Amy and Ted tied the knot at the Woodland Park Estate, just outside Manchester. They exchanged their vows down by the lake, in front of their family and their closest friends. They couldn’t have hoped for better weather. It was neither too hot nor too cold, without so much as a hint of breeze, and the sun shining brightly in the sky. They have a beautiful wooden altar for wedding ceremonies here, with a stunning archway covered in perfect white roses, and both Amy and Ted looked cool as hell in their alternative outfits: a big, cream floaty dress for Amy and a Ted in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with grey trousers and a grey waistcoat. I have to admit, for a hipster, Ted wears the look well. They look great together, like one of those cool couples everyone is jealous of. You just know that they’ll be happy together, having so much fun doing super cool, eco-friendly things. Jealous? Moi?
The reception is in full swing now, and compared to the subtle ceremony, the after-party is lavish and huge.
Amy and Ted are having their first dance to REO Speedwagon’s ‘Keep On Loving You’ when the DJ announces that the bride and groom would love it if other couples would join them on the dance floor. It feels like almost everyone gets up to dance – certainly everyone from the top table – everyone but me.
‘Aw, it’s a shame this elusive fella of yours left you hanging, isn’t it?’ Lea says smugly as she gets up to dance with her boyfriend.
‘I’d never leave her hanging,’ a voice from behind me says. It’s that familiar Geordie accent that I’ve grown to love over the past week.
I turn around and see Danny standing there, suited and booted and looking incredible.
‘And you are?’ Lea asks.
‘Danny Wright,’ he introduces himself, offering her his hand to shake. ‘Nice to meet you.’
I feel my jaw drop. ‘You’re my “Mr Wright”?’ I ask, much to the confusion of the other gusts listening to our conversation.
‘I am,’ Danny tells me. ‘And you’re my “Miss Hart”.’
Danny begins unbuttoning his trousers.
‘What are you doing?’ I ask. ‘You can’t take your pants off at a wedding,’ I remind him, just in case he might’ve missed that life lesson at some point.
Danny lets his trousers fall to the floor before turning around and lowering his boxers just enough to show me that he has ‘Miss Hart’ tattooed on his arse.
‘Fancy a dance?’ he asks.
‘Go on then,’ I reply, a big smile on my face, not only because I’m happy to see him, but also because Lea looks so jealous she might throw up.
Danny leads me to the dance floor and takes hold of me like a pro.
‘Hi,’ he says softly.
‘Hello,’ I reply. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I promised you I’d be here, didn’t I? I owed you one.’
As we move slowly around the dance floor something occurs to me. ‘I didn’t tell you where the wedding was though.’
‘Yeah, and I’ve spent all day trying to figure it out, but I didn’t know anyone who knew you and the bride – it was a nightmare. That’s why I’m so late.’
‘How did you work it out?’ I ask curiously.
‘Just when I thought I was out of options, I found your iPad in the Love Bug. Found the info in your calendar.’
‘Oh, that was lucky. Wait,’ I start as Danny dips me. ‘I have a passcode on my iPad.’
‘Yeah, let’s not dwell on that,’ he chuckles, flashing me those dimples that make me melt.
‘So, you’re my “Mr Wright”?’
‘I was scared to tell you at the time,’ he explains. ‘And I was terrified to tell you about the “Miss Hart” tattoo on my arse – I thought you’d hate that even more than you’d hate having my name on you. It’s been hard hiding it from you.’ He laughs.
Danny Wright. So Danny is literally my ‘Mr Wright’, the one whose name will be forever on my arse. I feel like the universe is playing a cruel joke on me for mocking cosmic ordering so much, or maybe it worked exactly as it was supposed to and I’ve just been too stubborn to accept it all this time.
‘No topknot – again,’ I observe.
‘Well, I wanted to look smart – again. When you were pretending to be my girlfriend, you reined in the Stepford thing. Now, I’m pretending to be your boyfriend, the least I can do is pretend I’m cool.’
My face falls at his use of the world ‘pretending’, but I try not to let it show.
‘You’re not that good an actor,’ I tease.
I lean forward and rest my head on Danny’s chest, just enjoying a moment of being close to him after I was so sure he’d never speak to me again. Even if he is only here out of duty, everything feels OK when I’m in his arms.
