There’d always been plenty of lively places in town, but we didn’t go to many clubs, even during our student days. Too expensive to drink there, and plenty of studying to be done instead, though I was always ready for a night out at the pub with my mates. We preferred hanging out at each other’s places, and going to parties, like the one where I met Nicky.
We were friends all through the summer. When uni finished, I moved back home until I could afford to rent my own place. Nicky stayed in the house with his friends: it wasn’t far away by bus and we met up most days. Nicky had graduated well—unlike my own, rather poor qualification—but the employment market was slow at the time, and neither of us had managed to get the job we wanted. We didn’t mind waiting: it seemed we had years of oppor
