Focussing on the task in hand, Lucy realized that she needed to start the depilatory procedure a.s.a.p. As she got older the process seemed to get lengthier with the increasing amount of hair that seemed to sprout from ever more unexpected parts of her body. She plucked her eyebrows and then jumped in the shower, shaving any remaining hairs, including her bikini line. She was fed up with spending thirty quid every month on an excruciating Brazilian wax and hadn’t had time, frankly, to get around to it recently, so shaving would have to do.
She washed and conditioned her hair, lathered her whole body in foam burst shower gel and finally stepped out of the shower to rub her body down with a towel, spraying a mist of moisturizer over herself.
Having dried her hair and run her straighteners through the ends and especially through her fringe, she embarked on stage two: The Face. She primed, bronzed and buffed her skin before paying careful attention to her eyes, ringing them with smoky eyeliner and coating her lashes with mascara. Working her way methodically through her usual routine was extremely satisfying.
She dressed in black jeans and a bright blue silky top, carefully selected in Topshop on her lunch break yesterday to match the exact colour of her eyes. She flung her leather jacket around her shoulders, admiring the total effect of the makeover. She felt pleased with her reflection and smiled to herself as she sprayed her perfume generously in a cloud in front of her, stepping through it to ensure an even coating.
Checking the time, she saw the clock had just gone past eleven so she grabbed her handbag, stuffing in some emergency make-up along with her mobile. As she gave the flat a final once-over, she noticed a magazine lying open on the sofa at an article entitled ‘How to win your man.’ Squealing with embarrassment at the thought of Alex seeing that later, she quickly shoved it on the shelf before closing the front door behind her, clattering down the stairs in her heeled boots out on to Mayfield Road.
Lucy took the District line all the way to Tower Hill, one of the best sightseeing spots in the city, with the mystic old Tower of London to the right and the famous Tower Bridge rearing majestically out over the Thames to the left. She walked under the pathway linking the Tower to St Katherine’s Docks behind her, sidestepping bundles of tourists and their cameras as she made her way to Tower Bridge. As she reached the south side of the river and headed to Borough Market, she phoned Alex to find out where he was. He tried to explain his whereabouts but the hordes of people made it virtually impossible to pin him down. They played a game of hide-and-seek trying to locate each other amidst the crowds. Eventually catching sight of him by a little cafe selling macaroons and hot chocolate, she headed towards him.
‘Hi!’ she said.
‘Hello there!’ said Alex, kissing her on the lips, sending a thrill of shivers down her spine, and handing her a raspberry macaroon the size of a small Frisbee.
‘Trust me,’ he said, ‘they are amazing! You have to try one.’
‘Pudding before lunch… I see!’ laughed Lucy. Obliging, she bit into the crumbly sweetness, the gooey middle dissolving on her tongue, sharp with the flavour of raspberries.
‘Mmmm, you’re right. That is heavenly!’ Lucy said, offering him a bite. ‘It’s not the best weather today, sadly,’ she complained, looking up at the dull sky.
‘I know, but apparently it’s going to brighten up later,’ said Alex optimistically.
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t rain, there isn’t much cover around here,’ said Lucy, steering him into the market. ‘Have you been here before?’ she asked.
‘A few times,’ said Alex. ‘I don’t know why I don’t come here more often to be honest.’
‘It’s a real treasure,’ said Lucy. ‘Though it’s slightly ruined by the tourists nowadays. And the prices are not exactly cheap!’ she laughed as she picked up a stick of dried salami that cost £13.99.
‘Wow!’ said Alex. ‘That better be some seriously good sausage!’
There were hundreds of stalls bustling with activity, selling freshly made produce and huge vats of hot food, from chorizo and prawn paella to hoi sin duck noodles. They marvelled at all the mouth-watering dishes, their senses inundated by the tantalizing aromas pervading the air.
‘Where is this burger stall?’ asked Alex.
‘It’s somewhere around here,’ replied Lucy, trying to remember which of the many twists and turns would lead them to the correct place.
