1. Hic semper in deteriora antequam lucesceret


    Date: 11/2/2017, Categories: Taboo, Author: Jam_Wil_Mac, Rating: 7, Source: LushStories

    As weeks go, this had been a rough one. Liam Edwards walked down the dull, limestone-lined street sombrely, as though in a funeral march. On Monday, his girlfriend of nearly two years, Kayla, left him and took their dog, a one-year-old spaniel called Louie. On Tuesday, his employer, A-Star Fitness, announced staff-streamlining measures (read: job losses) in his department, Marketing and Advertising. On Wednesday, we was stopped by police for driving an uninsured car, due to a system error, not due to his car actually being uninsured. Thursday managed to pass without incident. But Friday, earlier today, Liam’s close friend and colleague, Darren, was laid off from his job after being told he just wasn't quite as valuable to the company as Liam. Nothing was said but Liam could tell twelve years of friendship ended right there. Liam trudged down the street as the grey, heavy clouds above him trudged through the sky, threatening a deluge. Liam was twenty-nine years old, six-foot-one-inch tall with a slim but much toned build. He still had a full head of thick, dark hair, but there were flecks of grey already. Liam was athletic, excelling as a cross-country runner and a football goalkeeper. So much so, he was on the books of Arsenal FC until he was fifteen and then played at a high semi-professional level until he was twenty-four. On his twenty-fourth birthday, he decided football wasn't going to pay the bills and he needed a real job. Football could be his hobby and passion. He ...
    studied Marketing at Bristol University and then through his friend, Darren Richards, he got a job with A-Star Fitness, a European-wide fitness company that specialised in creating tailor-made fitness regimes for wealthy clients. A-Star found huge success after the Swedish celebrity model, Anika Gustafsson, lost a large amount of weight thanks to A-Star (and a cocaine habit). Life had always been very good to Liam, but this week had been dreadful. Losing a friendship, a relationship, a pet, nearly his job and almost gaining points on his driving licence. Liam was not a big drinker, but he wanted nothing more than to sit down in a quiet isolated spot and slowly indulge his system with alcohol. He walked straight past a bar, ambling his way home. But something made him stop. ‘Sod it’, he thought and he turned back and went into the bar. Inside the front door there was two sides to the establishment. A bar on one side showing a boxing match very loudly and on the other a lounge that was warm and quiet. Liam didn't think twice. He walked straight into the lounge. He put his coat down on a plush seat in the corner, right next to a softly-licking fire and bought himself a cider from the polite elderly bar man. “You look like you need a drink.” Said the barman empathetically. “I need R & R.” Replied Liam. “You’ll get that through here, lad,” said the barman, paternally, “I’ll leave you in peace unless you call for me.” “Thanks.” Liam returned to his seat, sat down and took a long ...
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