One fine afternoon I was standing in Piccadilly Circus, just in front of Swan and Edgar's where the buses stopped. I remembered reading “Young and Enchanted” by Hugh Walpole and it reminded me of the opening scene of the book.
It was cold as fuck. The wind was freezing. There was no snow yet, and I felt betrayed. No white December yet.
This time I was heading to Matt’s birthday party.
I know what you’re thinking.
-Annie you can’t possibly go to that party! I thought you hated the Houben family!
but…
Andreina had convinced me to join her. Peter was picking me up from Picadilly to head to Matt’s house outside London. I knew we were going to arrive late because as every fucking Friday: London was busy. The only thing, in particular, that had me without worrying too much was the fact that Tom was in a photoshoot in Germany. There was not going to be any drama. Thanks fuck for that.
We arrived at Matt’s place and we gave him some gin as a birthday present. Matt was a Gin person so we expected him to like it. I had another gift for him. I had bought him a nice watch. My friends got wasted that night so I had to drive at the end of the party. I no longer consumed alcohol so Peter put me in charge of driving.
What a bad choice.
The car slid on thin ice and the car in the opposite road crashed against us.
I was mortified. The police were going to arrive and they were going to test us all for alcohol. I hadn’t drunk anything but the owner of the car was. Maybe this was my stain in my perfect record?
I left the car coatless. I check the damage: both cars are fine. A man leaves the other car and approaches the front. It is from Tom. He hadn’t shaved in a while and he looked like he had lost weight. It was worse than I imagined. He didn’t recognise me in the darkness.
“You’re so lucky, so fuucking lucky,” he says with a laugh. Then looked at me. “Annie?” I gave him a tiny smile. “I didn’t know you could drive…” “Aren’t you freezing?”
Soon enough Peter leaves the car. He puts his coat in my shoulders.
“Nutting happened alright. Let’s go home Ann’s” said Peter. He then looked at Tom.
“Thomas Houben! My mate…” he yelled, he then hugged him deeply. “I thought you were out of the country…”
“I was just going back home. Nice to see you,” said Tom. I walked towards the car. Nothing happened. This was no fate. I entered the car, I tried to turn the engine and…nothing. I saw Andreina asleep in the back seat. I sighed. FUCK.
I left the car again.
“Could you…I don’t know…fix it,” I said. It was 2 am. I wanted to go home. I was so done with everything, and now I had to see homeless-looking Tom.
We tried for thirty minutes or so but nothing worked. The car needed a crane or something. Together we moved the car out of the highway to the side. It was too early in the morning for anybody to rescue us so the only choice we had was to return to London with Tom.
I went to bed at five in the morning and tried not to think of my enemy again. The next morning I felt tired, it was 11 am and I didn’t have anything planned. As now and then I called my mother and we had a long conversation about Tom. My mother didn’t like him, and we had decided never to speak of that name. It seemed impossible now that he had re-entered my life by accident. However, 2 months were no longer enough for me to forget what he had done to our relationship.
After breakfast, my neighbour’s window was wide open. I soon expected Mark with his rosy cheeks to appear and make my day. This time Mark was wearing a fancy night-gown and he was holding some gardening tools. The dug out the dead plants. Some of the dirt fell to the ground below.
“Hello!” I said. I am not sure why but I was happy to see him. Probably it was because before he appeared I was keen to grab on a bottle of vodka and forget about my encounter with the demon. I felt I was going crazy. Mark blushed instantly as he heard my voice. He put the tools down and he looked straight at me.
“Wow, I didn’t expect to see you. It’s a pleasure.” He said. I smiled broadly.
“How are you, Doctor…?” I said with a wink. Mark’s ears went red and he smiled nervously.
“Call me Mark, please. No need for the doctor…today is my free day. Tomorrow I am back to work!” he said with a hint of excitement.
I wondered immediately what were his “free day” plans, he seemed excited to go back but…he liked resting too? My free day would be partying, drinking and…I doubt Mark is the kind of person who does that.
“Anything fancy planned for today? A party? Going to the pub?” Mark’s face turns into a bright look. He then starts laughing.
“Laundry. That’s my plan,” he said. I start laughing too. He then calmed down. “Well, I might read some books, or…go out. My cousin William, a very festive lad…sorry. Am I boring you?” I had gotten distracted with people in the street. I look back at him immediately.
