Serious!!

I got up groggily in the morning and managed to pack my (now far lighter) pack in time to leave for Leeds train station. It had been a brief but pleasant visit and I was happy to think that I’d be coming back for a week in August before moving in with Sue in London.
The trip to Peterborough was faultless and there I transferred to the Hatfield line to commence another day of surprises. Don and Sue met me at the train station and from there we drove down to see Tony and Mary Anne and their two adorable kids, Amber and Evie. Once again, they had no idea I was in the country, and I had more giggles at the surprised looks on their faces. Tony had generously donated the laptop on which all my blogging has been created and it was really good to see him and MA and the kids after such a long break. Don had also brought with him one of the kukri he had purchased in Kathmandu – an original gurkha kukri – which was his birthday present for Tony, who was quite clearly delighted with it. We didn’t stop for long - a cup of tea and a good chat – as we had to get up to Bishops Stortford in time for lunch and to surprise Don’s wife Vickie.
When we got there, Don and Sue parked in the usual spot at the back of the house, while I crept round to the front door. Vickie answered the door and, to my disappointment, said, ‘I knew you were coming.’ Bah! It seemed Don had been far too excitable all week and had accidentally let slip that Sue was one of the secret guests coming for lunch. Combine this with the fact that Vickie had picked up a package containing 2 printed T-shirts (which Don had got made up, specially for the occasion) and she’d have been daft not to guess really, I suppose. Other than that, she was very pleased to see me and, I’m happy to say, very chuffed with the anniversary gift, telling Don that he should have bought it in the first place.
One final surprise was still in store for the afternoon. Dave (of Thailand fame) had driven down from Liverpool and was blown away when, instead of Don, I answered the door. Several speechless seconds later (gleefully recorded on Don’s camcorder) he snapped out of his dazed stupor and gave me brotherly hug.
The afternoon’s ‘entertainment’ consisted of watching the FA Cup Final, which I must admit, was actually an excellent game and ended in a thrilling penalty shoot-out with – predictably – the team that had played best for 120 minutes losing in painful fashion. (I am not a Man U fan…honest…)
Throughout the afternoon, I’d been experiencing a growing sense of anticipation, knowing that very soon I’d be in The Cross listening to the best trance in London and surrounded by many great friends. Over the two years prior to my setting off on my travels, The Cross had become like a second home to me…and the regular punters, like an extended family. I’d missed the familiarity and the comfort of being surrounded by so many good people having such a good time and I was expecting tonight to be particularly special after 8 months away.
When the footie had all but finished, Sue and I headed back to hers to get ready for the big night out. We picked up our friend Al, who lives just round the corner and we were at the pre-club venue of ‘The Masque’ long before anybody else showed up – apart from Eliot and his girlfriend Dominique, on account of Eliot being the promoter and dj for this particular pre-club party. Eventually, people started to arrive in dribs and drabs. First Si and Al showed up with Steve and then Colette, then Jonny and Suki (from Full Moon) followed by Darren, Colin, Sparky and, finally, Andy and Katka. By the time we moved onto The Cross, there was already a great turnout of buddies who I’d taken great delight in freaking out. Only Ellie, Papa, Ed, Gordana and Rachel were now missing to make my night complete – and they’re all notorious for turning up late anyway.
At the club I had the pleasure of popping up like some kind of jack-in-a-box in front of our friend and resident dj, Si who, to his credit, didn’t miss a beat before giving me the Wildman treatment and screaming ‘I knew it! I knew it!’ in his broad Northern Irish brogue. Don had had to make up some spurious story about ‘a special guest dj’ to ensure as many of my friends were there as possible and Si, being the man in charge of assigning slots to the djs, had known full well that there was no such ‘special guest’. He’d suspected (and probably some of the others too, to be fair) that the only thing that would get Don so excited would be a return visit from me. However, thanks to constant denials by Don and some clever mendacity from me, nobody had been certain and the surprise hadn’t been totally spoilt. Ellie eventually turned up with her housemate Steph and, not too long after, came Ed and Gordana - one of the sweetest couples I know and very dear friends to me. Gordana, being the size of Thumbelina, is ideal for picking up and squeezing in big bear hugs, which she also happens to love. Of all the people who I hadn’t been able to surprise earlier in the week, it was her boundless love and affection that I was most happy to receive on that truly awesome night.
The music was absolutely blinding – some of the purest, most seamlessly-mixed trance I’d heard for a very long time. There was a really good, appreciative crowd in the place and the sumptuous leather sofas in the garden offered ample opportunity to sit and spraff when the pace got too much. For once, the night didn’t seem to disappear in the blink of an eye, as I’d feared it would and I seemed to have hour after hour in the pleasurable company of so many of my friends. It was great to have Si and Al meeting all my London buddies and I was also pleased to see them having such a great time with music that wouldn’t normally be their first choice. Eventually, the sun came up and the party was temporarily over…but only until we’d all decamped back to Andy and Katka’s for the after-party of the year. My entire record collection got played by a succession of djs (Dave, easily the pick of the bunch – although I did manage one or two good mixes myself!) as the vodka supplies steadily diminished in the face of some determined quaffing by myself and Andy.
I proudly claimed the honour of last man standing (only fitting after an 8 month furlough!) before collapsing in exhaustion on the sofa and catching forty winks before my evening engagement with one final bunch of friends.
Another former work colleague who I’d become close friends with, Clare, and her husband Dino (like Jon, one of my best muckers and undisputed King of the Barbeque) drove down from Bicester in the evening to join Jon, Charlotte, Al, Si, Steve and I for dinner and a final meal at Silom Village. It was the perfect, slightly more sedate, end to an awesome weekend and a thoroughly enjoyable trip home. In the morning, I’d be catching my flight back to Mumbai, before moving on to Singapore and finally to meet Annie in Malaysia.
Jon and Char kindly drove me back to Sue’s to save me catching the last tube and I collapsed gratefully into bed, safe in the knowledge that, no matter how bad my hangover was going to be, my bag was already packed.