Page 44 of Five Things I Love About You

‘Whitley Bay.’

I squint at the Metro map printed on the opposite wall to find Whitley Bay just above a place called Tynemouth on the circular yellow Metro line. Just below that is North Shields and, across the river, South Shields, but there aren’t many other places I recognise the names of between here and there.

‘I guess you’ve never been before?’ he says.

‘No, never.’ I look at him. ‘What’s it like?’

‘Whitley Bay’s a lovely seaside town with a massive beach. If you’re not used to the north-east wind though you might be a bit shocked by the chill factor – oh wait, is that flimsy jacket all you’ve got?’

I glance down at the denim jacket in my hand and nod.

‘It’ll be all right. It’s a lovely day,’ I say, but he crinkles his face up and shakes his head.

‘Ah bless, so naïve,’ he says. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll beat the optimism out of you.’

‘Come on, it can’t be that bad.’

‘I’m not saying another word.’ He nods at his rucksack. ‘I should have told you to wrap up warm, but let me just point out I have a spare jumper in here, should anyone need it.’

‘Point taken and thank you.’ The train is busier now, people standing by the doors clutching blankets and parasols and all kinds of beach paraphernalia, and we rumble on towards the coast.

As we pull into Whitley Bay station, Matt stands and I follow suit. Gladys looks up, disgruntled that I’m moving, then hauls herself to her feet. The doors open and we pile out, emerging a few seconds later onto a residential street.

‘This is Whitley Bay,’ Matt says, trying to wrangle his rucksack back on while holding on to Gladys’s lead at the same time. I take the lead from him and he smiles gratefully.

‘Down this way,’ Matt says once he’s got himself sorted, pointing down a gentle slope which I assume heads towards the sea. Given that everyone else seems to be heading in the same direction I think it’s a safe assumption. We set off, Gladys trotting happily alongside us, stopping occasionally to sniff at walls and fences and hedges.

‘Did you have any luck borrowing a dog yet?’ Matt says as Gladys stops to wee in someone’s geraniums.

‘A possible one, a Labrador called Stanley who’s apparently “a bit of a tinker”, which sounds ominous. I think his owner just wants him to have more exercise during the day so he doesn’t tire her out when she gets back from work. It could work on my days off.’

‘All Labs are like that. They don’t seem to get tired for hours until they finally collapse for the day.’

‘Well, we’ll see. I’m meant to be going to meet him tomorrow, he’s only round the corner.’

‘Do you want me to come with you?’

‘Oh, I?—’

‘Only if you want me to. I just thought?—’

‘No, course, that would be lovely. Thank you.’

Any awkwardness is soon forgotten as we reach the bottom of the road and turn the corner and BAM! It’s like being smacked in the face as the wind takes my breath away.

‘Jesus!’ I yell, and when I turn, Matt’s laughing at me.

‘Hey, it’s not funny!’

‘It is a bit funny.’ He wipes his hand across his mouth, trying to be serious. ‘Sorry. No. It’s very much not funny at all.’ The corner of his mouth is twitching.

‘You sod!’

He shrugs. ‘Well, I did try to warn you.’

The gust has died down a bit – for now – and I concede his point with a nod. ‘Fair enough, you did.’ I straighten up, button my jacket and push my hair away from my face. Then I see it for the first time. The sea.

‘Oh look, it’s sparkling!’

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