Chapter 3: A Day in London

“Should we go check on the other girls?” Natalie asks while she sips an espresso. She tilts her head back to let the sun spill across her face. She doesn’t look like she has any intention of getting up any time soon.

“We probably should. It looks like it’s going to rain soon and we still need to book our seats on the tour bus,” I check my phone, looking at the time—almost 10 am. Natalie wanted to wake up early and get an espresso from the cute café we passed on our way to the Airbnb we rented.

“Sh*t,” Natalie says when a giant raindrop smacks her right on the cheek. “Yeah, okay, time to go. Hey, did you hear? There’s some runaway prince that’s supposedly somewhere in the UK.”

“‘Runaway prince’?” I laugh then toss a couple of bills on the table, enough to cover both of our drinks and a little extra.

“Yeah! Ooo, maybe it was that sexy guy at the airport?” Natalie fantasizes as we walk arm-in-arm back to our place. We’re huddled close together under an umbrella we grabbed before we left this morning.

“I doubt it. Wouldn’t a prince have security and I don’t know, lots of people swarming him?” I knock the umbrella against the wall before we step inside the warm house.

“Not necessarily. I mean they did say ‘runaway’ so he could be keeping his identity on the down low,” Natalie looks thrilled with the idea but I shake my head.

“You read way too many books. Or watch too many movies. Or both.” I shoot her a look and she rolls her eyes at me.

“This place is literally a fairy tale, so let me dream,” Natalie sticks her tongue out at me and then laughs, making me laugh as well.

“Fine, fine,” I look around the empty kitchen and wonder if Natalie and Jackie are even awake yet. “Ladies! Time to go!”

“No need to shout, we’re right here,” Margot comes hopping down the stairs with a much slower and sleepy-looking Jackie right behind her.

“Ready for the tour?” I ask as the rain gets loud enough to be heard coming down on the roof. We all shuffle out the door and are able to get to the tube before the rain really comes down hard. When we make it to our stop, we see our tour bus beginning to load so we jog to join the line.

“Why did we book a tour bus with an open top when we knew it was going to rain?’ Jackie grumbles from under her umbrella. She also has her rain jacket on with her hood up and the strings pulled tightly around her face. I huddle against her, sharing the umbrella. Hugging my purse to my chest to keep it dry. “Didn’t we book the tour to stay out of the rain?”

“We could always go down a level,” Margot shouts over the wind and I am about to agree but Natalie laughs in response.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Natalie is sitting in her rain jacket but no umbrella, clearly enjoying the rainy weather. The rain seems to be clearing a bit but it did downpour on us for a few seconds before the driver brought us under a covered area. We can barely hear the guide’s voice crackling through the speakers but London is beautiful even in this weather. After a few stops, we move to the covered part of the bus to dry off and get warmed up.

“Can we go drink now?” A miserable Jackie asks, looking around at all of us. “We already saw the Eiffel Tower and that old clock thing and some other things, I think that’s enough for today.”

“First of all, we definitely did not see the Eiffel Tower and that ‘old clock thing’ was Big Ben but yeah, I’m starting to get hungry,” I rub my rumbling stomach, and Margot nods in agreement.

“I’m hungry too. At the next stop, let’s get off and find a place to get some food and beverages,” Natalie agrees. “I think I saw one on the map..” Natalie trails off as she messes with her phone trying to find a place on the map.

“Did you find one? We’re coming up to our next stop.” Margot looks out the window as the bus slows down. “I don’t see anything.”

“Found it!” Natalie shouts triumphantly, causing other bus passengers to turn and stare at our group-not for the first time today. “Let’s go!” Natalie says before jumping out of her seat and jostling her way to the front of the bus. The rest of us wait patiently for other passengers to get off to see the next sight before we depart as well.

Natalie is waiting for us under a little overhang, to stay out of the rain. We join her under and crowd around her phone.

“Where are we going?” I ask, looking out at the darkening sky filling with heavy clouds.

“It’s just on the other side of this block,” Natalie gestures in a direction then takes off with us following right behind her, running from awning to awning to try to stay dry.

We see the pub up ahead and run into it before we can get soaked even further. We burst through the door laughing and drop our umbrella’s in the holder near the door. Natalie goes to the bar while the rest of us find a booth across the pub.

“Do they even have food here?” This is my immediate question when we get inside and the place looks less than appealing. I shrug off my raincoat and hang it on the edge of the booth.

“They do,” Natalie says when she joins us at the table, she sets four pints of beer on the table. Both Jackie and I make a face at the drinks, neither of us enjoys beer. “What? I asked for the house specialty, this is what he gave me. Also, here,” she hands me an old menu and I don’t protest, my stomach grumbling in encouragement. “But you do have to go to the bar to order anything.”

I groan but stand up and make my way over to the bar. I take a seat on one of the stools and look over the menu a few seconds before the bartender approaches me and asks if he can get anything for me. I place a simple order and the bartender disappears to tell the kitchen or make them himself, I’m not sure. I swivel in the stool and look out around the pub, it’s starting to fill up and the heat is quickly warming me up and drying me off.

“Wait, is that the guy from the airport?” Natalie slides up next to me and unsubtly points at one guy amongst the group of them and I stare at him for a few seconds before he looks up and smiles at me.

“Yeah, that’s him,” I say as his buddies nudge him and he starts to walk toward us. “Why is he walking toward us?”

“You’re about to find out,” Natalie whispers and tries to stifle a grin while slowly distancing herself and going back to the booth before he gets to us.