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‘Ugh! Robertson is here again,’ Oli gave a glance to the left, over my shoulder. I lifted the champagne bottle and poured it into the glasses on my tray. ‘Ach!’ Oli rolled his eyes. ‘He looks bad. I feel bad for anyone caught with him tonight.’ I smirked back and placed the empty champagne bottle back on the desk. Lifting my tray, I said, ‘He was here last week. Threw a drink at one of the new bar staff and groped Sandy.’

‘You put up with him, don’t you?’ I raised my eyebrow over to Oli. ‘I could say the same for you,’ he replied, laughing. He had a nice laugh. I looked over to Oli. He was grinning. No wonder. He was right. David was cool. Oli was so over excited, and David was happy to just watch, delighted. His mellow vibe alongside being a tall guy with long black hair, large eyebrows and happy-go-lucky charm made them a balanced handsome couple. Well suited.

CHAPTER 17 Sitting myself down, I gave a slight push to the laptop screen and I picked up my hot cup. The coffee was a strong delight for my nose, the heat teasing my cold skin. I blew over it and clicked on my emails. I frowned. No new emails. Still. I sipped my coffee and sighed. He should have replied by now. Why wouldn’t he reply, it had been over two months now. I tightened my fingers around the handle of my cup and

Ugh. Pulling myself back up, I wiped my feeble hand over my mouth. My tongue was acid, and my old mop bucket was getting the full load of it. I stared at the repulsive bucket of vomit of shame near my bed and rolled my head back on the pillow. The reek hoovered all over my bedroom like death hanging on for eternity. Sniffing, I let out a breath and glanced over to my phone. It was nearly four in the afternoon and my phone hadn’t received any mes

‘Hey Nathan, sorry to do this, but I am going to have to cancel our meeting next Saturday. To be honest I am not in a good place right now. Will try and rearrange.’ I frowned, the energy dripping from me which each word I read. Alex sent a laughing face emoji and I snapped back to our conversation. The giddy feeling was gone now. ‘Hey, so is it weird I saw you on the chat show?’ I typed to a reply to Alex’s emoji picture.

‘So are you free this Saturday?’ I stared at the message. My chest puffed up and I took a sharp intake of breath. The light was suddenly so much brighter in the room, stretching out to all shadows, clawing at every angle. ‘I can be. Anything you want to do?’ ‘That swim thing you just mentioned sounds fun. We could be in the pool for a bit.’ ‘Would I have to shave though?’ ‘If you came with any hair less

After work that week, I had been writing some more things, poems and short stories, general junk, and put them online. I kept checking but there were no other comments left on the website. I frowned as I clicked off it. So, two comments. Yes, success was half way. I nearly rolled my eyes to myself and stretched my legs out on Oli’s couch. We were at his on this Friday evening and I was checking my website and emails on his laptop while he ordered takeaway. He ne

It was the second time Charlie Conray and I met up. Same café, same time. Walking up to the doorway, I wedged into the doorway, shaking the rain droplets off my umbrella. I gritted my teeth and looked out on the rain bouncing all over the cities, the people rushing by, their heels splashing puddles against the pavement. Coughing, I turned in. I thought that cold was nothing; seems like it was getting a bit worse. He was on the same table as last time. I caught

Okay, here I was, walking towards the café. I didn’t know many libraries so he said Gecko Coffee House, near where I was working. I was so used to parking at work I completely forgot how much a pain it was to park anywhere in the city. ‘Coffee place? For writing? Wow, how beautiful and cliché,’ Jake sneered into my ear. ‘Join your douchebag clang.’ Not now. I had a meeting. Clutching my folders in both hands as tight as I could, I kept walking

‘Hi Nathanial, I have read your work and it is brilliant, the one about the Old Woman in Trance is fantastic, you got a lot of editorial work to do, but this has potential! You’ve got this knack with characters. I look forward to more, well done on your work so far! Don’t give up. Kind regards, CC.’ Leaning back on my chair, I let out a long-tired sigh. My phone beeped out loud. Oh. Food was done then. I stared hard at my phone before glancing back at the laptop screen. I had

It’s 2018 and Londoner Nathanial Greystone is a twenty-five-year-old waiter who works at a charity ball and he has an online blog. Nathanial starts showing signs of having schizophrenia and he is too frighted and ashamed to let anyone know. He meets rising star comedian Charlie Conray and meets someone called AJ online. As his relationship with both of them strengthens and his career working in the writing industry starts to climb, the worse his health gets to the point he questions if any of this is real or if he really deserves anything good. Can Nathaniel find the strength to help himself before it’s too late.

‘Hello? Hello? Sir?’ I take a sharp increase of breath. My eyes are still heavy from last night. I snatch a glance up. The sun is blazing behind this person, and I squint a little more. It’s an older man. He bends down, I can see his black robes, his white collar, and greying thin hair. He’s smiling at me. Blue eyes, and they’re full of kindness. ‘Are you okay, son?’ My back aches from lying against the wooden church door all

The night of the accident The bar was busy. Which was good. Crowds of people in their high-end fashion flare and pints all around. People in good roaring spirit. Arjan smiled as he leaned into the bar, the barmen all busy pouring as many drinks as they could, the smell of alcohol wasn’t too overwhelming. There was a loud chattering of people, he looked around. He barely recognised some of them, not that they hadn’t aged well but probably aged better. Not t

The next day Arjan came in with almost a sprint in his step. ‘Oh, Arjan!’ the head nurse catches up to him, running. ‘Oh, morning!’ Arjan grins, as he takes off his coat. ‘Morning,’ the nurse pants and grins, she hands him a note. ‘We’ve put you in the west area today.’ ‘West?’ Arjan stares at the notes in his hand. The west was far away from his normal workstation. ‘I mean, yeah. Sure. Not a problem.’ Nothing

It’s bright. White everywhere. It smells like metallic, or is it chemicals, he can’t tell. The smell makes him feel uncomfortable. His eyes hurt when he opens them like he’s been punched in the face. The more he opens his eyes the more he takes in the pale walls. A large window at the side, there’s a bunch of bare trees outside. Next to him there’s a small table with a jar of water and a mix match of small and large cards. All get better soon cards. The machine on his other side is beeping and t