Chapter 7.
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Her shopping unpacked and put away. Marta sat down to eat her lunch and take a long look round her. The flat was starting to look occupied, and she had her small portable speaker to fill the silence. She'd noticed too , there was a Television aerial in the room . And from the information that Melissa had thrown at her earlier about that Notting hill gate she reckoned she'd be able to rent a set quite easily.
That will be a project for the afternoon ,she thought. Keep busy and above all, don't brood . She'd found a vase in one of the cupboards. She'd get some roses to go in it. And some wine. If it turned out there was nothing to celebrate,then she'd drown her sorrows instead, she decided.
She got out her A to Z of London, working out the shortest route to the gate.
Melissa had told her she could find anything there, and that seemed to be true, she thought,as sgr battled with the other shoopers . It seemed to be fizzing with life . She gave herself time to look properly, lingering in front of boutiques Reading the menus of the various items , walking, inevitably, much further than she'd planned.
But if Maryland was to ber her home,at least for the time being, She needed to get to know it . She wanted to look as confident and purposeful as tgr people who streamed past her and perphas feel it too.
She thought suddenly, I want to belong too. At the wine shop, she bought some red Italian wine to go with the pasta, a decent chardonnay for the chicken,and an optimistic Bollinger for her reunion with Hermes or for drowning in her sorrows, she thought. Shaking her Head.
She discovered a Tv store without difficulty , and ended up buying a portable with a reasonable warranty for the far less than the cost of an annual rental, treating herself to a cab to get it back to Maryland. After all she reminded herself, she couldn't waste good hunting time waiting at the flat for a delivery to be made.
In spite of her personal reservation,there was a curious satisfaction in making her basement look like a home.
But, when it came to it ,the idea of spending her first evening in London concocting a pasta sauce for one held little appeal. Up to down there'd always been people arouhf her , family first, then friends , and flatmates. Always someone to laugh and talk with, or moan to, or simply exchange the news of the day.
This was her first time being single in the city and she needed to tackle it positively. So she wouldn't skulk in the flat, feeling hard done to . She would go out . Go to cinema in the Gate , and have a meal afterwards. Make her first night in London an occasion. She changed, putting on black hoodie with blue jeans and set off. She had a choice of film including a romantic comedy, but it seemed safer in her present state of mind to opt for a thriller .
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Marta emerged feeling more relaxed after the movie. Now all that remained was to find a place to eat. Probably not easy, she realized, checking out the still crowded pavements. Maybe she'd have to settle for a take away.
She'd intended to head for one of the bistros she'd spotted earlier, but instead she found herself wander up the part Road.
The lit window of a restaurant drew her across the street , but one look was enough to convince her that it was not only full to bursting point with beautiful people, but, more significantly, out of her price rang.
She was just moving on when saw a diner seated at a table for two in the window itself turn, hand raised , to summon a waiter, watching the couples, Marta allowed her thought to wander off. Imagining the couples to be her and Royal..
Royal? , She asked. but, why him and not Hermes, she asked her confused self until she recognized him with stomach churning immediacy . Royal walker, she thought. His evening's companion was a blond decorously clad in a pink trouser suit .
'Poor girl ' , Marta mustered under her breath, 'Dies she realize she's simply feeding the ego of a serial womaniser ?
Clearly she didn't, Because she was devouring Royal walker with her eyes. And he was looking at her and smiling in a way that had been totally lacking in his dealing with her.
In fact Marta acknowledged without pleasure,she would hardly have recognized him.
A cab drew up, and three girls came out, all thin and slim , talking and giggling at the tops of their voices.
As the new arrivals passed her into the restaurant, air kissing and saying hellish to everyone within reach, Marta started, as if she'd been woken abruptly from some spell.
What the hell am I doing?, she questioned herself silently, Hanging here with my nose presses against the glass like the little match girl? Do I want him to look up and see me?
Hastily, she turned away , retracing her steps towards the Gate.
Clawden lang was not a conceited girl,but she was sufficiently keyed in to know when her dinner partner's attention was wandering, and human enough to be piqued by it .
She reached across the table and put a hand on Royal's sleeve . 'Is something wrong?
Startled, Royal wrenched his frowning gaze back from the window.
'No I'm sorry. I thought I saw someone outside. Someone I knew.
Clawden directed a glance over her shoulder at the darkness beyond the window. Then you must have X-ray vision, she commented lightly. ' Do You want to go and have a look?
'Of course not. Then the frown faded , and the smile he sent her was charming and breathe taking. I'm probably wrong, and anyway, it's really not important. He paused, then added with cold emphasis, 'Not important at all.
And then wondered why he'd needed to repeat himself...
TBC.