the broken life to follow it.
The busy city hustling by my window amazes me. The lush green parks we pass have my feet itching to ditch my shoes and walk barefoot through the blades of grass to find a nice shady tree to read under. Or the older brick buildings filled with rich history that I would love to wander through and lose myself as I study the times long passed. There are all the touristy things I would like to do as well: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London. So much has happened in just this one place. I’m not even sure the amount of time we’ll actually be here would be enough for me. I could spend weeks here and still probably not see everything.
Silently I wonder what it would be like to live here, to be a part of the world’s history every day. But I don’t think that would ever happen. I don’t know anyone here and there’s no reason for me to be here. Except Andrew. And I don’t really even know him that well. But yet again, he pops into my thoughts. I close my eyes briefly as I picture his features, the smile that graces his face whenever he looks at me or his low rumbling chuckle that I woke up to this morning. My hand instinctively goes to the spot above my heart and I let out a small sigh. In less than twenty-four hours, I’ve managed to strike up feelings for a stranger. This is so uncharacteristic of me. But still, there’s that familiarity about him, drawing me to him, almost on a cosmic level. It’s as if fate is tying us together. But I know that’s impossible. Fate doesn’t work like that. And I’m probably not going to see him again so it doesn’t matter.
Kara is still engrossed in her emails as the city passes by us with me acting like an excited eight-year-old watching everything in rapt awe and wonder. The River Thames is next to us and the sun shines perfectly on the calm water, causing me to squint from the glare.
“Kara! Look at this!”
I can’t help but bounce in my seat as we pass a few more landmarks I recognize. She barely looks up from her phone and shrugs her shoulders. With a heavy eye roll, I turn back to the window and try to take it all in. Heaven knows I’ll never get to do this again.
“So where are we staying?” I ask, sitting back in my seat.
She finally looks up from her phone. “The Four Seasons Hotel London at Canary Wharf.”
“Yikes, that’s a mouthful,” I say.
She laughs as her phone beeps again. “I know. But since this is your first time here I figured you wouldn’t know what I meant if I said Canary Wharf.”
“You could have just said the Four Seasons Hotel though,” I respond.
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? Trust me. You’ll understand when you see it.”
We round the corner and our hotel comes into view. Wow. She wasn’t kidding. It’s absolutely incredible. Right along the river, it’s a picture of modern architecture with the most fantastic view. The skyline of downtown London is displayed right behind the river. Looking to the left and right I can see the Tower of London and the famous London Eye. Kara really did her homework when she booked this hotel. But then again, it screams high class and Kara accepts nothing less than the best. Her idea of camping is staying at a three-star hotel.
The driver pulls to a stop and opens the door for us. I do a quick spin in place, looking over everything, still awestruck by the splendor and beauty that surrounds me.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Kara says.
I turn to face her as tears threaten to appear from being completely overwhelmed. She slides her phone into her purse and links her arm through mine as we head to the grand entrance of my new home for the week.
“Amazing doesn’t even cover it.”
“Well our meetings will be held just across the river in the business district so we don’t have far to travel and this hotel has the absolute best views of London hands down,” Kara says.
Nothing could prepare me for what I was about to experience when I
The busy city hustling by my window amazes me. The lush green parks we pass have my feet itching to ditch my shoes and walk barefoot through the blades of grass to find a nice shady tree to read under. Or the older brick buildings filled with rich history that I would love to wander through and lose myself as I study the times long passed. There are all the touristy things I would like to do as well: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London. So much has happened in just this one place. I’m not even sure the amount of time we’ll actually be here would be enough for me. I could spend weeks here and still probably not see everything.
Silently I wonder what it would be like to live here, to be a part of the world’s history every day. But I don’t think that would ever happen. I don’t know anyone here and there’s no reason for me to be here. Except Andrew. And I don’t really even know him that well. But yet again, he pops into my thoughts. I close my eyes briefly as I picture his features, the smile that graces his face whenever he looks at me or his low rumbling chuckle that I woke up to this morning. My hand instinctively goes to the spot above my heart and I let out a small sigh. In less than twenty-four hours, I’ve managed to strike up feelings for a stranger. This is so uncharacteristic of me. But still, there’s that familiarity about him, drawing me to him, almost on a cosmic level. It’s as if fate is tying us together. But I know that’s impossible. Fate doesn’t work like that. And I’m probably not going to see him again so it doesn’t matter.
Kara is still engrossed in her emails as the city passes by us with me acting like an excited eight-year-old watching everything in rapt awe and wonder. The River Thames is next to us and the sun shines perfectly on the calm water, causing me to squint from the glare.
“Kara! Look at this!”
I can’t help but bounce in my seat as we pass a few more landmarks I recognize. She barely looks up from her phone and shrugs her shoulders. With a heavy eye roll, I turn back to the window and try to take it all in. Heaven knows I’ll never get to do this again.
“So where are we staying?” I ask, sitting back in my seat.
She finally looks up from her phone. “The Four Seasons Hotel London at Canary Wharf.”
“Yikes, that’s a mouthful,” I say.
She laughs as her phone beeps again. “I know. But since this is your first time here I figured you wouldn’t know what I meant if I said Canary Wharf.”
“You could have just said the Four Seasons Hotel though,” I respond.
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? Trust me. You’ll understand when you see it.”
We round the corner and our hotel comes into view. Wow. She wasn’t kidding. It’s absolutely incredible. Right along the river, it’s a picture of modern architecture with the most fantastic view. The skyline of downtown London is displayed right behind the river. Looking to the left and right I can see the Tower of London and the famous London Eye. Kara really did her homework when she booked this hotel. But then again, it screams high class and Kara accepts nothing less than the best. Her idea of camping is staying at a three-star hotel.
The driver pulls to a stop and opens the door for us. I do a quick spin in place, looking over everything, still awestruck by the splendor and beauty that surrounds me.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Kara says.
I turn to face her as tears threaten to appear from being completely overwhelmed. She slides her phone into her purse and links her arm through mine as we head to the grand entrance of my new home for the week.
“Amazing doesn’t even cover it.”
“Well our meetings will be held just across the river in the business district so we don’t have far to travel and this hotel has the absolute best views of London hands down,” Kara says.
Nothing could prepare me for what I was about to experience when I
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