Nikki
I was angry. Jack was angry. I don't even remember why.
I'd say it was an alcohol-fuelled argument and the drink made it worse than it really was, but I was on orange juice all evening. I'd had a headache earlier, so I agreed to drive instead.
I was so angry that I just got in my car and drove off - left Jack standing there outside the pub. I didn't have a plan. I didn't know where I was going. I just wanted to 'drive until my anger ran out', so I drove and drove. I drove out of London - not too far out of London, mind, but out of the city, nonetheless. By the time I stopped, I was in the middle of nowhere. That was my second mistake. My first was arguing with Jack.
When I stopped, I was still angry, so I decided to walk around for a bit. That was fine - I could still see my car, but when it started getting really dark, I was still angry, so I carried on walking. On and on. That was my final mi9stake that night.
Jack
I storm into work in the morning. We were both so angry last night - stupidly angry, over nothing. It must have been nothing, because I can't remember why we started arguing. I still can't believe that she just drove off and left me there, though. I'm going to confront her about that when she comes in.
I'm sat at my desk, fuming, when Clarissa comes over.
"You've been arguing with Nikki..." She begins.
I throw my pen at my computer screen. "Great! You've been talking to her." I snap. I didn't mean to snap at Clarissa, but I can't bear the thought of Nikki on friendly terms with everyone else when we are not talking. It makes me feel ashamed of my part in the argument.
Clarissa looks taken aback. "Not a word, Jack. No one has been able to get a hold of her yet, this morning. You're only ever this angry when you've been arguing with Nikki."
Thomas leans against the doorframe of his office with a sigh. "What was it about, Jack?"
I sink down into my desk chair like a naughty child, my long legs accidently hitting Nikki's chair opposite. It spins out of control, across the floor, only stooping when it crashes into the wall. "No idea." I mutter, staring at my desk.
"What?" They both exclaim, as Thomas crosses our office and replaces Nikki's chair neatly behind her desk.
"I don't know, ok? I can't remember. It was stupid, but we were both so angry. We were yelling at each other outside the pub and then she got in her car and drove off. She just drove off and left me there!"
Thomas sighs again. "Fine. We'll ask Nikki when she decides to grace us with her presence!"
But Nikki never comes in. By 10.30am, we were all getting worried, Thomas and I had even driven to her house, but there was no sign of her or her car - no sign that she'd even been home last night. The calls to her home phone continued to remain unanswered and her mobile claimed to be out of service. I wasn't angry anymore - I just wanted to know she was safe.
"What the hell did you two argue about?1"
Thomas and Clarissa shoot at me, numerous times. I still couldn't remember. I won't lie - part of me hoped she was deliberately in hiding to scare me, because she was angry. It would be a very immature thing to do - and very unlike her, but all the alternatives my mind came up with were much worse. Then again - it's not like either of us to fall out like this, to yell at each other until she drives off in anger. I don't know why that happened. She probably doesn't either. Wherever she is.
I spend a further hour staring at her empty desk, whilst Clarissa and Thomas go through the CCTV from outside the pub. They watch our argument. They want to see how angry she was when she drove off. How angry I was. I feel awful now, watching it back, there was no reason for either of us being that angry, but I still don't know where she went - where she is.
The police say it's to early to do an appeal - she hasn't been missing for 24 hours yet, but Thomas convinces them. This is out of character - something is not right. We are informed later, by the police that her car has been found burnt out and seemingly abandoned - except they caught the two lads who burnt it.
The two teenagers claim they found her car abandoned, hot-wired it and took it for a joy-ride. They panicked when they saw the appeal and burnt it. Nikki was last seen driving away from the pub in it.
Nikki
When I wake up, it's still dark. My shoulder is in agony. I think it's dislocated. My ankle hurts too, and my leg feels painful and wet. I gingerly touch it with my good-sided hand. I smell blood on my fingers. I vaguely remember falling. I was trying go back to my car, but I must have gone the wrong way in the dark. I remember feeling lost and disorientated. Where the hell am I?
I try to shout for help, but the word 'Help' keeps coming out as 'Jack'. With great difficulty, I manage to turn on my side - a sort of attempt at the recovery position, but then I pass out again from the pain in my shoulder.
The next time I wake up, it's daylight again. I've been here all night. I still don't know where I am - it looks like some sort of quarry from where I am lying. I don't remember seeing a quarry.
I'm frozen and in pain and it's been raining so I'm soaked through as well. I can see my phone on the ground, it's in pieces on, so is probably about as useful as a chocolate tea pot - a phrase my mum used a lot when I was a child. It doesn't matter - I can't reach it anyway. I try to shout for help again but my throat is dry and my voice is weak, so I have to give that up eventually. I think of Jack. I remember our argument. We were both so angry for a reason that totally escapes me now. Actually, I think, I remember feeling angry and not knowing why, before I fell. Jack and I were yelling at each other and then I got in my car and drove off, leaving him there. How could I do that?
I'm not angry now. I'd do anything to see him. I was going back to my car when I fell. I was going to drive home and find him to apologise, even if it took me all night to find him. But by then it was too late, the darkness had set in and I didn't have a torch. Just the light on my phone - clearly it wasn't enough. I also remember that I had no signal to call him, normally he would have come and found me, if I called, but I've never seen him that angry before. He was so angry to and he probably wouldn't have bothered to answer anyway.
I'd do anything to see him now, but no one knows I'm here. Maybe someone has found my car by now.
Jack
The teenagers took us to the place they found Nikki's car, so we're searching that area now. She could be anywhere though and we have no idea what state she'll be in when we find her - it's cold and it's been raining and she's been out here all night and the best part of today.
I eventually come to a quarry and being so tall, I can see over the edge without too much effort. My heart leaps with joy.
"Thomas, she in the quarry!" I yell, scrabbling down the steep side to get to her.
She's unconscious, cold and wet - probable hyperthermia. I see her shoulder is dislocated and there's a gash in her leg, which has been bleeding heavily for quite a while. Her ankle appears to be swollen and is in a bit of an unusual position. She must have fallen. Her phone lies smashed next to her - just out of her reach.
I take my coat off and wrap it around her. She appears to have put herself in the recovery position - more or less. She's sensible like that.
"She has a strong pulse and is breathing normally." I inform Thomas when he appears next to me, on the phone to the ambulance.
"She must have fallen." I mutter as Nikki mumbles something.
"Hey sleepy," I whisper softly, stroking her face as she opens her eyes.
Nikki
Jack's voice drags me out of the darkness that has engulfed me
"Hey sleepy," He whispers as his face slowly comes into focus.
He doesn't look angry anymore and I'm so happy to see him, but also ashamed of how I was yelling at him and how I drove off and left him there. I can see his relief at finding me and all I can do is apologise. Sorry for yelling. Sorry for leaving you stranded. Sorry for scaring you.
"Mm...Jack...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I love you..." I murmur over and over again, my voice sounding croaky.
Jack
She starts crying and her apologies are broken up by the pain in her shoulder, her leg, her ankle.
"Shhh I love you too." I whisper back. "Hey, listen, you've got nothing to apologise for" I add firmly, when she continues saying sorry. "I'm sorry I yelled."
"I yelled too." She mutters and winces again.
"It's forgotten" I tell her. "I'm just glad we found you."
"I was coming back." She whispers. "But it was dark and I lost my way. I was coming back to say sorry."
"I don't even remember why we were arguing."
"No" She murmurs, "Neither do I."
Nikki and Jack
Anger is one letter away from 'Danger'. We found that out the hard way.
When you have an argument that ends with one of you having an accident or your best friend going missing - that hurts.
That's when anger hurts most.