‘Aha!’ said Alex, catching sight of the burger van.
‘Here we are!’ said Lucy, pleased they had managed to find it after a momentary panic that it was no longer there.
‘I’m never going to be able to choose!’ moaned Alex as he surveyed the options chalked up on the blackboard next to the van.
After several minutes of indecision, they ordered their lunch and then found an old stone wall to perch on while they devoured it, licking their fingers and laughing at their unsightly table manners.
‘God, you are right… this is hands down the best burger I have ever had!’ laughed Alex, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
‘I told you!’ said Lucy mid mouthful. ‘Best burgers in London.’
When they had finished their lunch they pottered around the market. Lucy bought a bag of fudge in all different flavours, from cinnamon to chilli peppers, and they aimed for the Thames Path, heading back over the bridge to the Tower of London, taking it in turns to choose a piece of fudge and guess at the flavour as they walked.
‘I think the Tower of London has to be one of my favourite buildings,’ said Alex. ‘I love the history.’
‘I still remember going to visit the crown jewels with my granny when I was little,’ said Lucy. ‘I loved all the Beefeaters in their traditional dress.’
‘It’s a seriously random nickname, “Beefeater”,’ mused Alex.
‘True. I wonder where it came from,’ added Lucy as they neared the ancient landmark.
When they reached the side of the Tower overlooking the dry moat, Lucy and Alex gasped in unison. A sweeping display of red poppies ebbed from one of the castle windows like blood seeping thickly from a wound. Artists were hard at work installing what appeared to be a war memorial.
‘What is going on?’ asked Alex.
‘I’ve got no idea…’ said Lucy. ‘It’s beautiful!’ She whipped out her iPhone and googled it to find out what was happening. ‘Oh my goodness… how amazing. This is in memory of the First World War, they are going to fill the moat with ceramic poppies. Each poppy represents a soldier whose life was lost.’
‘How incredible,’ said Alex.
‘There are going to be nearly 900,000 poppies altogether.’
‘Unbelievable,’ said Alex. ‘There must be several thousand already… it will be breathtaking when it is finished.’
It was a sobering sight; each life represented by one hand-crafted, lovingly made poppy, standing in the grass and nestling against the golden bricks. Lucy was moved to tears at the thought of the sacrifice they symbolized. Alex stood behind her and she allowed herself to lean back into him, feeling the comfort of his presence. They stayed there in quiet contemplation as they watched the artists work, before moving further along the moat. They shared stories about their grandparents and what they had done in the war. Lucy’s paternal grandmother had worked at Bletchley Park on the Enigma machines, something she was extremely proud of. Alex’s grandfather had flown in the air force and had sadly lost his life at the age of twenty-eight when his plane was shot down, making the memorial even more poignant for him.
Afterwards Lucy took Alex to a nearby church. ‘This is called All Hallows,’ she said. ‘It’s the oldest church in the City of London.’
‘It’s lovely,’ said Alex, wondering around the church and admiring the stained glass windows, the paintings and statues that lined the walls.
‘Alex, come over her,’ said Lucy, beckoning him to a little staircase at the back of the church.
‘What’s down here?’ he asked.
‘There’s a secret un
derground chapel in the crypt,’ said Lucy as they climbed down the staircase to find a little museum crammed full of ancient artefacts. Alex was fascinated as he explored the church, imagining all the beheaded bodies from the Tower that were brought here awaiting burial to be cared for by the clergy.
Blinking as they made their way back into daylight, the sun pushing through the clouds, Lucy asked, ‘What would you like to do now?’
‘How about the South Bank?’ suggested Alex, so they looped back over Southwark Bridge and walked along the pathway overlooking the river. It was buzzing with both Londoners and tourists enjoying the buskers and book stalls, the open-air bars and the many street entertainers. They pottered around the various stalls, stopping to laugh at the performers. They sat for a while on a bench overlooking the river, just as the sun made an appearance through a gap in the clouds. The city sparkled under the rays of light and Lucy felt her spirits soar.
