THE THINGS WE NEVER SPEAK ABOUT

NEGATIVE IMPACT

'I'm here for you, remember that - you do not need her. Come on, let's go out for a drink it'll help take your mind off things.' Amber winked, gesturing towards the front door of Grace's stylish apartment.

Grace partly wished Amber had not been so honest, but appreciated her loyalty. She felt it may have been better not to know about the malicious lies a so-called friend had stirred.

It was late at night, but Grace agreed a nice drink would help, hoping for a quiet moan under the cover of their local bar's shadowy corner. Grace had been friends with Helena for years. It upset her that their friendship may have come to an end. 'I can't believe she said those things about me. It's complete lies - all of it. The worst part is now she's denying it all. At least if she admitted it, we could have it out and I could prove my innocence!'

As usual Amber's reassuring, hypnotically soothing words quickly helped take some of the anger away.

'You know, she's just jealous of you. Look what you have; a beautiful flat, a regular job, and best of all you have me.' As Amber smiled, she held Grace's hand tightly, gazing into her eyes, 'Let's try and put it behind us now and enjoy the evening. How about I fetch us a top up.' Amber quickly gulped the last mouthful of chardonnay and made her way back over to the bar.

Grace watched Amber saunter across the room and admired her attitude. She wished her thinking was a little more on the same page, but knew with time that would come. She admired her friend and knew she would be lost without her.

The bar filled up as the attached basement nightclub below opened for the evening. Bass vibrated throughout the premises. Multi-coloured beams collided against each other across the burgundy walls as the lighting dulled for the evening.

Grace lost Amber for a moment as she searched across the room, then spotted her at one end of the busy bar surrounded by a group of men. One of the five men pointed towards Grace's lonely table before walking towards her. She assumed Amber had been up to some unwanted match-making. God, she cringed. And soon enough, as his friends joined him, they were filling her with compliments and more. 'Why not come back with us they said.' By the sixth drink Grace knew she'd had too much, but managed to mumble, 'I need to find my friend ...' Then got herself up as quickly as she could, pulling herself along the bar, bumping into people on her way by.

The toilets were two flights of stairs away. Grace pushed through the crowd who were selfishly blocking the hallway which lead to the stairs. She did not care for the people pushing her back, she was past caring. Where the hell is Amber. She thought. She tried desperately to concentrate on getting herself to the ladies before her bladder decided to empty itself over the bar's floor, including its client's feet.

As she met the brass capped end of the handrail, a familiar face appeared.

'Grace! What the hell are you playing at? If you want to spread crap, do it on someone else's watch.' It was Helena's best friend and one of Grace's, but the following words were about to put an end to any friendship they may have had. 'If Helena says something, it's for a damn good reason. If you keep going as you are, you'll have no friends left at all! As it stands you can be assured our friendship is well and truly over. Look at the state of you; you're a mess. Sort yourself out!'

Then something whispered into Grace's ear, 'Just do it ...'

Grace burst into tears and exited through the fire exit to her right. She tripped and stumbled past the bar's garden tables and chairs, trying to avoid a stumbling onto strangers laps. Then something whispered, 'Just move them.'

Grace wobbled across the main road to the safety of the assembly hall's front garden. As she fell to the floor, her phone buzzed. The warmth of her own urine trickled down her thighs, soaking her pretty pink summer dress. The air was warm and she felt thankful for that, rather than the freeze of an cold winters evening. Her eyes spun wildly, churning her busy surroundings into a colourful mess, before a screen of blackness overcame her vision.