I blushed. “No, no! Sorry, low attention span…please continue!”
“Great. My friends always say I rumble…Yes. William. He has a painting exposition. I think that is it. Oh, that’s my phone, I have to go now…” Mark started walking back inside his apartment and I almost threw myself through the window to him.
“WAIT!, WAIT!” did I yell? Yes. I did. Mark blushed and turned back. The phone kept ringing in the background. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Of course! I am sorry. Go ahead miss.” said Mark.
“mmm…well…I…Oh…” I kept quiet thinking of my next move, I was so fucking nervous. Why the hell was I nervous with Mark Grant? “Galleries are fun in a group. I will come with you if you want…that’s it…” I said, my neighbour looked like he had won the lottery, he immediately responded.
“Of course!” he coughed. He had a cough attack.
“Are you okay!?” I said with a smile. Mark blushed again.
“Yes. Of course yes… 7 pm. I will be waiting for you in front of our building.” he said. We said our goodbyes and I had to wait an entire day to see him.
I closed my curtain and I walked slowly towards my bathroom, I prepared the bath and I submerged myself in bubbly water. I took a long time to bathe and I even touched myself. The entire encounter had excited me. I wasn’t the kind of person to have personal time with my vagina but it required it. The entire moment had me dripping.
The day passed by extremely slow. I didn’t reply to any calls, I didn’t check the internet. I had completely denied the existence of the outside world. At 6:30 I dressed up. I put on a red dress, and I selected one of my fancy winter jackets. I put simple make up on and then entered the lift.
Inside the lift, I was the only one. There were some random advertisements for restaurants and it smelled clean. I walked towards the entrance and I see Mark standing in the cold. He is early, and I am too.
Mark was dressed cleanly in a designer's black overcoat, wool blazer and black pants. His outfit was balanced perfectly, and he looked extremely well. He looked at me and smiled broadly. Soon he walked towards me and gave me two kisses on the sides of my cheeks.
“You look amazing. Come on.” He gave me his arm and I grabbed it. He smelled good. There was nothing more attractive than a guy who knew his colognes.
Mark and I walked towards a BMW and he opened it. “This is my car. Please, come in.” I smile broadly and enter the car. It was clean inside. He was very posh. I could tell.
“You have a nice car,” I said, attaching the seatbelt on my body. Mark smiled and entered the car.
Mark drove well. Better than me at least. London was quiet that night and I figured it was due to the weather. It wasn’t raining but it was cold. In the car we didn’t speak much, we were distracted with the music and I was surprised when Rehome new album started playing in his Spotify.
“You like Redhome!”I said, blushing. Mark nods.
“It just brings me so many memories you know. When I was 14…” he said, almost nostalgic. I laughed. Mark continued “I was planning to go to the concert perhaps. I am so glad they came back together!” Mark puts the volume up, and we both start singing to the lyrics of one of their old songs.
Soon we arrived in the gallery. We left the car and walked together to go inside. I was holding his arm, enchanted by him. He was just so…charming.
The gallery had beautiful paintings everywhere, the exhibition was stunning. Colourful, real, heart-wrenching.
“You see this, my cousin made this painting in my grandparent's state.” Mark said. The painting was beautiful, it was like one you’d probably see in an 18th-century museum. He then introduces me to his cousin William. The man was about seventy years old and very white.
“I didn’t expect you to bring such handsome company…” said Willian cheekily kissing my hand. Mark blushed.
“This is Annie. My neighbour” said, Mark.
“Nice to meet you, Annie. I hope you’re enjoying the exposition!” I nod. Then a couple of people approach him and leave us alone.
“Thanks for bringing me, Mark. I am having a blast.” I said.
“Well. I did hope you’d said that…” Mark replied looking straight to my eyes. “Next week. The same thing? I have a lot of places I’d want to show you…in my free day.” I gave him a small kiss in his cheek.
“That would be amazing.”
We drank a little bit of champagne while talking about our lives and our dreams. We did love travelling and meeting new cultures so I think that helped for me to crush harder on him. Mark Grant was my friend now. Hopefully more than that soon.
