The Brazen

by Tara-Zee

So, this one time, Tilly and I had had a really tough day at work. And I mean one of those days that you don’t know how you’d get through without your BFF. I don’t know who was the first to joke about going for a glass of wine after work (yes, that was still when we thought after-work drinks were a joke – who knew?). But our minds were working hard that day – and soon we reached the conclusion – mutually – that the easiest drink was that across the road … so that’s where we ended up.

So there we were at the Brazen Head, glass of wine in hand (smoke in the other hand for Tilly – those were also the days when we frequented the smoking sections in restaurants and bars, before Tilly quit), thoughts pouring across the table and solutions and resolutions following. And then we were a little hungry, so Tilly called over the waitress: “We’ll have the McBride’s Mixed Basket, to share.” Note, the McBride’s Mixed Basket is filled with all of the things we should not have been eating: pork chippolatas, chicken strips, samoosas, onion rings and chips, oh yes, and it’s served with that amazing honey mustard sauce – but when you’re sharing, you’re halving the calories! Then there was another glass of wine.

It’s amazing how once you’ve done something “that one time”, how easy it easy it is to form a routine. There we were (when we weren’t at work or home), sharing a bottle of wine and a platter of over-fried, fatty food – and those stories that formed some of the bonds of our relationship. Like that boy who was impressed with our cars and the fact that we weren’t shy to buy him a drink. And how that girl in school said that thing that made you feel so insignificant then, but how the grown-up you is so happy that you have that quality. And the need for fried onion rings (who doesn’t need those). It was at the Brazen that Tilly taught me the important rule of never messaging people after a glass (or two), and we made the decision to turn our lives around and get into a proper gym routine together.

Tilly might not remember it (it’s no biggie, but she doesn’t sing along to the music in the same way that I do … she might say that it is a biggie that I don’t EVER stop singing!), but they played such cool tunes … like “Stuck in the middle with you” – which really, sometimes I am!

Nowadays, the closest we get to the Brazen is as we run past it in our training for that little half marathon in April. (Don’t tell Tilly, but sometimes I listen to Stealers Wheal on my iPod as we dash past those after-work drinkers.) Aah, those days of cheap wine and onion rings.