‘I don’t know about you,’ said Alex, ‘but all this walking has made me extremely thirsty.’
‘I could murder a glass of wine!’ agreed Lucy.
‘Follow me,’ said Alex. ‘I’ve got just the place in mind.’
They crossed the river at Embankment and settled in the underground vaults of a famous wine bar. A long-established watering hole for the city, each little table was nestled in a small candlelit cavern; it was a very romantic spot. Alex ordered them a bottle of red of a particularly good vintage and they sat there chatting, slowly getting drunk whilst nibbling on a platter of cheese.
After the second bottle, they found themselves leaning close together as they talked, their heads almost touching. With no inhibitions left, Alex’s hand had found a resting place on Lucy’s thigh. Normally at this point she would have started to worry about whether he thought her thighs were fat, but not tonight. She felt so comfortable in his presence that she just didn’t care. He moved his hand ever so slightly further up her leg, igniting a flame of desire so powerful in Lucy that it left her breathless. He bent to kiss her and whispered in her ear, ‘I think we had better get out of here, don’t you?’
Lucy nodded, unable to speak.
Alex paid the bill and they made their way out onto Villiers Street, heading up to the main road to flag a taxi.
In the back of the black cab, they sat pressed up close to each other; Alex’s hand remained firmly on her thigh. As the taxi pulled up outside her house, she fumbled in her bag for her keys, her hands unsteady. Alex paid the taxi driver and followed her up the steps, admiring her house from the outside as he did so. She led him up the three flights of stairs and groped at the lock, scrabbling with her keys to open it, his body pressing closely behind her as she did so. As the door sprang open, she stepped in, feeling suddenly nervous, as though she had forgotten what to do next. She mumbled something about ‘Home, sweet, home,’ and laughed nervously.
‘Would you like another glass of wine?’ she asked.
Alex shut the door behind him, slowly taking off his coat. He said, ‘No, I don’t want a glass of wine, thank you.’
He was so handsome standing there, such a huge presence in her small flat, she felt quite overwhelmed at the sight of him. She took off her jacket and her bag as he stood there, watching her, his eyes dark and gleaming.
Just as she thought she would burst with longing, he crossed the room and took her in his arms, kissing her passionately, no longer holding back, showing her exactly how much he wanted her. She lay on the sofa feeling the heavy weight of him on top of her, her body fizzing and tingling with longing. He took off her silk shirt and kissed her neck, trailing kisses along her collarbone, making her squirm underneath him. He stroked her cheeks and ran his fingers through her hair. She groaned with pleasure as he moved his attention to the top of her jeans, unbuttoning them and sliding them over her hips, continuing with his slow, exquisite torture. They lost themselves in each other, moving in perfect synchronicity, before collapsing in an exhausted, sweaty heap, their limbs tangled.
‘That was amazing,’ Alex said afterwards, kissing her tenderly on the lips.
Lucy grinned, stretching luxuriously, ‘Yes, it most definitely was!’
Alex said, ‘I hope you haven’t got any plans tomorrow, because I am not letting you leave until we have done that again, and again… and again… and again…’
Lucy laughed and said nonchalantly, ‘Oh well, if we must…’ receiving a playful nudge from Alex, before taking his hand and leading him into her bedroom.
