THREE YEARS LATER
Spring was i
in the air. I could feel it in the air, like a slight gust of wind that gently caressed my face as I walked down the street. The snow was melting on the sidewalks, and everywhere I looked, It looked like a little bit of colour was returning to the world.
“Don’t you just love it when the sun is out for an entire day?” Rachel asked beside me. We were walking hand–in- hand out of King’s Cross station, and the drone of thousands of people milling all around us was almost deafening. And yet, despite how loud and claustrophoble it felt, I’d never been happier.
“I’m just glad
glad we got back in one plece,” I said. “That train Hde was exhausting.‘
“Well, you’re the one who wanted us to come all the way back from Aberdeen in one day,” she said. “Honestly, I still don’t see why we couldn’t have stayed a little longer.
I merely shrugged, and adjusted my bag over my shoulder. I’d missed London, and it felt good to be back. We’d been away for three weeks, and I already felt homesick.
“I think we should stop for some tea,” Rachel said, turning to face me with those disarming eyes of hers. “The apartment is so far away, and I’m exhausted. Please?”
“Sure,” I replied, and we waved down a taxi and hopped in We’d been on the train for over seven hours, and my neck was starting to cramp up. But as we pulled onto the road and swept past several tall buildings, all my exhaustion was pushed to the very back of my mind.
I’d lived in London for three years now, and sometimes it still felt like I was seeing it for the first time. Everything looked so majestic and elegant, like the entire city was glaring at you over the nose. I still remembered the first time I saw the city up close, after landing at Heathrow with all my worldly possessions fitted in two suitcases, a million dollars in my bank account and absolutely no idea what I was going to do with my life. Rachel was waiting for me at the airport, and as soon as I saw her, I broke down in the middle of the terminal. I couldn’t stop myself, and I dropped on the floor and started to
w my eyes out. Rachel rushed to my side, and she wrapped her arms around me and we started to cry together.
“Oh, you poor thing,” she cried. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I allowed her to hold me, and I don’t know how long we remained like that. Eventually, we found our way out of the airport, and she drove us back to her apartment. Rather than talk about the horrible reality of my divorce, she decided to tell me about all the things she’d done in preparation for me moving in with her.
“I’ve prepared the upstairs bedroom for you,” she said as we pulled into traffic. “I prefer the downstairs one anyway. I’ve also spoken to some of my friends, and Charlie said he might be able to get you some interviews by next week. Once your visa is sorted, we’ll look at something more longterm, I told the girls about you, and we think it’s a good idea if you join our book club. We meet every Sunday afternoon at Hyde Park. We all agree that the best thing to do is to get you started on a routine right away, so you don’t have time to sit around and mope.”
“You didn’t have to do all that, Rach,” I said, turning to face her.
“Shut up,” she said, rolling her eyes. “What was I supposed to do when my friend called? It’s what I’m here for.”
As she said that, I felt a slight pang in my chest. Even though we had gone to college together, I was never as close to her as I wanted to be. It was always me and Emily, and Rachel was always left out. Even though she was our roommate, we rarely ever saw her. She was a history major, so we didn’t have any classes together. I always felt guilty whenever Emily and I would return to the apartment and talk about everything we got up to, and Rachel would just sit there and listen to us. She never said anything about it, but I knew she felt left out most times. And
+25 BONUS
Chapter Eighteen
