The Chances You Take

Isobel

Isobel knew that Dan wasn't the one, but he was the one for right now. They'd met through a mutual friend 6 months ago, and had settled into an easy relationship straight away. If she was honest, he was probably a bit boring and not really what she'd normally go for, being the corporate type (she preferred her men a bit more rough around the edges), but he was nice to her and certainly not bad looking.

He had taken her to a few fancy restaurants early on, but they were soon replaced with takeaways on the sofa and the occasional trip to the cinema. She'd met his mum a couple of times, and they'd even talked about booking a holiday for next summer, so she thought that there might be something long term on the horizon.

She guessed that something was up when he called her (who calls these days unless it's bad news?).

"Sorry Bell, but I just don't think it's going to work out between us. It's not you, it's me. I just need some time alone, really get to know myself, you know what I mean?"

She was upset, of course, but more annoyed that she hadn't been the one to do it first. She knew deep down that she had been settling and that she deserved something more, someone more, but that was easier said than done. She'd always hated the nickname he'd given her and anyway, a man who uses that many clichés wasn't the man for her. Onwards and upwards, after a bit of wallowing.

Excellent timing really, because she was going out next weekend with the gang. They'd been planning this night out for months. It was so rare that they were all in the same town at the same time, they had to take advantage of it. It allowed her a few days to mope, but wasn't so imminent that she'd get embarrassingly drunk to make herself feel better.

The gang had been friends for years. The girls met at secondary school and had formed an alliance, as teenage girls do. Mel was her closest friend, and was the only other one of the girls that had stayed in their home town after going to uni. She was more outgoing than Isobel, but they complimented each other well and had been through it all together.. high school, college and university. Mel had been the one that Isobel ran to when her first boyfriend broke her heart (and second, and third), and Isobel had been there for Mel when her parents had divorced. Mel now lived a few streets away with her boyfriend John, who they had met at college. They both worked at the local school, Mel as an English teacher and John as a P.E teacher.

Natalie had always been the most ambitious one, and moved to London after leaving uni to start her legal career. To outsiders, she was terrifying, but they all knew that deep down, she was a softie and a hopeless romantic. She was waiting for her Hallmark hunk to whisk her off her feet, and had kissed a few frogs on her quest to find him. Nat refused to sign up to any dating sites and believed that one day, she'd lock eyes with a stranger across the room, and the rest would be history.

Anna was the final girl in their group. She'd gone to uni in Edinburgh and had since travelled the world, living a life of adventure. Nobody (including Anna) knew where she'd be one week to the next, but she thrived on it. Isobel always felt a pang of jealousy when she sent a new photo to their group chat, and found herself comparing Anna's sunset over the ocean to the grey sky outside her office, but she had always needed a plan and a home, whereas Anna was a free spirit.

They'd met John, Harry, Dec, Mason and Jack at college. John was the leader of their group, and had instantly taken a shine to Mel. He was tall, dark, and gorgeous, and it didn't take long for him and Mel to become a couple. Where John went, the others followed, and so they all ended up being friends. They were all inseparable during their two years at college, and spent their free periods together and their weekends going to house parties. Mel's dad had moved away and her mum had a new boyfriend, so parties were usually held at her house as it was always empty. Their nights would be blurred by bottles of Smirnoff Ice, and their mornings were spent recovering and sprawled on sofas, gearing up to do it all over again.

When they left college, some of the gang went off to uni and others went and got jobs, but they'd meet up again when they were home for summer, sometimes visiting each other for nights out during term time too. Now they were all in their mid 20s and in varying states of adulthood, so the time they could spend together was becoming much less frequent.

She couldn't wait to see them all next weekend. It had been such a long time since they'd all been able to properly catch up and it was what she desperately needed. Just a week and a half to get through, surely she wasn't due any more drama before then.