Soho Dreams: a Soho Nights Story

Episode 10

Milo arrived home just on time. It was two minutes to eleven when he walked through the front door.

'Milo, where have you been?' said his mother, as though he was an hour late.

'I've been getting your stuff,' he said, holding up two shopping bags. 'They didn't have everything in the Tesco, so I had to detour on the way home and get a few bits from Waitrose.'

'But you managed to get everything?'

'Yeah.'

'Then go get in the shower and come back down to help me.'

'Actually Mum, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.'

He'd only just stepped through the door, but wanted to tell her about Sam before he lost his nerve.

'You can tell me about it whilst you're making a salad for me. Now go on and shower, then I'm all ears.'

So he did as he was told. He wanted to make sure she was in the best mood possible for when he broke the news. He reappeared twenty minutes later and started chopping lettuce for the salad.

'How is Max?' his mother asked him.

He hadn't told his parents yet that the two of them had broken up. He knew that they liked Max and were happy for him to stop over there. He needed somewhere he could say he was when he stopped at Sam's, so thought it best not to tell them yet.

'He's fine. Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Max and I broke up.'

She stopped food prep for a second and turned to look at her son.

'Oh, I'm sorry Milo. What happened?'

'Nothing really. We're still good friends. We just decided it wasn't really working out.'

'He's such a nice boy. I'll miss seeing him around here.'

'Yeah, Max is great. I've actually started seeing someone else.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah. He's called Sam.'

'Is it serious?'

'Yeah, I think it might be.'

'Then we should meet him. Ask him round for dinner next week.'

'Okay, I will. Thanks Mum.'

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Ali stood outside the door of Ocean's apartment for a few moments, trying to build up the courage to knock. She knew if Danny was in, then she'd be starting something she couldn't go back from. It had been so long since she'd spoken with Danny. Once he opened that door, he was back in her life again. She turned round a couple of times having second thoughts. She hadn't come here on a whim. She'd thought it through and knew she'd regret it if she didn't go through with it. She wasn't sure when she'd get the chance again.

Without thinking about it, she walked up to the door and knocked a couple of times. She heard someone moving around inside. Her heart was in her mouth as she heard his footsteps approaching and the key turning in the lock.

The door opened and there he was. He looked so different to how he had when she'd first known him, no doubt due to Ocean's influence. Gone were the football shirt and skinhead. His hair had grown and was styled neatly with a side parting. He was wearing his comfy house wear, but looked trendy in his khaki tracksuit.

He looked at her and took a second to register what was going on. He hadn't been expecting visitors, especially not a ghost from his past.

'Ali,' he said. 'What are you...?'