Channelling Grace Kelly

In difficult times one has gleaned an important insight – do it like Grace Kelly.

Difficult times could be considered breaking up with a partner. Grace has come in handy on many an occasion – especially when the broken romance begun, lived and died within office confines.

It’s the sweet and the sour that experiencing an office relationship brings.

Sweet being the taste of minimal effort required when day-to-day contact is a lovely likelihood in the throes of springtime flourishing. Sour is the offset of a faded dream wafting through the stale air-conditioning vent of my now restricted-access workspace.

But just like Grace I resist chav-like notions to exact Burberry-esque bitterness on the ex. The thought of relocating his clothes from my house onto his office desk in a heap, or on the streets is tempting.

But would Grace lower herself so? No she would not.

I could cry epic proportions of public tears too – if I was not Grace. Maybe if I was more Croyden-like with the makeshift facelift. Surely the tension of the hair being pulled so tightly into a ponytail would be motivation enough.

This just isn’t dignified.

Too few people actually impart this gem.

Moving on gets easier when you carry it off with a bit of dignity. It might feel like a massive effort – but so too is donning a pair of killer stilettos and taking on the cobbled streets of London. But wow, do you look amazing.

Dignity is more than just keeping up appearances, it’s about putting on a brave face and taking it all in your stride.

Oh bloody hell, I just remembered the Mika song. Dam it …

Girls who catch cabs...

I chuckle, I gahhh-fffwwahhh

Girls who regularly catch cabs live in a world of their own.

I would love to catch cabs here, there and everywhere.
But sadly I don’t think my ‘fake’ Chloe purse would allow me.

Some of these girls have the fakes as well.
But they have the ‘real’ money-making boyfriend or the ‘real’ money-making job to make that cab-journey home a guilt-free ride.

Or maybe they don’t…

I could hardly place these cab-ferrying women in an Old Man’s Pub.
But yet they come to my resting place.
An Old Man’s Pub.

They dabble in civilian life only to cleanse themselves with a Black Cab ride home.
They drink house wine or sup a dirty pint.
They dip their toes in the puddle of normality.

But it all seems real to me.

An evening dripping in pretension at Soho House, or any House for that matter, is as dirty as buying a kebab from my rodent-ridden local.
Pretending that a job in advertising is glamorous, important and well-paid is a futile exercise in ignorance - and on the same par as convincing yourself that one day you'll give to charity.

Who knows what makes these private-membership-loving-kittens happy?
I just hope these ladies bereft of a well-used Oyster Card, will temporarily ditch the Black Cab pretense for a temporary night of keeping it real.

It will be cheaper.
It will be relaxed.
And there's always in-house entertainment provided on a night bus.

Does breaking up get easier?

You would think like any thing in life, the more practice you have the better you get.
So does breaking up with someone get any easier?

I still rely on the staples of getting through these things: tears, wine and good friends.
They all serve very well embarking on the new flight of single-dom.
But I don’t really think I have ‘breaking up’ fully nailed.

I still ask myself: Is it me? Will I be alone for the rest of my life?

And the older I get, the more complex it becomes.
Should I learn to accept that the ‘right package’ won’t come along and take what I can get?
Or should I keep window-shopping until I see the right thing?

When do I need to think of myself reaching the used-by-date?
And should I start looking back on the past to investigate any patterns of behaviour that aren’t serving me well?

I think the more you break up the more questions arise.
There is timing – catching the right flight.
There is the issue of baggage – you have a defined limit you can take on any flight.
And there is the destination – is it a holiday stop-over or something more permanent.

Most importantly when is the right time to board?
And I am escaping or just giving myself a break?

So many questions…
At least on long-haul flights you can rely on the fact that they will provide alcohol and comfy socks…