Alone in London

When she first moved to London everyone told her what a vibrant city it was and how there was so much fun to be had. They also told her how she would have the time of her life, fall in love, start again. As a girl in her mid twenties, the prospect of a new life thrilled Katie. She had not had much of a life to this point. Many of her teenage years were spent caring for a sick mother, who had been in and out of hospital with a range of illnesses. It was finally pancreatic cancer that killed her though and Katie was ready for a change. All of the time she had spent nursing her dying mother meant that Katie had not had much of a life to this point. She had a few friends from school, but since school ended and over the final period of her mother’s decline, Katie had barely kept in touch. Then, six months after her mother had passed, she received an email from one such friend, who had only just heard the news of her mother’s passing and had reached out, offering Katie the chance for a break away. Lincoln had always been sort of close. He was the type of guy that hung with a group of girls and stored away their confided secrets, and although she hadn’t seen or heard from him in over two years, he obviously still had a soft spot for her. So, when his email came, it was with great relief to Katie. Without even thinking twice, Katie began to search for plane tickets to London. When she found suitable tickets, she emailed Lincoln back just to make sure he was genuinely offering her a place to stay. Within minutes he replied, stating that he would be thrilled to have her. And with that, Katie booked her flights in the hopes that this change would bring about the life she had been longing for. 

Lincoln, the ever gracious host, did his best to show Katie the sights. She instantly fell in love with the city and dreaded returning home. Confessing this to Lincoln, prompted him to ask at his work as to whether or not anyone had something going for a bright young girl. He managed to find her a job as a research assistant in his office and so Katie decided to stay. Initially, she spent weeks sleeping on Lincoln’s couch but then one day Lincoln came home announcing that he was being sent to the company’s office in Spain for six months and so he decided to sublet his room to Katie, which should give her enough time to find her own place on his return. Katie agreed apprehensively. She was happy to have such a lovely apartment, albeit small, in which to reside, but she was worried as to what she would do in London without Lincoln. He had been her lifeline in the city. He took her places and introduced her to people. She barely made it around without her A-Z, which she carried everywhere in her coat pocket. Lincoln convinced her to look on it as an adventure and assured her that with work and sightseeing, she would be sure to make new friends in no time. Convinced by his confident stance, Katie decided to give it a go.

Standing on the tube platform made her feel uneasy. The ever growing crowd amassed closer and closer together. She watched one tube arrive and felt the crush of the crowd pushing her towards the doors of the already overfilled train. Straining to contain the hoard, the doors slowly closed and the tube moved away, leaving her teetering over the yellow line. Behind her she could hear the constant shuffling of feet and quiet music coming from nearby headphones. It was rare to hear voices down on the platform, or in the tube itself for that matter. Down the tunnel she could hear the distant rattle of the tube growing ever and she could feel the anticipation of the push coming from behind her. She envisaged herself being knocked onto the track and wondered whether anyone on the platform would help or even notice her fall. Then the train arrived and the push started even before the doors opened. She grabbed the bright yellow pole as she squeezed into the already packed train and let the crowd push her further and further in. A handful of people attempted to squeeze their way past in a desperate attempt to exit the train before the doors closed again. And there she stood, only just able to reach a pole for support as the train lurched forward. 

Not one person made eye contact with another. Each person had their eyes down reading books, the Metro paper or staring at the back of the person in front of them. And this wasn’t because of the crowd. Katie had noticed that it was always like that here. No one ever just smiled at others on the tube. No one just struck up a conversation with a stranger. Everyone just got on and minded their own business and got off again, if they could. Finally, the tube arrived at her stop and she pushed with all her might to get through the crowd. People shuffled aside where they could and she pushed through the incoming hordes until she was free and could breathe again. 

