CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER
TWO
T
he streets of London were cramped and wet. At first, walking down them on her way to her new apartment, or 'flat' as they called it here, reminded Sofia a little of New York, but with shorter buildings and funnier looking cars all driving the wrong direction. By the second day, however, she decided they were more like the streets of Boston, a city that had been built without taking cars and traffic into consideration.
The buildings were old and many were made of stone. Whole blocks were attached with no alley in between, though they were completely separate and unique buildings on the inside. Names of places were familiar to her; Fleet Street, Picadilly, Drury Lane, Waterloo, Trafalgar Square, and London Bridge to name a few. But that's where the familiarity ended. Everything else was absolutely new.
She had rented a one-bedroom flat several blocks away from the campus and without a view of the Thames River. This was an economic choice and satisfied her pragmatic personality. She would not be spending much time in her flat, so there was no need to worry too much about what she would see out her window.
By some miracle of miracles one of the few letters she had sent out during the last semester of school had made it through whatever labyrinth necessary to garner a 'yes' response and she was starting her career as a Research Assistant in the Natural and Mathematical Sciences Department at King's College London. It sounded impressive, because it was. King's was one of the most prestigious institutions in England. And her department was located at the Strand campus in the heart of London.
Sofia had yet to lay eyes on the campus, however. Partly because she wanted to spend her first week in London moving into her flat, and partly because she was too nervous to go there yet. As the newbie at the university, Sofia felt a lot of apprehension about her first day at work. She chose not to step foot anywhere near the place until it was absolutely necessary.
She had found her flat with the help of a kind administrative assistant at the university and some serious online searching. It was a one bedroom, about 600 square feet. The living area had a window overlooking the street on one end and a small kitchenette on the other. Hardwood floors in that room stretched into the tiny bedroom, which she was surprised to find didn't have a closet. Instead there was a small wardrobe, just like she'd seen in movies.
"Charming," she told Luna who was touring the place with her via cell phone on her first day there. "But where will I put my clothes?" She turned her cell camera so Luna could see the wardrobe.
Luna chuckled on the other end of the phone. "That looks like it will barely fit all of your shoes!"
The hardly there bathroom off the bedroom consisted of a toilet, a half-sized sink with what she considered a travel sized mirror hanging above it, and a small shower. When Luna saw the images she wondered out loud how Sofia would do her hair and makeup in this diminutive space.
"I'll manage," Sofia told her. So thankful to have a job, and a place to sleep while she went to her job, Sofia was feeling brave about her new life. She would learn to live with England's apparent love of small spaces.
The flat had come furnished. A faded blue plaid sofa and a drab bookshelf in the living area, a round bistro sized table with two wooden chairs next to the kitchenette, and a double bed, which was barely bigger than a twin size bed back home, wedged into the bedroom, were provided at no extra fee. What the apartment lacked in pizazz it made up for in price, not to mention the fact that it was clean and seemed sturdy and safe. She was located on the second floor of a four-story building. There was no elevator. This would give her better leg muscles, she told herself. There was also no air conditioning. Arriving mid-August, that was the only part of the deal that was worrisome.
Though furnished, the flat did not come with pots and pans or dishes for the kitchenette, nor bedding for the bed, nor rugs for the hardwood floor. Sofia spent several of her first days in London hunting down little shops in the area where she could purchase some of these items. She had no car, which was fine because she did not want the extra stress of trying to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road. She walked everywhere she went and enjoyed getting to know the city a little. After a few days of wandering and poking her nose into every nearby shop, Sofia found plenty of house warming items to lug back to her building and up two flights of stairs.
She opted for a bright and quirky look to keep her mood up, in case she started feeling too homesick. New yellow curtains replaced the old brown ones, a yellow rug in front of the couch, and a yellow and blue striped throw finished off her living room. For her tiny kitchenette she found a bright blue tablecloth and a yellow vase for the table. She also found darling yellow and white checked dishes at a second hand place. They were on sale because there were only enough place settings for four. Sofia bought them, figuring it was unlikely she could ever fit more than three other people in her flat anyway.
She chose blue and white as the color scheme in her bedroom. She bought a blue and white floral comforter, blue curtains, and two small blue and white rag style rugs. She placed one rug on the side of her bed where she stood when she got up each morning and one on the floor of the tiny bathroom. Then she hung blue and white towels and washcloths in the bathroom. Then she was done. Totally decorated, totally organized, with days and days to spare before she started her job.
On the third day at her new place she was surprised to hear a sharp knock on the door. She opened it to a deliveryman with a huge bouquet of flowers from Lord and Lady MacBrody, or Michael and Tawnyetta as she knew them. The flowers took up every bit of space on her small kitchen table, but they were beautiful. With the flowers came a handwritten note from Tawnyetta.
‘So wonderful to know you're on our side of the pond now! We'll be down to visit you as soon as we can get away. Love, Tawnyetta and Michael’
As the days ticked off before her first day of work, the flowers on her table bloomed then started to wither. Still, she enjoyed them each morning. Looking at them made her feel just a little less lonesome. At least she had one friend in the same country where she lived.
Though her flat had no view to speak of, she was just blocks away from the Thames. She took a daily stroll to the river and found the way the sky opened up as she got closer and closer to the water exhilarating. Tall, ornate lamp posts with golden fish statues bigger than her head placed decoratively around the base were on every street corner. The Thames itself was wider and more industrial than she had imagined it would be. Still, it had a tree lined pathway that stretched along the edge. Benches were placed facing the river so she could look out over the water and watch the ships go by. Or the people.
She liked London. She liked her new flat, and the river, and the neighborhood.
"I've fallen in love with tea and biscuits," she told Bridget when she called one afternoon to see how Sofia was fairing.
"Oh, Fifi," Bridget giggled. "You sound so British already!"
One of Sofia's favorite discoveries was a narrow, unassuming bookstore called The Red Lion Bookshop, a sliver of a building nestled between a bank and another office building. Those buildings looked as if they'd been built within the past 50 years, while The Red Lion Bookshop looked as if it had been zapped into the alley between them by an old wizard who wanted to inject a sense of ancient whimsy into the space.
Narrow didn't quite describe this bookshop. Once inside there was just enough room for two people to pass...almost. The shop was crooked, too. The floor sloped to the right at the entrance then slowly rolled underfoot until it was sloping decidedly more to the left at the back of the shop. A tilted staircase led precariously up to a second then a third floor. Despite the obvious violation of modern day building codes, the tight and twisted qualities only added to The Red Lion's charm.
That's where she had gone on the Friday before she was to start her job. She returned happily from The Red Lion with an armful of new and used books to stack on her empty bookshelf. Just as she deposited her purse on the couch and the books in a neat line on the top shelf, there was a knock on her front door.
Sofia glanced at the bouquet of flowers on her kitchen table. It couldn't be another delivery from Tawnyetta. She stepped to the door, pulled it open, and was completely surprised at who she found on the other side.