Stay Close

The room was spotless. Every surface was freshly wiped and polished, all traces of dust completely eliminated. The carpet looked almost new, without stains or pieces of fluff trapped in it, having being steamed and hoovered that afternoon. Everything about the room seemed sterile, almost un-lived in. Despite the cleanliness, Nina Everingham was still absent mindedly dusting the television screen. She watched as Jeremy Kyle tried to sort out a few hopeless cases, casting a glance at her own hopeless case.

Alison Keats was slumped on the plush leather sofa. Her shoulder length hair was carelessly pulled up in a loose bun, tangled up and unkempt, dark circles graced the skin under her eyes - a sign of many sleepless nights. She was dressed in just her pyjamas, the same one's she had lived in for the past week and a half. To look at her, you wouldn't believe she broke up with Justin, you'd think it'd been the other way around.

"Ali, please can we go out? Maybe some fresh air would make you feel better. Or we could go out tonight, we'll go to that new wine bar, you can get drunk and forget Justin Bates ever existed," Nina pleaded with her friend. This had become a daily routine for her. She would go round to Alison's grandmother's house, where Ali had decided to stay until she was completely over this break up. She had said her own bedroom reminded her too much of Justin, and so the spare room at her nan's had now become her own haven of self pity.

Alison shook her head, keeping her brown eyes glued to the television screen. "Can you move? I'm trying to find out if this guy is the father of her baby, and I can't when you're in the way."

Nina sighed heavily and moved aside, sitting herself down on the sofa beside Alison. "Why do you watch this crap anyway? It numbs the mind."

"Because," Alison shifted slightly to look straight at Nina, "their lives are far more messed up than my own, thus making me feel way better about myself."

Nina let out a frustrated cry. "Alison! Your life isn't messed up, it's far from it. You broke up with Justin because you said he was bad for you, he couldn't be trusted and he was a man whore, now why can't you get over it already and go out there and find yourself a guy that's the complete opposite?"

Alison roughly shoved Nina in the shoulder, pushing the petite girl away from her. Nina sighed heavily, throwing her dusty cloth in Alison's face, before getting up and swiftly leaving the room. She knew deep down that it had been tactless to spill her true feelings about the break up to Alison, but it was the truth, and at least now she knew. She planned to give Alison some time, her wise words would hopefully sink in and she'd go back to being her old self in no time.

She made her way to the kitchen where she found Alison's nan, Eileen sitting at the kitchen counter. The older woman was dressed in a long black dress, decorated with a gold trim, the colour set off her natural tan perfectly, and her hair was styled within an inch of it's life. An empty cup was sitting in front her, along with the local paper, which she was flicking through as Nina sat herself down across from her.

"She still not budging?" Eileen asked, flicking past the television pages in the paper, the gold bangles on her wrist clinking together as she did so.

"Nope. I think she's going to be stuck in this depression for the rest of her life if she doesn't snap out of it soon." Nina rested her chin on her palm.

Eileen chuckled, as her eyes swept across the announcements page, taking in the births, deaths and marriages. She turned the page to the lonely hearts adverts. It was true that Eileen herself had used this particular page before. It was how she'd met her latest boyfriend, Al. He had replied to her mysterious ad, and they were still together, six months later. A true success in love.

"We should put an ad in for Ali, maybe she'll have the same success rate you have," Nina commented, glancing down at the page, trying to read it upside down.

Eileen smiled at her, before going back to reading through the different ads. "She'd say she's too young. To quote 'only the old and the desperate use that page', so I guess that makes me both."

"Then we should do it in secret."

The older woman had no answer for this, no protest to Nina's suggestion. She simply read through one of the small sections of the page, "this one sounds a bit funny. A teenage male. I bet his friends have put that in for a laugh."

Nina giggled, reaching for the paper and turning it round so she could make the words out. "Whoever he is, he's apparently in a band. Girls like musicians."

"Then he should've had a lot of replies already." Eileen sighed heavily, just as the trill sound of the door bell echoed throughout the quiet house. "That'll be Al," she got to her feet, picking her clutch bag up from the counter, "she'll be fine, Nina, darling, just give her time."

Nina nodded, watching Eileen leave the room. She sighed heavily, reading over the strange advert, again and again. Something about it was off. Yes, it sounded weird, it wasn't often teenagers ever created lonely hearts adverts, but something about it was attracting Nina. Maybe it was the fact this boy was in a band, meaning he'd have equally as attractive band mates, or maybe it was the fact that this boy was as lonely as Ali was.

Whatever the reason, Nina reached into her pocket, producing her phone, quickly dialing the number printed on the page, before stepping out of the back door.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm replying to the lonely hearts advert you posted in the paper."