Soho Pride: A Soho Nights Story

Episode 27

Ali was so excited to share her news with her friends. She was getting married. She sent texts out to Milo and Jack to find out when and where they were meeting for the last day of Pride.

Monday was always the quietest day. It was a bank holiday, most people would be off work. But tomorrow they'd probably be back, so didn't want to go too mad. Jack and Ali had booked the next day off work. They always did.

She didn't want to give too much away in her messages. She wanted to see their faces when she she announced the news, but she was so excited to tell them.

She grabbed her phone as soon as it buzzed. It was from Jack.

Spending the day with Oscar. Might see you later on xxx

'What's the matter babes?' Kai asked. He could see she was disappointed by whatever was in the message.

'Jack's not coming,' she said.

A second later her phone buzzed again. It was Milo.

Need to spend some time with Max. Maybe later? x

All the excitement she'd felt left her. 'Looks like we're on our own today,' she said.

'No Milo either?'

'No, not till later on.'

He didn't like seeing her sad, so tried to turn the situation around.

'That's good,' he said, 'because I'd like to spend some time alone with my fiance. I know this great little place that does amazing champagne breakfasts. Shall I see if I can get us in?'

Ali smiled. 'That sounds great.'

She was so happy to be spending the rest of her life with him.

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Milo met Max at a cafe just outside Soho. They both ordered a coffee and a bacon sandwich then found a table in the corner.

'I missed you yesterday,' said Milo.

'I missed you too.'

'How did your evening go?'

Max was unsure how to tell Milo about what had happened. He knew it was allowed, encouraged even, but he didn't know how to go about it. He didn't want him to know just how much he'd liked Luke.

'Good,' said Max.

'You spend the rest of the day with that rugby player?'

'I did.'

'What's he like?'

'He's nice,' said Max, trying to play it down.

'You go back to his?' Milo asked.

Max nodded.

'Were you safe?'

'Of course.'

'Cool.'

A silence fell between them. It seemed like the subject was over, which was a relief for Max. He hadn't yet told him that they'd planned to meet up again. That was a conversation for later, once they'd both digested that information.

'How about you?' Max asked. He was trying to make sure the conversation had moved away from his night with Luke.

'Don't be angry with me,' said Milo.

'Why would I be?'

'Because...I spent the night with Sam.'

Milo couldn't read Max's face at first, as he stared blankly at him.

'Are you upset?' he asked him.

'No of course not,' said Max after contemplating it for a moment. 'I'm just concerned for you. I don't want you to get hurt again, but I trust you know what you're doing, so it's fine.'

'Are you sure?'

'I'm sure.'

'So tell me more about your rugby player. I bet he was amazing in bed.'

Max told Milo every detail about his night with Luke, this time leaving out no details.

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Sam was unsure what to do with himself. He'd thought about going into Soho again for the last day of Pride, but Milo would be there with his boyfriend. He wasn't sure if he could cope with bumping into them. He hung around the house a while after Milo left. He'd only been gone an hour, but he missed him already.

He thought about texting him to see if he wanted to come over later on, but knew he had to give him some space. He'd be with his boyfriend. Sam hadn't told Milo how he felt. He didn't want to scare him off.

He didn't really want to go back into Soho. He was pretty much over Pride for this year. He'd enjoyed the time he'd spent there with his family,and with Ocean. He was glad he'd been able to reconnect with Milo. But the time he'd spent alone in Soho had made him realise that he wasn't part of that scene anymore. Most of the people he'd known back then had moved on. Whilst once he could have gone there any night of the week and found ten friends to talk to, now it seemed like a very different place. Maybe he was too old for the scene, he thought. He saw so many young guys there now. He'd never complained about that in the past, as he went for the cute, young, skinny type. Many of them went for handsome bartenders in their thirties, so had had some luck their in the past. But he had felt old when he was last there. He thought back to outside the bar, when that young kid called him granddad. How old did he think he was?

Maybe he was best out of it. He should have taken his opportunity with Michael and made it work. He'd lost it all because he couldn't resist Milo. But when he thought about it, Milo was the one he really wanted.

He turned on the TV to try and distract himself. He flicked through endless channels without even realising what was on. He finally settled on a news channel when he saw a familiar face on the screen. Sam tried to work out where he knew the young man from whose face was. He grabbed the remote control and turned the sound up.

'The young man was taken to hospital after his friends called the emergency services. It's said that he'd taken MDMA and had a bad reaction to it. He is currently being treated in intensive care.'

Sam knew exactly who it was. It was the blonde kid he'd seen going into The Eagle to but my drugs. Yesterday he'd looked so happy, hanging with friends and enjoying the Pride festival. Now he was unconscious, relying on machines to keep him alive. He thought he couldn't ever be more angry with Stuart than he had been thr day he tried to blackmail him. But this was on a different level. This kid might actually die.

He picked the phone up and dialled.

'Hello. I'd like to speak with someone about the kid on the news.'

Author's Note

Hope you're all keeping safe. If you enjoyed this, please consider giving me a like or a comment.