It was the first weekend in December, and Christmas party season was in full swing. My wife and daughter's Christmas work parties were on the same Friday night. Unfortunately, I was working. I had been working nights for a couple of years, the work sucked, but the money was good, and it really helped boost our years of saving for a deposit on a house. I worried that I wouldn't be available if anything came up, my daughter was only 19, but she was pretty sensible and had never let us down before.

It was my wife I was concerned about, she was not a drinker, not by any stretch, and whilst she thought she knew her limits, previous experience had told us that she did not. I don't want to say my wife is a little naïve, because that implies she's stupid, she's not, but she is a little too trusting of people, and she is naturally submissive, something I may have nurtured a little, but never taken advantage of.