At midnight it was time to go back home. I had never had a date with someone that had gone so well. I mean it wasn’t a date because I kind of invited myself and we had been more friendly than romantic but it was a start.
Every day we would talk by the window. No matter the time: we would always be in looking for each other. That week, on Thursday I went to Oxford to visit my brother by train. It was my nieces birthday so I had no other choice.
Javier’s house was 30 minutes far from the city centre by bus, so in total, I spent about 2 hours getting to his house from London. The buses were damn slow!
I liked Oxford. There was this sense of academia in it that I loved. Mark had gone to Cambridge so…oh…Mark must have been worried because I was not in our usual meeting. I sighed as I walked towards my brother’s house.
Inside: messy. Toys and two children playing around. My brother’s wife looked tired and I thought she needed to go on holidays without her children. I go to my niece and I gave her a present. The girl took it from me and ran away. I stood by the entrance.
“Annie! It is freezing outside, please come in!”
“Gracias hermano.” I respond. We usually spoke Spanish when nobody was around but I was kind enough to continue speaking English for his wife, who had tried to learn Spanish for years but failed every time.
“I was expecting to see Tom here…” said Javier. I pulled my tongue out.
“Don’t mention that name again.” I replied. I made myself at home, I took my coat off.
“My mum did say you’d broken up but…I thought you had gotten back together for some reason…
“He slept with my friend, and…he then cheated again.” I said.
“Do you want some wine?” Javier asked, I denied.
“No thank you. I am not drinking very much now. Only in special occasions.” My brother looked impressed.
“Is this the same Annie I know!? Did that twat actually break you!?” I started laughing.
“No, it was a decision I took without him breaking my heart. I am trying to change.” I said. My brother smiled.
We spend the evening playing with his children and feeding them cake, and we even watched a film. I was glad I had my brother so close to me. I missed him every time even though he was in Oxford.
“Auntie! This present for you.” my niece gave me a drawing, I look at it and it is me and Tom. “Give it to uncle too!” My brother started laughing and I did too. Oh my. Fucking Tom.
I left the house a little bit after 10 and Javier drove me to the station. In the way there we just heard northern European music and laughed at the terrible german lyrics of one of them.
At midnight I was back at home and I went straight to the window. It had a note written in it that I couldn’t read. I shined my cellphone’s lantern towards it and it was Mark’s phone-number and it said. “I missed you today.” I blushed and I saved it in my cellphone.
The next day I texted Mark in the early morning.
“Have a good day x, Annie”
Then I went to work. My boss called me to his office straightaway as soon as I came in. Was this about Tom?
“Annie, I called you in before anyone saw you just because…The Sun released some bullshit article about mister Nikolaus Kätsea…and you’re in it. He already released in social media that there was never anything between the two of you, but people are saying that your affair was real…” my boss said. I was surprised. The fucking sun!? The Sun had written about me? A poor random girl who happened to be a runner in that production. Fuck me.
“I don’t know anything about that…Nikolaus and I are just friends. We did work together but that’s it. His wife and I are friends too.” I said quickly and nervously. My boss smiled.
“I don’t care what you do in your time, Annie. I just wanted to make sure you were okay…” I nodded.
“I couldn’t be more perfect sir. Thanks for letting me know.” I left the room and held myself against the wall. Was Mark going to read that!? Soon, I went back to my spot and my friend showed me the article. Pictures of me and Niko together in Sweden and England. No sexual ones thanks to God but…fuck me. However, gave The Sun the information must have been aware about us. Tom Houben. This smelled like a Tom’s evil scheme all over.
This was personal now. Next time I saw him I was going to kick his ass. During lunch time I had a missed call, and I realised it was Mark’s. I smiled and gave him a call. It was probably his lunch hour too. I hoped he hadn’t seen the article.
“Hey there…I had a missed call from you.” I said. I heard some shuffling around.
“Yes. I wanted to make sure you’ll be able to go out…”he said. I could sense his blushing already.
“Yes! Of course. I mean tonight I am going out with my girl-friends but our date is our date!” I said.
“Our date…”He repeated. He paused for a second. Fuck is it not a date!? “I will make sure you’ll enjoy it, so we go on the third one…See you by the window later then?” Mark said.
“Sure.” I replied. Yes! It is a date. I felt like a teenager again.
