Page 15 of Common People

‘Truth is, mate, I had a bit of a breakdown in my late-twenties. I had been working hard in finance since uni, burning the candle at both ends, too much booze, drugs and the pressure of work, I ended up having an episode. It’s what the doctor called it anyway. An episode. I had a mental breakdown.’

‘Shit, Charlie, I had no idea. You seem so—’

‘Together? On top of things? A legend? That was a big part of the problem. I grew up in a world where failure wasn’t anoption. My father’s a barrister, and my older brother is a top-notch surgeon. Even my mother runs a successful party planning business from their house in Oxford. I didn’t have the intellect for law or medicine, so working in finance was the easy option. Plenty of money, full of old chums from school, but the pressure is relentless. I pretended I was OK for so long, medicated with alcohol and drugs, but it caught up with me. Anyway, I ended up taking six months off work, I moved home, got better and got into running. When I came back to London, the first thing I did was join a run club. It keeps me sane, keeps me off the drugs, and it gives me purpose. More marching, less powder!’

Max didn’t know what to say. Charlie seemed like your typical posh city-boy, full of bluster and bravado, but Max could see that underneath it, there was something else. There were layers to Charlie like there were layers to everyone in the group. He was just a boy trying to make his parents proud, trying to keep up with his brother, and the pressure of success had burned him out. London could do that to you, if you weren’t careful. Even Max had felt it at times. The constant barrage of noise, of places to go, things to do, goals to achieve and everyone else always seemed to be doing more, handling it better, and if you let your guard down for a moment, it could easily get the better of you.

‘I’m sorry to hear that, Charlie.’

‘No worries. All water under the bridge now, fella. I’ve never been happier or healthier. It’s all about balance, you know. What about you?’

‘What about me?’

‘What’s your story? If everyone’s got one, what’s yours?’

Max didn’t know what to say, and suddenly faced with the question, he felt himself panicking. He already knew his face was turning red, his eyes were probably giving him away, butfortunately before he had to reply, Robbie came walking up. Max had texted him earlier, and Robbie had said he might pop in.

‘Robbie, this is Charlie,’ said Max, relieved to see his flatmate. ‘Charlie, Robbie.’

‘Hello, mate,’ said Charlie, back to his usual confident self. ‘Sandwich bloke, right?’

‘Aye,’ replied Robbie, and they shook hands.

‘My favourite is cheese and pickle on a white bloomer. A lunchbox classic,’ said Charlie, before the three of them walked back inside, and Charlie said he was going to get a round in, which given the price of drinks in Clapham, was no small financial feat. Max took Robbie through to the beer garden, introducing him to everyone, before Max returned to the bar to give Charlie a hand with the drinks.

Once they returned, everyone finished up their food and they all sat around talking, smaller conversations breaking off within the larger group. Joe and Anita were having a conversation about food, with Joe discussing his love of proper old-school London grub, and he was sharing his favourite places to eat in the capital. He was London born and bred and being a cabbie, knew the best places to eat and drink anywhere within Greater London. Interestingly, Robbie was sitting next to Eve, and they were deep in conversation, and Hope was chatting to Charlie, and so that left Max and Bethan, staring across the table at each other.

‘Can I have a word?’ asked Max, nodding in the direction of the pub, where they could be alone. Bethan didn't reply, but stood up, and so Max stood up, and followed Bethan inside. They found a table for two and sat down together. Max wasn’t sure exactly what it was he wanted to say, but he knew it needed to start with an apology. ‘Bethan, I’m sorry if I said something the other day to upset you. You have to know it wasn’t my intention.’

‘It’s fine, honestly,’ replied Bethan, but Max could see something on her face that let him know it wasn’t entirely all right. There was a tiny fragment of unease in her expression that let him know that whatever it was he had said, there was something troubling her about it.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, totally. One hundred per cent,’ said Bethan with a smile, and the small amount of uneasiness seemed to slip away.

‘Good, that’s good, because I’d hate for you to—’

‘We should probably head back and join the others,’ said Bethan quickly, standing up. She smiled at him, he apprehensively smiled back at her, before they rejoined the group, where it seemed Robbie was captivating everyone with his opinion on the best sandwich fillings.

‘It’s got to be something rich, full of flavour, preferably Scottish,’ said Robbie.

‘I think you can’t beat a nice Coronation Chicken,’ said Anita.

‘It’s a bacon sarnie for me,’ said Joe. ‘On cheap as chips white bread and loadsa HP sauce!’

‘A Vegemite and cheese toastie!’ chipped in Hope. ‘An Aussie classic.’

‘Irish cheddar and onion,’ said Eve. ‘With Tayto salt and vinegar crisps.’

Everyone looked towards Bethan. ‘The JOE’s Club fromJoe & the Juice. Sorry, bit boring.’

‘No judgements here,’ said Hope. ‘What about you, Max? Favourite sandwich?’

‘The Scotsman!’ said Max and everyone looked at him with curious expressions. ‘Robbie’s latest creation. Neeps, tatties, black pudding, red onion and chili jam, and mature cheese, toasted to perfection on his homemade sourdough bread.’

‘That sounds incredible,’ said Eve, looking at Robbie, a tantalising grin on her face.

‘If youse ever near the flat, I’d be happy to make you one,’ replied Robbie with a cheeky smile, and Max was sure he saw Eve blushing. It seemed that the romantic comedy author may have just found her new leading man. Max, on the other hand, still wasn’t entirely sure where he stood with Bethan. He just hoped that whatever was going on with them, it was something he could fix because he couldn’t stand the thought that she hated him. She had claimed that everything was fine, but clearly something was still bothering her, and he really needed to find out what.