Taking the elevator to the street, she went about her walk to work. She loved the history of London and staring at all the buildings. Often, in lunch breaks, she would sit on a bench and wonder wild thoughts about the people who had lived in this city hundreds of years before. It helped to pass the time until she could head back in and finish her work for the day. She really liked her job and she had hoped that it would help her make friends, but she often found that she spent hours in the basement, trawling through old case files, pouring over text books or searching the Internet. She found she was so busy that she really didn’t have much time to strike up much of a conversation with anyone. Besides this, the people who worked down in the basement research floor weren’t particularly people she would want to build a friendship with. There was her boss, Garry, an older greying Indian man who didn’t like to talk about personal matters and kept his conversations strictly about the job at hand. There was Joan, who reminded her of an old aunt. She enjoyed a chat, but had an opinion about everything and often her opinions clashed with Katie’s. Out of politeness and not wanting to make waves, Katie just held her breath, smiled and nodded. There was another young guy, Ben, who didn’t work in the research department but who always dropped in with requests and who took information upstairs. Katie found him interesting and kind of cute. She was quite nervous to talk to him though and every time a conversation began between the two of them, she would find herself tripping over her words. This made her feel that she was constantly making a fool of herself. She wondered why making a friend here had to be so hard. 

In emails checking in on her and his apartment, Lincoln suggested she try a class or something fun like that. She searched online for a book group and found plenty of online ones but none where they met in person. She saw the local pub had a Tuesday night salsa dance class and she thought about joining that, but then she remembered her two left feet and decided that was a bad idea. She had been longing to try a local Italian restaurant, but she didn’t feel brave enough to sit alone in a restaurant. And so, she found she spent every evening and weekend on her own. Sometimes, she would walk round the Commons. She watched groups of friends having picnics, lovers making out on the grass and children playing. She longed for someone to walk up and ask her if she was okay, if she wanted to join them, but no one ever did. Then, one crisp Autumn afternoon, while waking home across the green from the tube station, she realised she was being followed by a small white terrier. He yapped at her heels and began to jump up on her legs as she slowed to pat him.

“And who do you belong to?” she asked the dog, as if expecting him to reply. 

She looked around and in the distance she could see a young tall man walking towards her waving his arms. It sounded like he was yelling something. Finally, it became clear that he was yelling to stop. She bent down and picked up the yapping little dog who proceeded to lick her face. Eventually the young man made his way closer and she could see how handsome he was. She blushed as he got closer.

“There you are, you rascal!” he called out to the dog. “Oh, sorry, not you….Jiffy, my dog. I’m sure you’re not a rascal,” he laughed nervously and began to blush, realising that he sounded ridiculous. Of course he was talking to the dog. 

Katie laughed and was enamored by his Irish accent. She stared at him and then realised she may have stared too long when he asked her for the dog back.

“Oh...sorry, yes of course,” she replied handing the dog over and turning a bright shade of beetroot. 

“Ta,” he replied, taking the dog back. “You’re not from around here are you? Let me guess, you’re an Aussie,” he stated matter of factly. 

“Oh god no….good try though. I’m from New Zealand. And you’re Irish?” she asked.

“Yes! Well done on the accent. Actually, I should have known you weren’t an Aussie. You seem much too graceful for that. How long have you been in London?” he seemed genuinely interested in her answer. 

The two talked for about five minutes, in which time Katie discovered that his name was Cillian and that he too was fairly new to the city. He handed Katie a flyer and insisted she come along to his new play that was opening up next week at a nearby theatre. 

“Look, I’ll tell you now...it’s amateur theatre and really we aren’t all that good. But it was a great way to meet new people and I’m hoping that you might come along and you can give me your ‘review’ of the play over a drink afterwards. How does that sound?” he asked earnestly. 

Katie was drawn to the cheekiness of his face and the way he spoke. She was also desperate to make a go of things in London and meet new people. And so, she accepted his offer and made plans to come along to his play.

“Great, I’ll put your name on the door so you can get in for free. Promise me though, you will stick around for that drink afterwards. I’d love to hear more about New Zealand and yourself,” he smiled and waved as he walked away with Jiffy yapping in his arms. 

Perhaps, she thought, perhaps London isn’t so bad after all.