Snap Shot of My Life: Turning Point - Part 1

Note- This is a long piece so I'm splitting it in half. As always your comments are welcomed but in this case I may not respond to them. I felt compelled to write this now, I'm not sure why. It wasn't an easy write and may not be an easy read for some.

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I was your average eighteen-year-old. I was happy and out going, working hard and playing hard. I had a great circle of friends and enjoyed being young and very social. I ended up meeting *Mark through this group of friends and knew when I met him that I was going to be with him. I don’t know how or why but I just knew that at least for now we were going to be together. I was right, we got together the very night we met, my best friend, *Jen, telling me to stay away from him only made me more curious, she’d said that before. Over the next couple of weeks Mark and I were obviously getting closer. We were the third couple to be formed within the group.

One particular weekend, when Mark and I had only just started dating, we all decided to go out of our comfort zone and go “clubbing” elsewhere. Jen and I suggested an area and everyone agreed. Jen wanted to go to one wine bar in particular; we had been there on my eighteenth and she’d loved it. We started out at the leagues club and moved to a few different clubs as the night went along. The last place for the night was to be the wine bar. By this stage there was only four of us still going, everyone else had called it a night, including Mark.

The wine bar was in an old sandstone cottage. Inside there were three rooms at the front of the cottage, a smaller room behind these housed the bar and led further back to the bathrooms. There were wide, open archways between the three front rooms. The two rooms on the sides were filled with overcrowded tables and chairs, sat too close together. The middle room had a small stage set up, where a band was playing eighties rock, the dance-floor in front of the stage was half full. The lighting was dim and the music filled the little cottage completely without being too loud. It all had a certain kind of charm to it, a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere, despite all the apparent faults.

We found a table in the back corner of a side room where J and I sat down while the boys got some drinks. Jen and I were not the type to sit down for too long, especially after a few hours drinking, so as soon as the boys had taken a seat we were up and on the dance-floor. The crowd was mostly late twenties and older, but it made no difference to us. We could tell the boys were not all that impressed with our choice in bar, they sat at the table drinking their beers with definite scowls drawn across their faces. We intended on making the most of what remained of the night and kept dancing. Neither of us being shy, when men approached us we didn’t mind too much, as long as they showed some respect and weren’t sleazy.

While Jen went back to our table for a drink I continued to dance. A man, probably ten years my senior, began to dance with me. When I smiled the usual introductory chat followed. He was a tall, very solid guy, wearing dark blue, almost black, dress pants and a white long sleeve shirt that had two buttons on the cuff. His black hair was neatly cut, there was only the slightest hint of a five o’clock shadow, and he certainly didn’t look like he’d been out all night. He had plenty of charm and was quite easy to chat to even on a crowded dance-floor when we had to almost yell in each other’s ear to be heard over the music. He showed me a dazzling smile, although it didn’t quite reach his dark eyes, even after I’d informed him that I was not single. He seemed like a nice enough man out with a few of the boys and making small talk while enjoying the band and a dance. When the band finished the song they were playing I politely excused myself and sat at the table with Jen and the boys. Of course the questions flew fast and furious as to what this guy had wanted and whether or not I had informed him that I had a boyfriend.

I didn’t notice him until he’d sat down beside me, the man I had been dancing with. He leaned in close and spoke into my ear, asking me to go to the bar with him so he could buy me a drink and remove himself from the death stares the boys were giving him. I saw no harm and followed him into the back room where the bar was. He told me he worked locally; he had his own business and was quite proud of where he was at in life. I thanked him for the drink and bid him good night after a short time. A few minutes after I’d returned to my friends a man I hadn’t seen until now came to the table and handed me a business card. It was the card of my charming dance partner, this was his friend who informed me that he apparently wasn’t allowed to go home to bed until I’d gone and said goodbye to his mate. The boys were glaring, Jen looked at me and laughed. Looking at the business card in my hand and then back to Jen I started to get up. I turned around after taking a few steps and leant in to Jen telling her I’d be no more than five minutes. Putting the business card in my pocket I followed the messenger.


*Names have been changed for privacy.
© 2005