OurStory

Even though this did not happen in summer it was just after summer and it the weather was hotter then (in September) than it had been during the summer period in London. A time when catching the tube is unbearable because of the heat and humidity. I didn't mind because I'd escaped the tail end of winter in Australia.

I was still in London in October 2000 and was shortly going to embark on a trip over to Europe with a good friend. We went out together on our last Friday night in London which is when I met him. We got on pretty well and ended up spending the night together and the whole weekend until he waved us off at the train station on our way to Amsterdam on the Sunday morning.

My friend was seeing a friend of his so the whole way over to Holland was spent talking about the two men we'd both met and were both smitten with. We acted more like high school students than women in our early 30s.

We had planned to go to Prague but hadn't organised visas and it was proving hard to do so we used it as an excuse to head back to London, ostensibly to get visas, but really to see our respective men.

We didn't want to impose too much on our friends so we eventually found some short-term accommodation that wouldn't break the bank. It still cost 180 pounds a week for an unfurnished one bedroom damp basement flat. Our landlord supplied us with a mattress, an outdoor table and chair setting which we used as our dining table and a vaccuum cleaner because the place needed a good clean up. My friend got the bedroom with the mattress and I got to sleep on a duvet in the front room. We also inherited an electricity debt from previous tenants and had to pay that before we could be connected which meant dealing with illogical bureaucracy. But we had it to ourselves and didn't have to worry about the imposition on friends.

In the meantime I had caught up with my fella and picked up where we left off more or less. He didn't work and he didn't have any money coming in at all really but it didn't bother me. I think something like that would bother me more on my home ground but deepdown I knew this was a fling and that I would be leaving him behind in a few weeks.

We hung around together mainly at night. Apart from a stint on unemployment where I kept night-owl type hours I'm normally a day person. It's amazing how one can adjust their body clock though. I soon got used to catching the last bus into the East End to go out to clubs that were free to get into and were open past the usuall 11pm closing time of most London pubs. There was also a pub nearby to these clubs that was open all night illegally. You would have to knock on the door for someone to let you in.

Because this was his turf, he was familiar with staff at the few places we hung out so we never had to wait in a queue to get in which felt kind of good.

There were other complications with that affected our relationship that I found out about during the course of our romance - like his wife. I had known she existed but not the extent of their contact. I was at his place one day and we were still in bed after a late night out when she came around. He'd known she was coming and purposely not told me because I suppose he wanted her to find me there. To serve what purpose I'm not exactly sure but I didn't like being a pawn like this.

After a couple of weeks of living this sort of night-time lifestyle I realised that my period hadn't come, that my breasts were quite tender and that I felt nauseous in the late afternoon. When describing these symptoms to my friend she recommended a pregnancy test which I was reluctant to do.

I eventually gave in and the pregnancy test was positive. I decided to keep the baby and I decided not to stay in London to try and make up a family unit with the father. I came back to Australia and formed my own family unit.

My holiday souvenir is now five years old and a constant reminder of my holiday in England nearly six years ago.

And that is my entry to your vacation story contest.

Submitted by Jenny
http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=129356