It often used to make me chuckle when friends of mine would respond to a simple 'How are you' question with the phrase 'I'm going through a bad patch’. I would smile sweetly and say...'well it won’t last forever, keep your chin up' and I would move quickly off the subject of their turmoil. That was until now.
Since the 18th of January my life has been turned upside down. The roots to this are planted a few weeks before when I made the rash decision that I had enough of getting a regular wage and commuting to London , so in one phone call I expressed my concern to my boss and he advised that if I should wish to resign, then he would need it in writing. With an air of positivity I typed out my resignation and put my best foot forward. I totally blame the old romantic in me for this little moment of madness as it was made with the intention to move closer to the prince charming I had just discovered. The very same night that I had pressed the send button, my prince charming returned home to tell me he had just been made redundant. It was at this point we fastened our seat belts and exposed our white knuckles as we knew we had just hopped on board a wild roller coaster, We were also unaware of the twists and turns that lay ahead.
I had to return south to tie up loose ends work wise and to face a few demons that were eagerly awaiting my return to reality.
As I loaded my car I had an odd feeling. The feeling that something major was wrong, but I could not put my finger on what it was. This feeling encased my gut and at times prevented my concentration from being on the road ahead. I loaded a mix CD that had been made for my journey and began to belt out Roxette at the top of my voice. If anything it was to mask this feeling that was railroading me. When returning home from being north I always used to go via Uttoxeter as it was quicker than going through the centre of Birmingham. This journey was different. I didn't want to be at home and the longer I was on the road the better. Fate decided to take this thought to extremes. As I passed my usual exit on the M6 at 80mph ping went my cambelt. My foot pressed firmly on the accelerator to clarify the shout of 'oh fuck' To make matters worse, I was in the fast lane and the hard shoulder seemed to be a million miles away. I took a brief look over my left shoulder and quick glance forward, then I closed my eyes and pulled the steering wheel to the left, towards the direction of the hard shoulder. The judder on crossing the road markings gave me the nod to open my eyes. I rummaged in my glove box as I briefly remember putting a small card with the bold writing 'Breakdown cover information' some where safe within my car and like a little ray of light there was indeed a crumpled coffee stained card with three lovely words in bold on the front.
I waited two hours for a pick up truck to arrive. I was told to take myself to the top of the bank and wait there. It was -4c and I had ballet pumps on my feet. I was not going to be waiting on any bank. I defiantly opened the passenger side door and smoked a cigarette. I then remembered I had a blanket in my boot. Without delay I wrapped myself up in said blanket and proceeded to sing 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor' at the top of my voice. After receiving further advice from my twitter followers, namely @sinkingducks I proceeded to do the 'cockney moon walk' and as if by magic (well 15 cigarettes and a bottle of Lucozade later) the pick up truck arrived. He confirmed my worst fear, my car was dead. It was at this point that for a spilt second I was going back into the safe arms of my prince charming and even discussed such activities with the driver, but my good old faithful friend reality tugged my ear and reminded me that I really should be going home. I reluctantly clambered into the pick up truck and we proceeded with my journey 'home.'
It was only when I got home and opened post, I realised that this was merely the incline on this evil roller-coaster.
In my next instalment I shall include tales of psychopathic best friend and my gay next door neighbour and it gets much worse! Stay tuned.
Ciao for now
A x
