In 2002, Sheema was enjoying single life, working for the Royal Mail and living with her best friend in a flatshare in Camberwell in south London. One October day, she met a friend for a drink after the gym. “She told me she was meeting her boyfriend and one of his friends later, and said that if I came along they’d likely buy us loads of drinks.” Still in her gym kit, Sheema wasn’t sure she fancied it but “she was quite convincing, so we ended up at a pub near Clapham Common”.
After a few drinks, Sheema excused herself to go to the bathroom. “The queue for the women’s toilet was going on for ever,” she says. To save time, she nipped into the men’s loos next door. “A bouncer came and told me I couldn’t be in there. As he was rushing me out, I asked him to show me the rules.” That’s when she bumped into Alfred. “He came up to me and said ‘There are no rules!’” she says with a laugh. “Straight away I noticed he was very much my type.”
