Chapter One
“Happy Birthday Steph” my friends all cheered, holding their various drinks in the air towards me, and then gesturing for me to down the strange looking concoction they’d ordered from the bar.
“Down in one remember” Izzy teased and I groaned, remembering her birthday and the way we’d all persuaded her to knock back the dreaded mystery drink.
“Do I have to?” I pleaded, knowing that I was wasting my breath; of course I’d have to.
“Yes” came the reply from all of my friends.
“Just pretend it’s vodka and coke” Chloe said casually.
“OK then, here goes” and with that, I picked up the tall glass and brought it to my lips. I closed my eyes and gulped it down as fast as I could - it tasted revolting, there were so many different drinks in there, I couldn’t distinguish what exactly was what, only that it didn’t taste very nice. No, not nice at all!
“Woohoo…yayyyy” came their cheers as I placed the empty glass down and wiped my mouth, trying hard not to throw it all back up.
“Now that was disgusting” I said, reaching for Jess’s J2O (she was pregnant and therefore not drinking) and taking a gulp of it.
“But it’s got to be done Steph, traditions are traditions” Izzy laughed, taking more photos. I hoped to god she’d not caught me when I looked like I was about to throw up.
“Don’t I know it” I groaned
“So, how does it feel to be 25?” Chloe asked “quarter of a century…another year closer to 30”
“That makes me feel so old when you put it that way” I said “but at least you’re older” I teased. We were all 25, been friends since school and there was nothing we couldn’t say to one other.
Jess had always been the sensible one, always so sure of everything she did, always looking out for us and there to give advice, a real maternal type figure. It came as no surprise therefore, that she was the first of us to settle down and get married, it was all she’d ever really wanted. Now here she was, a year after her wedding and expecting her first baby. Both she and her husband Jake were over the moon, and we were happy for them. Jake was the perfect husband for her. But don’t get me wrong, Jess was no party pooper, we still had our wild girls’ nights out, it’s just that now she was pregnant and unable to make a fool of herself like the rest of us!
Chloe was the outgoing/professional one, always had been and always would be. So full of confidence and never let anything get in her way or get her down. She was a real go-getter. Only 25 and already high up the career ladder, with a flash car and an even flasher apartment, but she was still the Chloe we loved, even if she could be a bitch in the workplace. We were all just glad that none of us worked for her! She was single and happy with the way her life was. If she wanted a man, she had no problem in going out and getting one, but she rarely saw them for more than a few months. She had no intention of settling down, and often said she’d never marry. Maybe she’d change her mind one day, who knows.
Izzy was the nicest person you could ever know. Friendly, funny, kind and generous, she would be there for us at any time of the day or night. Men lusted after her and women wanted to be like her. She worked on the children’s ward at the hospital and always managed to put a smile on her patient’s faces, no matter how unwell they were feeling. That’s just the kind of person she was, so fun loving and full of life, it was hard to feel anything but happiness around her. She was seeing a man named Tom. It was still early days, but they were obviously smitten with each other.
And then last of all, there was me. Stephanie, or Steph as I preferred. Nothing remarkable, just average, that’s how I saw myself. Long light brown hair, blue eyes, neither slim nor fat - just average. I worked for a bank as a mortgage advisor, but it wasn’t something I saw myself doing for life, it was just a way to get by until something better came along. But I didn’t know what that was. Twenty five years of age and I still haven’t got it all figured out. I’d had a few boyfriends, even getting engaged once, but it didn’t work out and I’m just glad I found that out before we actually got married. I’d been so in love with Oliver that I’d been blind to a lot of things…one of them being that he was a lying, cheating, bastard! Of course, I’d been heartbroken at the time, but now, a year later, I had no regrets. Things happen for a reason and I believed in karma. Would I ever find the happiness my friends seemed to have? Maybe one day I would.
So anyway, back to the night out. We carried on drinking and dancing and talking, having fun like usual. As the end of the evening approached, we gathered around a table, talking about the meaning of life and all that.
“Do you ever wish you could do something else with your life?” I slurred to no one in particular. The realisation that I was another year closer to the big 30 was finally hitting me.
“Of course not” came the replies from my friends.
“Well…I do” I said
“What you need is some excitement” said Izzy
“A new boyfriend” said Jess “it’s been far too long”
“A new job” said Chloe “something to challenge your mind a bit”
“Hang on, one at a time” I said, laughing as I tried to listen to them all “what’s this? Ten things to do before I’m thirty or something?”
“It’s exactly that” they all replied.
Story Notes:
I've added all the guys to the summary even though I'm not sure if they'll all be in the story. Story also features other famous people along the way, but will mainly be BSB.
