This is a serialisation of the novel Marcello: Love in the City. This week Marcello accidentally insults his date via text. The second date is always a quandary. I never quite know where to go – in the literal sense. The first date is easy. I have a rolodex of venues in my head (well,...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel Marcello: Love in the City. This week Marcello tries to reinvent himself in the office. I walked into the office on a sunny Monday morning. It had been just over a week since my networking meltdown and – as I was yet to reap the whirlwind – I...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. This week: Marcello is forced to network. Rita, the HR director, summoned us to the grey inferno that was her office. She was a tall, skeletal brunette with razor blue eyes. After some cursory chat about our still-broken air conditioning she commanded my...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. Marcello has just been on a hellish date with his work colleague, Charlotte. I thought a lot about Charlotte while checking my dating apps on the way home. Nothing erases the past quite like the prospect of fresh degradation. That evening, I fumbled...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. Jess, Marcello’s friend, has just tried to set Marcello up with their work colleague, Charlotte. Jess had done the heavy lifting with Charlotte, all that was left was for me to ask her out. I should have been overjoyed but I was concerned...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. After a string of flailed dates, Marcello (City worker and obscure dating blogger) meets his suave, older brother Dan for drinks. I bought two pints of Peroni and we took up a table in the corner. The Greyhound used to be a notoriously...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. After failing to befriend an icy colleague, Marcello is called upon to dismiss an emotional manager. Jeremy from Loan Operations walked in. He was a middle-aged mess of balding angst. I shook his hand and poured him a water. “Thanks for coming, Jeremy,”...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. After a date with Karen, the disinterested lawyer, Marcello tries to make friends in the office. The following day at work, I turned my attention to my other great pastime: trying to befriend my icy work colleagues. Jess dismisses the project as folly....Read More