GB lost his job a few weeks ago: well, he walked out because he was sick of his partner, who decided to keep their van as vengeance - the van being the major bone of contention between them anyway. For an arsey boy, GB let J get away with murder so far as that van was concerned. They bought it between them, and paid half of all costs, yet J kept it at his house (despite having a car), and made out he was doing GB a favour when he came and picked him up for work!

So anyway, he was on his uppers, which I knew, but I deliberately didn't jump in and bail him out, because I thought he had to fend for himself. Whcih he was doing, so far as I knew. There were a few jobs in the pipeline, and he was, as usual, refusing to sign on, because it was 'too much hassle' and 'not worth it'.

So two weekends ago, we went out. He had no money, so I was paying, but he's such a lad that he feels bad if people see me paying, so I@d given him £20. When that was coming to its end, I put another £20 on the table for him to pick up when he needed it, but then we decided to go. I went to the loo, and then he did when I got back, then we left.

On the way we went to the supermarket to get food for the evening. At the checkout I asked him for the £20. He said he hadn't got it. Now I was pretty sure it had been on the table when I went to the loo, and not there when I got back. But for speed I paid with my debit card.

When we got outside, I asked him to check he hadn't got it, and I checked my bag. Zilch.

Back home, I had sat down to watch TV, and he came in and said, 'I'll strip if you want, to prove I've not got that £20.' I said it didn't matter now, and anyway, I didn't think he was stupid enough to volunteer to strip if he had it on him, and I definitely believed he didn't have it now, but might have had it before, he was acting so weird.

So we had a big row, which only ended when I said that I could live with not knowing if he'd taken it or not if he could cope with the fact of me not completely believing him. In the interim I'd emptied out my bag several times, and had taken all the money out of my purse (six pound coins and some change) and put it on the kitchen work surface. So then all was well, and we went to bad.

Sunday morning he got up at 7.30am, which I thought was weird as I usually get up first and he stays in bed for ages. I asked him what he was doing and he said he had a bad back. So I got up and got dressed, then went downstairs. As soon as I got in the living room he flounced out shouting, 'I think you owe me an apology.'

'What for?'

'You know what for.' (Pause) 'Look in your bag.'

I did. And there, right on the top, was the £20. My immediate thought was that he'd planted it there because I wouldn't believe him the night before. Hence the unusual getting up early (he'd not been able to plant it before because the bag had been in the living room and I'd been last to bed). But I couldn't be sure. So I did apologise.

But then a while later I noticed that 5 of the pound coins had gone missing. I said nothing.

He's back working now, and so I keep my money safely. It turns out he owes loads of rent and council tax, and the landlord wants him out at the end of his lease - a little harsh as while he was out of work he was helping around the estate for free. But if he thinks I am going to let that dog back here, he's sorely mistaken!

Last weekend was really nice again, and we get on so well. I try not to notice if he spends his money on crap and scrounges the odd pound off me. And when he has money, he does spend it on me liberally. In future I'm definitely not going to feel guilty about taking advantage if that!