‘I don’t want to pretend,’ Danny whispers into my ear.
I look him in the eye, surprised he still wants anything to do with me.
‘You make me feel like no one else ever has. Like I might like to stay still.’
‘That’s funny, because you make me feel like I want to go places.’ I laugh.
‘So we bring out the best in each other,’ he concludes.
‘I suppose we do.’
‘I never expected to fall for you,’ he explains. ‘Even after everything that happened in London, I knew I wanted to spend more time with you, but I’ve never been the kind to lock things down… But seeing Will try to worm his way back in with you – it made my blood boil. Like when that fake copper was having a go at you, or those skaters were asking me if you were my mum – ’
‘I knew they were making fun of me,’ I interrupt.
‘I’ll never be able to stand by and watch anyone hurt you, and if that means I have to be around you all the time, to keep you out of trouble, then so be it,’ he jokes, well aware he’s usually the person who lands me in trouble.
I glance over at Amy who is dancing with Ted. Her arms are wrapped around his neck, but she manages to give me a thumbs up.
‘You make me feel like that emoji with the hearts for eyes,’ he explains.
‘You make me feel like this emoji…’ I pout my lips and wink my eye.
‘There’s a constipated emoji?’ he asks. I playfully slap his face.
‘Well, bro, what next?’
‘I quit my job,’ I tell him.
‘You quit your job?’ he asks.
‘Why is everyone so surprised by this? Yes, I quit my job. About thirty seconds after you left and thirty seconds before I left Will in a bloody mess on the floor. I shouldn’t have even given him the chance to explain.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he tells me, placing his hands either side of my face. ‘It’s a new and weird emotion for me, but I felt jealous. I was worried I was going to lose you to that prick.’
‘Never,’ I tell him. ‘I never want to see him again – and now I’m unemployed, I don’t have to.’
‘Well, where shall we go?’ he asks. ‘Anywhere you want. We can travel across America, sunbathe in the Caribbean – we can even climb Everest if you like.’
‘Hmm.’ I think for a moment. ‘To be honest, I’d quite like to go back to the North West Pole and get my twerk on.’
The song finishes and a much faster one comes on.
‘Well, you don’t need to go to the Isle of Man to do that.’ He laughs, twirling me.
As I dance with Danny, it just feels like something has truly fallen into place for me. It’s like he just makes me happy without even trying.
As annoying as it is, and as much as I cringe to say it, if Danny has taught me anything, it’s just how spot-on his YOLO attitude is. He is absolutely right. You do only live once, and it’s important to make the most of it. Life is too short to be anyone’s plan B or their dirty little secret. If you love someone, you should tell them and show them every single day, because you never know when your or their time is up.
Time spent worrying about what is going to happen is truly a waste, because as hard as we try, we’re not always going to have control over everything. If we can change what’s worrying us then we don’t need to worry, we just need to change it. If we can’t change it, then what’s the point worrying? All we can do is live in the moment, drinking up every last drop of life, making the most of it. Because you know what? We really do only live once and it’s up to us to make that once count. This is it, right here, right now. This moment.
Teenage years a distant memory? No husband, no house and no kids? Trapped in that middle ground where you no longer feel like a kid, but you’re not quite a fully functioning adult either? Looking at the lives of the girls you went to school with on Facebook, it couldn’t be easier to monitor just how far off-track your life has gone in comparison. They seem to have their shit all figured out, but who says that’s the track you have to take? Wear dresses so short pro sportsmen mistake you for a prostitute if you want to. Get ridiculous tattoos. Eat whatever you want, so long as you’re happy and you’re healthy. It’s OK to have no idea where your life is leading you. Your best friend might have the next ten years of her life all planned out, and you might not know what you’re having for dinner tonight, but it’s fine. I have no idea where life with Danny will lead me, but this just excites me more.
Danny pulls me close and kisses me.
‘You see everyone staring at us?’ he asks.
I glance around and notice that we do have a few pairs of eyes on us.
‘What are they looking at?’ I ask.
‘The Geordie lad, desperately in need of a haircut, dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room.’
I smile, so widely my cheeks ache.
It doesn’t matter where you are in life, as long as you’re living it.