You have never done this alone before

The night is aggressively bitter.
And you fear abduction as you buy a new guitar.
Should you stay or should you go?
It seemed straightforward when you saw the advert on Gumtree. The exact guitar you’ve been looking for, a mere £90.
Then you realise the seller is called David Ogle.
A pervy peeper?
A malicious man with an instrument?
You pull yourself together. You ask Mr Ogle to meet you at the tube station so you don’t have to go to his house. Then a man in a searing yellow donkey jacket wheels a bicycle into the cold entrance.
He looks like he buries people.
He is not wearing a guitar.
‘I thought we could go back to my house. It’s only a minute’ he says.
You make a foolish decision. You’ve come this far, after all.
You talk about guitars. His house is a small terraced cottage, full of Australians.
The guitar. It’s the one.
You play the D ditty from Love Me Do on his bed surrounded by
tangled white duvet .
You give him £90. An intimate exchange.
You are euphoric: you have found and bought your very own guitar, without help from bloke or boyfriend. Or are you just pleased to be alive?
Music takes you to places you never expected.