. Whole cherries soaked in liqueur and covered in fine chocolate. If you are the patient type, you can place one on your tongue and let the solid shell melt in the heat of your mouth until the cherry is revealed. There’s just enough of a tang from the small amount of liquid inside to sharpen your taste buds which have been lulled … Continue reading Self Servicing