Our Last Summer- Reddie

"Well, unfortunately guys, I've gotta sign off. I'm gonna leave you with Adam but I'll be back at 3 tomorrow." I said, fiddling with the mixer before taking my headphones off.

"Brilliant as usual, Tozier." I heard a voice from behind me say. I spun around in my chair to face the speaker; my boss, Roger. "I was thinking, since you're so popular with the listeners, we could get you on the morning show?"

Wow, ok. Was not expecting that.

"Umm... yeah. That would be great... thanks." I mumbled, at a loss for words for the first time in my life. Well, ok, not the first but you get it. I stood up and, grabbing my things, got ready to go. Roger, who was setting the booth up for Adam's show, cleared his throat and looked up at me.

"Any big plans for tonight?"

I laughed lightly to myself. Guess I have a bit of reputation, I thought. "No, not yet, but there's time."

"Yeah, I suppose... well, if something doesn't pop up, do you fancy grabbing a drink with me?"

Oh, so that's why he's giving me the breakfast show, I thought. So much for popularity. I mean, it's common knowledge in the studio that I'm bi, but I never thought that Roger would be interested, even if he is a lot gayer than me (which, trust me, is saying something.)

"I mean, I guess so," I said, not wanting to sound too interested, and walked out of the room. Roger flashed me a beaming smile as I left.

Now, don't get me wrong. Roger's good-looking and everything. Under normal circumstances, I would be interested, but it's been years since my last boyfriend and he... well, I just don't think I'm ready for another one. Shit, I thought, why can't I just forget about him?

While thinking about the past and what-could-have-been, I walked out of the studio in a daze, hardly paying attention to where I was going. This always happened; whenever I thought back to my life in Derry and everything that happened, it was way too easy to get caught up in the memories. It was better to forget everything ... and everyone.

I did try to forget, I really did and at first, it was really hard but now, my mind only occasionally drifted back to Derry and the boy I left behind.

My phone rang for a while before I snapped out my daze and realised. Both angry and relieved to be distracted from my thoughts, I answered it.

"Hello?" I mumbled, convinced it would be a telemarketer.

"Is this Richie?" A deep, male voice replied.

I sighed heavily. Definitely a telemarketer.

"It is."

"It's Mike... Hanlon."

Wow, ok. That's not a name that I thought I'd hear again.

"Mike? What's wrong? How did you get my number?"

"Eddie gave it to me."

Another name I never thought I'd hear again but this time, this name meant so much more to me. It belonged to the man I thought I'd spend my life with. Clearly, it didn't work out like that.

"Oh... so what's wrong?"

"Well... It's back, Richie."

It. One word, two letters, yet they held so many bad memories.

"Fuck. Are you serious?"

"Deadly, Richie" Mike said, sounding grave.

"Ok..." I hesitated, exhaling heavily, "I'll head back to Derry tonight."

"See you then, Tozier."

"Bye Mike."

Well, shit. That's not great.