Jake was a total angel. After the incident with the rude customer, he watched over me and when there weren't any customers ordering at the bar, he kept my hand firmly enclosed in his own. That continued all the way until close.

We drove back to our flat in my car and all Jake did was hold my hand and sing along to the radio softly. "I'm not going to burst into flames if we talk about it Jake." I said, slightly annoyed by his gentleness. "I know, but if we talk about it I might." He said, clenching his teeth. "Okay, can you stop being so weird though, I miss my normal Jake." I said. He laughed softly at me and nodded his head. For the rest of the drive, we laughed and sang along to the radio. It wasn't until we pulled up to our flat that we fell silent.

"Paige, glad I caught you out here." His deep voice had me frozen behind Jake. "Don't hide from me pretty girl, I know you miss me." He carried on. "Who's that my love?" Jake whispered. "His name is Eli, an old boyfriend of mine." I whispered back. "What's he doing here?"Jake asked. "I dont know." I replied.

Back story: when I was in high school, I had a great group of friends and the guy who introduced me to these people was Eli. I thought Eli was in love with me cause I was infatuated with him; but I was wrong. After I found out what he did I hated him. And trust me when I tell you: it took a lot of love for me to hate him the way I do.

"Come on babe, there's nothing to be afraid of." Eli continued. "Go away Eli!" I yelled, still hiding behind Jake. "Oh come on, you can't hide behind 'Mr Bean Pole' forever." He said. "Why does everyone call me a bean pole?" Jake asked, clearly annoyed. "Not the priority right now mon amore." I said. "Eli if you don't leave right now, I'm calling the police." I said, pulling out my phone. I wasn't going to call the police, but Cate who is arguably more deathly. "Now now sugar pie. No need for threats, I just want to talk." He said. "Do not! Call me that!" I screamed, coming out from behind Jake, ignoring his hand resting gently at my wrist. "And there she is, my Paige." Eli said to a mock audience. "What do you want Eli?" I asked, teeth clenched. "Tone down the hostility babe, I just came to see my darling, that's all." He said, reaching a hand out to touch me which was swiftly slapped away by Jake. "Don't touch my girlfriend." Jake seethed. "Calm down pipe cleaner, I'm not going to hurt her." Eli replied. "No more than you already have anyway, leave us alone Eli." I said. "I'm just here to tell you that soon enough, Jake here will see the truth in you, just as I did. And I'll bet he'll leave just as quick too." Eli said before slinking away. "What did he mean Paige?" Jake asked softly. I was frozen to the spot, I couldn't answer Jake, no matter how badly I wanted to. All I could think about was how Eli knew my Jake's name. "How'd he know your name?" I asked so quiet I barely heard myself. "What?" Jake said softly. "How'd he know your name Jake?" I asked. I knew Eli hadn't ever met Jake so I quickly shut down that thought process for him. "Who owns the building Jake?" I asked. "The council used to, now it's this private company, Stafford and Johnson." He replied. Shit. "We need to move." I said suddenly. I darted towards the door of our building, rushing up to our flat and barging inside. "Paige can you please tell me what the fuck is going on?!" Jake near screamed once we got back to the flat, causing me to wince ever so slightly. "Shit, I'm sorry my love. I'm just so confused right now." Jake said, cradling my head. "Eli did some bad shit to me when we were in school and he always said he'd make me regret it. His family owns the building meaning there could be any amount of cameras or bugs in here, I'll explain everything once we're at Cate's." I said. Jake nodded and began joining me in emptying our flat, we took as much as would fit in our cars and drove towards Cate's house.

After letting us in with the key Cate gave me for emergencies, Jake and I sat in the living room. "Can you explain now?" Jake asked. "When I was 14, Eli and I started dating, but it wasn't like our relationship, it was ownership. Eli controlled everything I did but I thought I loved him and he loved me. When Cate was ill and want in school, Eli was all I had. Only he knew about Cate and he told everyone, all the while trying to convince our new group of friends that I was a horrible person. Eventually, that group of friends saved me from Eli and made me see what a cunt he was. My friends, the ones who came to the pub on that one day shift, George, Ann, Rose, Jack and May? They are those amazing people. They saved me. But when Eli found out about what we were doing, he said we'd regret it, I thought he was lying and I hadn't seen him since but now he knows about you and we're all in danger." I said. "Why are we all in danger?" Jake asked. "Because Eli's dad is in the Italian mob. Or was, I can't really remember." I replied. "I'm calling all of them, then we can figure all this out." I said, dialling the group chat. "Eli, he's back everyone to Cate's now." I said.

And you thought this was just going to be a pub romance, well you're in for a hell of a ride.