Soho Pride: A Soho Nights Story

Episode 10

Sam and Michael walked side by side, both holding on to one of Jess's hands. She talked all the way home about the amazing things she'd seen and done. Michael and Sam were silent, both listening to her and taling it in.

They walked through Soho to get back to the apartment. It was the quickest way back. They'd both stood at the bottom of the street earlier that day waiting for the parade to start, but this was the first time Sam had been up past the bars since he quit his job that Tramps. It felt strange being here again, especially with Michael and Jess. Michael had never really been one for the scene, so they'd never really done it together. They'd met online and never really did this part of town on their dates.

The apartment was fairly close to Soho. Sam had chosen the it because it was close to where he worked. Michael moved in with him a few months later, just weeks after they'd started dating.

Sam looked around at all the people who'd started appearing on the streets. Everyone would be making their way from the park by now. Another half an hour or so and you wouldn't be able to move for people. Sam was glad they left when they did. He didn't fancy dragging his daughter through crowds of drunk people. He knew from his years of working there what kind of idiots came out, especially on Pride weekend.

He was glad they'd given Jess the Pride experience. He'd rarely even been to the park himself over the last few years as he'd always been working. The park was the family friendly part of the day, when everyone just hung out with their friends having fun. Soho in the evening was definitely the 'adult' part of the day, when everyone drank, took drugs and hooked up with people. It was about time his daughter was in bed and away from all that. That was an experience he didn't want her to have.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived back at the apartment. They walked up the stairs, unlocked the door and went in.

'Do you want a drink Jess?' Michael asked.

'Yes please,' she said as she jumped on to the couch.

'Glass of wine?' he said to Sam.

'Yeah, sounds good,' said Sam.

Michael went to the kitchen to prepare the drinks. By the time he reappeared in the lounge, Jess was fast asleep, her head on Sam's lap. She'd obviously worn herself out.

'I'll take her to bed,' said Michael.

'It's okay, I'll do it,' said Sam. He picked her up and carried her to her room. He put her in bed, tucked her in. She'd have to go one night without brushing her teeth. He didn't want to wake her. He took one last look at her before leaving the room. He smiled.

'Come and drink your wine,' said Michael as Sam went back in to the room.

'Thanks,' said Sam.

'Is she still asleep?'

'Yeah, didn't wake up once.'

'I imagine she'll probably sleep until morning now.'

They both took a sip of their wine.

'She's had such a good day.'

'I know. I bet she won't stop talking about it for months.'

'I'm glad we could give her that experience.'

'Me too.'

There was a silence between them.

'Sam...' said Michael.

'Yeah.'

'We did do the right thing, didn't we?'

'What do you mean?'

'Breaking up.'

Sam thought about it for a second. 'Yeah,' he said, 'I think we did. It would never have been the same between us.'

After Michel had discovered Sam's affair, they had talked a lot and tried to work things out. After a couple of weeks Michael even agreed to move back to see how it went. But Michael couldn't forgive Sam. Every time he tried, he had flashes of what he saw that day. He knew he'd never be able to trust him again.

'I think we get on so much better now,' Sam went on. 'We can actually be friends and work together on giving Jess a good upbringing. I know it's not ideal us not living together, but at the end of the day, I'm sure Jess would prefer two happy parents, than us living together and fighting all the time.'

'I guess,' said Michael.

'You don't agree?'

'I do. But it's easy to forget all the bad things that happened on days like today. We've had such a good time and have been like a proper family for Jess.'

'We are still a proper family for her. I know it migh not be a conventional family, but she is loved. She has two parents who love and adore her. That's a lot more than most kids have.'

The tension in the room was getting too heavy.

'How's the new apartment?' Michael asked.

Sam had moved into a tiny bedsit when they'd first decided to split. It was the first thing he could find in his price range that wasn't a million miles away from his family. He kept his eyes open for something better, and when his lease was up, he moved into a much bigger one bedroom apartment about ten minutes walk away.

'It's good,' he said. 'Much better than the last place.'

'It couldn't be much worse.'

They both laughed.

'You should come by and see it sometime,' said Sam.

'Yeah maybe,' said Michael.

It suddenly hit them both how easy it had been to fall back into the 'perfect family' routine. They were both glad they could still be friends and they knew they'd done the right thing. But on great days like his it was hard to come to terms with the fact they weren't together anymore.

'I should probably go,' said Sam.

'Okay, sure.'

'Do you think Jess will want to go tomorrow?'

'I think one day is enough. Besides, nobody goes to the park on the Sunday. Everyone goes to Soho and drinks all day. I'd like her to have one perfect day to remember.'

'I think that's a good idea. So I'll pick her up from school Wednesday?'

'Yeah. You got everything she needs to stay over?'

'I do.'

'Okay, I'll pick her up from yours Friday night.'

'I'll see you then.'

'Goodbye Sam.'

'Bye Michael.'

Sam walked home feeling really melancholy. It had been such a perfect day and he didn't want it to end.

When he got home, he jumped in the shower. He dried himself off, put some clean underwear and went in the wardrobe to grab his joggers. That's what he always wore when having a night in front of the TV. But next to them he saw his jeans. He put them on, sprayed some deodorant and put one of his best T-shirts on.

I guess I could go into Soho for a couple of drinks, he thought.

He spend about two minutes styling his hair (instead of his usual half an hour) put his shoes on and was out the door a couple of moments later. He really hadn't planned on going out. Just ten minutes ago he was more than happy with a quiet night in. But he was feeling so down after the conversation he'd just had with Michael. He needed something to cheer him up. He needed to remind himself that despite being a father now, he was still a single guy. He needed to see friends, to drink and have a good time, and maybe end the night with a cute young guy in his bed.

Author's Note

So here comes the night and we all know what that means in Soho - sex, drugs and dance music. There's plenty of that, especially the first coming up.