It was an important birthday party, which had been in my diary for some four months.

My Imaginary Friend drove me all the way around the M25, and never complained. He even hummed to the music I liked, and smiled happily when I let my fingers slip under his t-shirt, to stroke his skin. He smelt of 'Joop' and clean sheets. When I followed the rough fabric of his jeans to the creases, and the zip, his hold on the steering wheel only tightened.

'I have been dreaming of spending this night with you', he said. Elvis was singing 'Maybe I should have told you...'.

I flexed my bare legs and turned my body until I tucked them between his. I wished the gearknob were somewhere else. His hand rested on my thigh and paused a little, as if pondering over where to go next. I wished, silently, but did not move.

'I shall come and get you when the party is over. You have a good time and enjoy every minute of it.'

The tattoo on Mr Nice's biceps moved seductively in the shadow, at times illuminated by the M25's yellow lights pouring from above. My Imaginary Friend's avatar. Or was it the other way round?

The place was full of women; it regurgitated little black numbers and sparkly earrings. Red lipstick ornated most flutes. Champagne flowed and gurgled.

After two glasses I slipped into my PR mode, the entertainer. I laughed and spoke and held court. The birthday girl to my left was giggling so much that she pinched my thigh and whispered: 'stop now, you are making me choke on my soup'.

I was the one who danced without shoes and did not put her little bag on the floor on the pile with the rest, but left it on the table. The one who did not remember to check her messages or whether she had a ticket for her coat. The one who finished a bottle of champagne and drunk the evening with it.

The bouncer helped my girlfriend bundle me up into the car. I was called 'love' and 'babe', and felt neither. 'You will look after her, won't you?' She asked my Imaginary Friend. He carried me in one arm, and held my bag and coat with the other.

'When you look in my eyes do you feel it in your soul? Do you not realise that you are the half that makes me whole? Everything that I am I will give it all to you, put my heart in your hands, there is nothing I won't do. For the chance to live inside your heart and understand the woman you are, be the place where you run when walls tumble down, the rock you lean on when you can't find solid ground. Be your love, your friend, and all that's in between.'

It sounded like the lyrics of a song. I heard the words. Where was the music?

Birthday party