'Too much, too young'

1980s - and so she carried on through the years; sex and men and marriage and family.

Not so many men when she returned to work when the kids went to school but she did manage to juggle it all somehow as she needed the excitement it gave her. I noticed over our lemon chicken and white wine that she was getting very fed up with her husband. She felt she was his skivvy. But she didn't moan about it, she just got on with enjoying her very full life.

She was getting fed up with the headaches though. She had been to the doctor about them a few times. The doctor said it must be the pill that was causing them so she came off it and regaled me with funny stories about her trials and tribulations with the coil and the cap.

The 1980s rolled on. Our lives were busy and we didn't see each other so often. But we kept in touch. It was always good to meet up and talk . She was my oldest friend, my link with being 16. She was in touch with other old school friends and she always had gossip to tell me about them. I looked forward to seeing her.

I didn't often meet her at her house anymore though. Maybe Elaine was worried that her husband would try to question me about our nights out - the nights when in reality she was with another man. Maybe.

I don't remember if it was 87 or 88. Elaine invited me to a party she was having with her friend. I was a bit worried that Elaine would be busy being the hostess and I'd get stuck talking to her husband - he'd be the only person I'd know. I had nothing to say to him.

I needn't of worried. Elaine introduced me to a really nice guy. Friendly and intelligent, older than me, not sure by how much. We had a really great chat. Elaine joined us at one point and I noticed that they got on really well. They were so similar - friendly, intelligent, in tune with each other. I wondered if he was one of her men. But he wasn't.

His name was Paul and Elaine and her husband had met him and his wife when they were neighbours 14 floors up in that old tower block. So they'd all been friends for quite a while - and that's what they were still, friends.

Paul and his wife had 4 young children. He'd married young.

Just like Elaine.