One Last Shot by Stephen Anthony Brotherton - Book Blitz
One
Last Shot
CAN FIRST
LOVE EVER BE REIGNITED?
One Last
Shot concludes the trilogy of Freddie and Jo-Jo, which has moved through time
in a series of flashbacks, showing how the couple fell in love as teenagers,
why they drifted apart, what happened in their lives away from each other, and
what happens when they meet up again over three decades later. At the end of
the second book, An Extra Shot, Jo-Jo tells Freddie about her dark secret.
Confused, vulnerable and in a state of shock, he says he needs time to think
about what to do next. Jo-Jo’s right to be worried. Freddie doesn’t react
well...
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Excerpt
A
teenage Freddie and Jo-Jo visit the zoo.
Jo-Jo -
June 1980
The
queue to get inside the Monkey House ran along the wire net fence, which meant
we could pass the time by watching the tribe of six chimpanzees lying moribund
on the grass in the mid-day sun. One of them, it looked like the alpha male,
was flat on his back, slightly apart from the rest of the group, arm over his
eyes, one leg raised and the other crossed over it. We could hear him snoring
and breaking wind. ‘Looks like he’s sleeping off last night’s beer,’ said
Stuart.
‘Typical
man,’ said Louise. ‘One sniff of the barman’s apron, a bit of sun and he’s good
for nothing.’
‘Could
be worse,’ I said. ‘You could be lying next to him.’
The
queue edged forward, the pong of anomia raising up in notches of pungency as we
moved closer to the door. Two of the chimpanzees lifted their heads at exactly
the same time, threw their arms around each other, cuddled and stroked each
other’s faces. One of the other chimps sat up, edged over to the cuddling pair
and flopped on her back in submissive pose with her legs up and wide open.
‘Okay,’
said Freddie, a toothy grin spread across his face. ‘It feels like we should
stop watching now.’
The
queue moved forward just as the cuddling two were separating and eagerly moving
towards the legs up monkey. I looked at
Freddie. ‘There are children watching,’ I whispered. ‘Some of them are taking
pictures.’
‘They
probably think it’s a game,’ he said. ‘Which it is, sort of.’
I
turned around to look at Stuart and Louise. Stuart was rubbernecking to see the
monkeys, the movement of the queue having stolen his vantage point. Louise was
staring at me, her cheeks flushed. ‘He, is so embarrassing,’ she said.
‘What?’
said Stuart, turning back towards us. ‘You’ve got to admit it’s funny. You
can’t take your eyes off them. Dirty buggers.’
Louise
slapped him on the arm and laughed. ‘You needn’t get any ideas,’ she said.
Author
Bio –
I was born in
Walsall, grew up in the West Midlands and now live in Telford with my two cats,
Boris and Tai.
After working in the health
and social care sector for over thirty years, I have now written the trilogy
that has been rooted in my head for most of my life.
The Shots trilogy is based
on a first love relationship I had as a teenager. It tells the story of Freddie
and Jo-Jo, who are reunited in a coffee shop three decades after the end of
their teenage romance. How they originally met, why they parted, what happens
in their lives apart, and what happens when they reunite is all told through a
series of first person vignettes.
Getting these stories down
on paper has been a cathartic process. I hope you enjoy them.
Social
Media Links –
Instagram
@freddiejojoreunited
Twitter
@FreddieJoJo1
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