My friends and I went partying. I wasn’t drinking but I was happy to be out dancing. Andreina and Alejandra were super drunk. They stayed over in my place.
I woke up to the noise in my window. Andreina was by my side snoring and half-naked. I put my gown on and I opened. Mark was there. Holding tiny rocks.
“I had to resort to this!” Mark said, fun. Showing me the rocks.
“Yeah…I am not the best with phones sorry…” I replied. “I am looking forwards to today.”
“Same here…I couldn’t sleep very well last night…”Mark blushed. “My, I wasn’t supposed to say that.” Oh my God could he be more sweet!? All of the sudden Andreina grabs my shirt.
“Who you talking too…”she pushed me aside and looked straight at Mark. She didn’t notice one of her boobs was sticking out.
“Oh my!” Mark covered his eyes.
“Andreina! Muévete!” I pushed my friend aside. “I am so sorry about this Mark! I’ll be back in a bit. I closed the curtain. “Andreina! Are you fucking crazy!! You showed him a boob! Andreina started laughing.
“Who is your frieeend!?” she said. Trying to open the curtain again.
“Mark. His name is Mark. My neighbour and…I really like him so…go to the livingroom. Wake up Ale. Make some breakfast!!” I rushed her out of the room, opening the curtain again.
“Sorry about that…that was my friend Andreina…she is very open…”Mark starts laughing.
“I didn’t see anything don’t worry!” he said. He of course saw everything.
“I will see you later?” Mark nods.
“Bye…”
At 1pm I said goodbye to my friends and I focused on my date with Mark. We were texting all day long. When I exited the apartment he was waiting for me. It started raining and he looked a bit sad.
“I hope this doesn’t ruin our night at the botanic garden…”he said. “It is an event. Some flower that has not bloomed in a 100 years…” I loved the botanic garden. I hadn’t been there since I was 16.
“I am sure it will be okay. I thought the garden closed at 6…”I said. Mark opened the door to his car.
“It does…”he winks. I was excited. Were we going to sneak in? Actually he said it was an event so…
We parked in the Covent Garden and we headed rapidly towards the temperate house. There was a line and I was really cold. Mark held me close to his body when he noticed me shivering. He was nice and warm, and also smelled really good…again. I liked the garden. All sorts of flowers and plants. And there it was : the Amorphophallus Titanium or better known as the Corpse Plant as it had a strong smell of a dead something. Not very sexy for a first date. Mark and I held our noses laughing like crazy. People around us were doing the same and taking pictures.
We escaped outside when we could and we didn’t mind the rain falling onto our heads. The rain actually liked me. It only took one minute for it to stop.
“That flower…very pungent. I had no idea…”said Mark, laughing. “We won’t see it again in our lives. Earlier…you were speaking Spanish with your friends. I liked it. “ he added.
“Well, I did say I was from Venezuela in the past…”Mark nods.
“You have been here for a long time though.” He said. Mark turns around and then whispers in my ear.
“Some person is staring at us from inside. I think it might be one of my patients” Mark laughs “It happens more than it should!”
I turned around and I saw towards the person. It is not one of his patients, it is Tom. I smiled at Tom. He looked better than the other day. His beard was gone and his face looked to be back to life. He had his camera with him so probably was looking at the same flower. Or maybe he was stalking me, which is possible.
Tom started walking towards us. Mark was excited “Oh here he comes…I am sure he is one of my patient…”
“Annie.” Said Tom, Mark looked at us. “Otra de tus presas?” He asks in Spanish, it basically means “One of your preys” It was the first time I heard him speaking in Spanish. What the hell.
“Mark…can you wait for me for a second. He is an old friend of mine…I’ll be back.” I said with a fake smile. I grabbed Tom’s arm and pulled him away.
“When did you even learn to speak Spanish? Jesus…” I said. “He is not a pray…his name is Mark. I don’t know what you’re playing but I want you to fucking stop it okay? Did you sent that stuff to the newspaper? What is wrong with you!” I yelled at him. Tom grabbed my arm strongly, looking into my eyes.
“I didn’t do anything!” said Tom.
“Annie…shouldn’t we see the flower again!?” asked Mark, approaching us. My tense moment with Tom was interrupted. Mark took my hand and pulled me away.
