four-and-half years later i was heading back to the uk to watch mish & gav marry.
around july 2008, i started dating piero and became a regular at their flat. it was a fantastic flat – over time it was christened flat of the dreams - nestled in marylebone, a 20min stumble home from the bars and clubs of soho.
gav and mish were having an indian wedding just outside newcastle, a city i had been to a lot but piero had never visited. i was excited to visit the city again.
sometime in 2009, gav entered the picture. as a friend of mish’s, he took the flat’s spare room that mish and piero had taken over a year to fill.
the wedding was at a grand hotel. while there, we caught up with gav & mish’s circle of mates who we had become close to over the previous few years. as a group of friends they have such a wonderful energy for each other and a zest for life, seeing them is always fun.
the thing that i always remember about the flat of dreams was it was fun! pure fun. there was dancing (actually, there was a lot of dancing!) at dodgy bars (ok, a lot of dodgy bars!!), cocktails at the sanderson hotel, hen’s parties for luc before his boyfriend moved to london, angry dwarfs dressed as santa, mice, a plentiful supply of family guy & 30 rock, an appearance by lady gaga and countless bottles of wine. looking back now, at the time i just didn’t realise how special those times were.
and now, we find ourselves at the wedding of gav & mish. it was beautiful. we wore traditional indian dress, watched as mish & gav performed the ancient hindu ceremony and, fittingly, ended the night with dancing! mish looked simply stunning – i cannot find the words to express it – and gav was the most handsome i had ever seen him. my heart wept with joy. suddenly my london circle was complete. it was the beautiful end of my london experience.