Chapter Ten
As the summer passed by, Alex and Lucy moved from a couple in the early stages of dating to boyfriend and girlfriend; a real couple in a real relationship. Lucy had to stop and pinch herself at times. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening to her, and what was more, that she had bagged herself a gorgeous, eligible lawyer, not someone like Jack with the myriad of complications and baggage that would have come with him. And Alex was a proper catch! Even more surprising to Lucy, and to Lettie and Simon, whose eyebrows seemed permanently wedged up somewhere near their hairline these days, Alex was totally smitten with Lucy. He was the one who had done the majority of the pursuing, he was the one who had asked her out, chased her and brought up the conversation of their exclusivity. He had fallen hook, line and sinker for Lucy and she just couldn’t believe her luck. In fact, she had almost been wary at first, thinking that his keenness was a bit strange, but eventually she had accepted it. As unbelievable as it might seem to her, this insanely attractive, available man had chosen her, of all the girls that he could have picked, and she accepted that, relaxing into their relationship as though she had never been apart from him. They formed new routines and traditions, found new places together, and built up a steady stream of memories and shared experiences, the building blocks of a long-lasting partnership. Lucy felt so lucky to be in a relationship that she never questioned it if things felt as though they were running less than smoothly. She put up with any vices: the snoring, the rather short temper, Alex’s tendency to see the world as a glass half empty rather than her glass half full approach to life. She was determined to focus only on the positives and to embrace the relationship in full. She knew that hard work was the key to success and she was prepared to do anything to make this new relationship work, to make it last the distance.
Even better, now that she was taken, Jack had begun to accept the fact that she was in a relationship and had toned down his behaviour towards her accordingly. He still flirted with her, and he made it perfectly clear that the offer of dinner or a drink was there if she wanted it, but that was all. She had made it clear that she was not interested and as her feelings for Alex had developed, her interest in Jack had finally begun to wane. She was relieved. Being attracted to a married man was the last thing she needed. She refused to be the kind of woman who broke up a family.
In August Lucy introduced Alex to her grandmother, Annie. Ginny’s mother had been brought up in Monmouthshire, near Wales, but she had adopted the mantle of a Londoner in her twenties, having moved to the capital with her husband. Nowadays, she wouldn’t live anywhere outside Chelsea, the erstwhile bohemian centre of the city. She lived in a tiny artist’s studio, flowers blooming everywhere and paintings lining the walls from top to bottom. Alex and Lucy picked her up from the studio; they were going to the Chelsea Physic Garden and had decided to collect Annie en route. Lucy was glad that she had managed to persuade Alex to come. At the last minute he had said that he wasn’t sure he felt up to it, that he quite fancied a quiet night in by himself. Lucy had known how much Annie was looking forward to meeting him and had used all her powers of persuasion to get him to change his mind.
‘Granny, I’d like to introduce you to Alex,’ said Lucy.
‘Very pleased to meet you, my dear,’ said Annie, offering him her hand as she eyed him up and down. She had very high standards when it came to potential suitors for her granddaughter and Lucy could see she was sizing him up.
‘It’s lovely to meet you,’ said Alex as they wa
ited for Annie to lock the house before setting off towards the river.
‘Have you ever been to the Physic Garden before?’ asked Annie. ‘I’m a member there and I’ve been going for years. It’s quite charming!’
‘I’m afraid not,’ said Alex. ‘But I’m very much looking forward to seeing it this evening.’ Lucy was grateful that now that he had decided to come he was on his best behaviour. He wasn’t withdrawn or sullen and this was a huge relief to Lucy. She knew her grandmother would have picked up on it instantly.
‘Do you go there often?’ asked Lucy. ‘It’s been a while since I heard you mention it.’
‘Well I used to go with my friend Delilah, but since she moved into the nursing home I haven’t been going nearly so often. I’m so glad you are coming with me today.’
They walked slowly, arm in arm, through the streets of Chelsea. Annie made polite conversation with Alex, enquiring after his family and asking him about work. Inside the Physic Garden, a little walled garden tucked behind the Thames, Annie took great pleasure in sharing her expertise with Lucy and Alex as they wandered around the flower beds.
‘Do you know this garden was founded in the seventeenth century?’ asked Annie. ‘It was used by apothecaries to study the medicinal qualities of plants, hence the name.’
‘How fascinating!’ said Alex as they looked at the plants, carefully labelled with the ailments that they were used to treat. Despite his earlier reluctance to join them, he seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. She hoped that he was glad that he had made the effort to come and she wondered where his earlier reluctance may have stemmed from. Could it have been nerves? Or worse, disinterest? She hoped he was just genuinely tired and had fancied a night in.
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