“Thank you Mark…” I said. Mark didn’t stop holding my hand.
“I really thought it was one of my patients sorry…”he said. “I shouldn’t have called him with my sight. If you don’t mind me asking. Do you know him personally?” I nodded.
“His name is Thomas. The guy went to Uni with me. We kind of hate each other.” I said. Mark smiled.
“How could anyone hate you…” I blushed. Mark. So…Mark. “Lets leave and go to eat somewhere. One of my friends owns a restaurant and I am sure he will gladly take us.
I nodded and we left the garden.
We dined at his friends restaurant and had a good time again. What can I say about Mark: He was dreamy, he was not boring…and he wasn’t a snob. He was kind, humble…precious. Husband material.
Did I just write “Husband!?” I am only 22. Jesus.
We drove back to the apartment and when we arrived I approached my face to his…waiting for a goodnight kiss but…Mark pulled his face away, red as a tomato. Nobody had ever done that. Everybody would go for the kiss.
“Wow…Wow…I wasn’t expecting that..hehe” that “hehehe” was very uncomfortable. I wanted to disappear from the face of the earth.
I opened the car’s door. Mark leaves his side and helps me to leave the car. I kiss him on the cheek this time.
“Thank you for everything.” I then walked inside dead inside. Fuck. That never happens. NEVER. Did I do something wrong? Did my breath stank…or maybe he liked men!? I don’t know. I didn’t know him enough to know… gay. Mark is gay. Is he gay? Nobody rejects me.
I found myself having a cup of wine. Jesus. It got under my skin.
I sat in the border of my bed, I try to sleep and nothing. Impossible. I kept thinking about Mark. I opened my curtain and he was there. Also wide awake. He was wearing blue buttoned pjs. His honey coloured eyes shined in the darkness. Finally, snow. Snow starts falling. I put my hand out of the window.
“Snow in London. Thanks global warming.” I said sarcastically. Mark giggles.
“Only a week left for Santa to come.” Mark continued giggling. He then looked at me. I was wearing very revealing pijamas. I am pretty sure they were my pink Victoria’s secret satin short, and bottomed shirt. I was braless, and my boobs really looked big that night. “You cannot sleep?” he asked. I nodded. The snow was falling rapidly. The street below was adorned by whiteness. Then silence.
I didn’t know what I expected. Maybe that Mark invited me over, and we cuddled by the window: looking at the snow fall…? “snowmen are kind of lonely don’t you think?” He said suddenly. “They are cold. Nobody wants to hug them…”
“I hugged plenty of snowmen in my youth!” I told him laughing.
“I guess I did too…” Mark said with a wide smile. He then got serious. “Many times in life I felt…just like one you know. Like a lonely snowman. All by myself. Loneliness is my closest friend.”
“It doesn’t need to be that way, we could…talk…but not like this” I bit my lip “in person…”
“I wouldn’t like to bother you at this time at night. I mean…we could see each other in reception. I will bring some tea and…we could drink it together…actually, you could come here if that’s okay…See you downstairs in about 5 minutes”Mark sounded excited. I nodded.
“See you in a bit.” I said. I put my slippers on and I walked outside my bedroom. I turned all the nights off and I picked my keys.
Fuck, I loved being awake.
My building had two towers A and B. Mark belonged to tower B and he had to open the door for me. Both buildings were connected, so I didn’t have to go outside. When I exited the lift he was waiting for me there. My heart was beating super fast. I felt like I was going to die or something. When he saw me he hugged me, and we looked at each other face to face. Was this going to be my kiss?
No.
We went inside his lift and went up together. We didn’t speak. Mark then opened the door to his apartment , and a tiny bulldog jumped on top of me.
“You never said you had a dog!” I said excitedly, it was a puppy, super cute! “I love dooooogs!” The puppy started licking my face. Mark went red again.
“I adopted him two days ago…he doesn’t have a name,” Mark said. In my excitement, I forgot where I was. I walked inside the apartment.
“I have always wanted to call my dog Wiston,” I said. Mark smiled and nodded.
“Love it. That’s his name…” he said.
“Wow, is that how you get girls? You get puppies to seduce then?” I said jokingly. Mark started laughing.
“You’re the first girl I bring here…Welcome to my home, Annie.”
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