Day 45 Part II, Wednesday 4th July, A splash of water, a dash of colour (black)

The invite appears quickly like glimmer out of the corner of your eye. Did that just happen. Don't be impolite, answer. OK, I'll go. And so you're booked on what you think might be a small trip to brighton with Richard and his lawyer/DJ friend Dave. Lawyers have a bit of free time while studying and many take on other hobbies and pursuits.

Dave, the Silkman DJ. Alcohol flows round the bus. I dodge it and shield behind my crossword. Still trying to figure out the author of Mary Poppins. Rafael and Mel prove to be admirable crossword buddies. We arrive 10pm at Brighton as Richard points out to me the Taj Mahal lookalike and the Pier. Oh the pier.

Richard, sober for 14 years is not going to spend the whole of the next four hours in the club. Let's go for a walk along the pier. Ok, you say, let me just have a drink or two to warm up. We enter the club. Small room with black walls. Empty. I resist the urge to be concerned that this place is empty. It's early, people will show up.

Richard and I take a trip to the pier, via the cigarette shop. It's closed. We venture to a small jetty. We poke our head over and three meters below our little cliff the waves crash and shoot up to meet us. We play a game of trying to watch the wave ascend as long as we can and jump back before getting covered. I find more fun and excitement here that in the club. Simple pleasures.

We venture back and dance and watch as Dave does his turntable work and one or two others perform their modern rhyme with the microphone over the music. I'm in admiration.

I sleep fitfully on the coach home and am tempted to get off somewhere near my place but I don't really know the way. We get back to waterlook at 5am and I manage to get the overland train which takes 20 minutes home.