The Bright Lights Beckoned

Ann went to stay with some of the girls from work and was made welcome into each family home.
Friday lunch times down the local pub became longer and longer with their boss coming to get them a couple of times. Then not a lot of work was done in the afternoon! 

Time went by and the violence didn't stop! Steve punched Ann in the stomach at a family party because she said something he didn't like. The family separated them and Steve was spoken to but no-one listened to what Ann had to say!
She had had enough and it was getting harder to go out alone on an evening living there.

At her work Christmas party she enjoyed the company of John, the security man. He made her laugh and she felt comfortable with him. 
A little later they made their way through the building to the top offices of the store.
There they had sex, it wasn't love making it was raw sex and Ann felt free!

The next day at work she was suffering carpet burns numbed the previous evening by the alcohol. She wasn't sure how John would react but he chatted as normal. 
After that they managed to go out a few nights and Ann was having fun again. This was straight after work and she didn't stay late so was able to make excuses to Steve for her lateness! 
The only time she could have sex again with John was when she stayed after work and they toured the building together ensuring security. There were plenty of places with soft settees on display, no more carpet burns.
Ann really liked John but nothing serious.
She was now twenty and knew she was not willing to accept a life like this. 

Steve and Ann continued their arguments and she continued her nights out with friends, she had stayed in contact with girls from the hostel and sometimes went back there for the night. 

During one big argument Ann yelled that she had slept with someone else. She wouldn't say who and risked him hitting her again. Instead he was numbed, he couldn't believe it and became upset.
Ann still loved Steve and told him so but she couldn't be with him any more.

Over the next few days Ann arranged to move back to the hostel, she couldn't get a three bedded room so moved into one with five. By now she had a lot more to move and very little space!
Ann often felt herself looking over her shoulder but only bumped into Steve a couple of times after that.
It was hard for her as this was her first true love. 

Ann started feeling really tired and her doctor told her she needed to go home to rest again. She returned home but didn't get much rest running around after her step father who had lost his job. Then a relative was taken ill and she went to stay with her until she ended up in hospital. 
Ann was deemed fit to return to London and got back to a phone call to say her relative had died. Work were very supportive and gave her leave to return home. 
Steve contacted Ann to ask if he could attend the funeral and he did. By this time family knew what he had been doing but Ann told them to say nothing. Not that they had been supportive to her over it! 

She returned to London, to work and to friends.

She went out with John a few times but nothing serious.
She had made many new friends at the local pub through darts and one of them asked her out once Steve was no longer around but she wasn't interested. In the end she introduced him to a friend and they started seeing each other. 
The three of them started flat hunting and eventually found one at the other side of London. It would mean a longer journey to work but there was a direct bus route, Ann had given up using the tube a long time before. 
They lived on the ground floor of a house with bathroom, separate toilet, large kitchen and two bedrooms. A woman lived upstairs and had to go around the back to use the shared toilet. They rarely saw her but told her she was welcome to cut through the kitchen and bathroom but she never did.
When she moved out they went to look round. Two bedrooms and a tiny kitchen and she'd told them she'd had four children whilst there, now all grown up! 

Having a place of their own meant they could invite people round and have parties including Ann's 21st! She certainly made up for missing out on her 18th! 
She still saw John on odd occasions but had many other admirers who wined and dined her and came bearing gifts! 
After such a confining relationship she spent a lot of time seeing different men and enjoying uncommitted sex! 

Soon the landlord said that he was refurbishing all his houses and flats and would move them until complete. For some time her flatmates had been considering leaving London and this brought the decision forward! They left and Ann felt it was time to move on!
She handed in her notice at work and to her landlord! 
Another chapter in her life closed.