Chapter Nine
Lucy opened her eyes with a start on Saturday morning, looking at the clock on her bedside table in panic. 9.55 a.m.Yikes!she thought, that gave her one hour and ten minutes till she had to go. She jumped out of bed and went through the motions of preparing her breakfast: bagel in the toaster, kettle on for the coffee, while simultaneously running around the flat, tidying up frantically in preparation for a potential visitor later that night. She gathered old newspapers, magazines and junk mail into a huge pile and shoved it into the recycling bin. She put shoes away, coats on the correct pegs, and wiped down all the surfaces. She ran her duster around the TV and over the mantelpiece, plumping up the cushions with one hand as she munched her bagel in the other. Satisfied with the house makeover, she turned her attention to herself. Stripping off her cotton nightie and throwing it into the laundry basket, she selected a sexy negligee from her underwear drawer in a blue-green teal colour and laid it on her bed, ready for later.
Lucy stepped over to the long mirror in preparation for Step One: The Body, and examined her naked form. She was an hourglass shape with a substantial bust and shapely bum. She tried her best to embrace her curves but it wasn’t always easy, especially with a best friend like Claudia who was naturally skinny and had always looked amazing in a bikini. Lucy battled with herself on a daily basis to try and stop any negative thoughts from raising their ugly heads. She tried to reassure herself that a little bit of extra padding was nice for a guy, after all she couldn’t think of much worse than someone’s hip bones jutting into you at an inopportune moment. The smattering of cellulite on the back of her legs was a genetic curse inherited from her mother on which no amount of running, treatments, creams or dry-brushing seemed to have the slightest impact. Lucy tried her best not to think about the more unsightly parts of her body, choosing to focus on the good bits instead, like the seductive line that ran over her hip bone and into her waist like an ancient marble sculpture.
Focussing on the task in hand, Lucy realized that she needed to start the depilatory procedure a.s.a.p. As she got older the process seemed to get lengthier with the increasing amount of hair that seemed to sprout from ever more unexpected parts of her body. She plucked her eyebrows and then jumped in the shower, shaving any remaining hairs, including her bikini line. She was fed up with spending thirty quid every month on an excruciating Brazilian wax and hadn’t had time, frankly, to get around to it recently, so shaving would have to do.
She washed and conditioned her hair, lathered her whole body in foam burst shower gel and finally stepped out of the shower to rub her body down with a towel, spraying a mist of moisturizer over herself.
Having dried her hair and run her straighteners through the ends and especially through her fringe, she embarked on stage two: The Face. She primed, bronzed and buffed her skin before paying careful attention to her eyes, ringing them with smoky eyeliner and coating her lashes with mascara. Working her way methodically through her usual routine was extremely satisfying.
She dressed in black jeans and a bright blue silky top, carefully selected in Topshop on her lunch break yesterday to match the exact colour of her eyes. She flung her leather jacket around her shoulders, admiring the total effect of the makeover. She felt pleased with her reflection and smiled to herself as she sprayed her perfume generously in a cloud in front of her, stepping through it to ensure an even coating.
Checking the time, she saw the clock had just gone past eleven so she grabbed her handbag, stuffing in some emergency make-up along with her mobile. As she gave the flat a final once-over, she noticed a magazine lying open on the sofa at an article entitled ‘How to win your man.’ Squealing with embarrassment at the thought of Alex seeing that later, she quickly shoved it on the shelf before closing the front door behind her, clattering down the stairs in her heeled boots out on to Mayfield Road.
Lucy took the District line all the way to Tower Hill, one of the best sightseeing spots in the city, with the mystic old Tower of London to the right and the famous Tower Bridge rearing majestically out over the Thames to the left. She walked under the pathway linking the Tower to St Katherine’s Docks behind her, sidestepping bundles of tourists and their cameras as she made her way to Tower Bridge. As she reached the south side of the river and headed to Borough Market, she phoned Alex to find out where he was. He tried to explain his whereabouts but the hordes of people made it virtually impossible to pin him down. They played a game of hide-and-seek trying to locate each other amidst the crowds. Eventually catching sight of him by a little cafe selling macaroons and hot chocolate, she headed towards him.
‘Hi!’ she said.
‘Hello there!’ said Alex, kissing her on the lips, sending a thrill of shivers down her spine, and handing her a raspberry macaroon the size of a small Frisbee.
‘Trust me,’ he said, ‘they are amazing! You have to try one.’
‘Pudding before lunch… I see!’ laughed Lucy. Obliging, she bit into the crumbly sweetness, the gooey middle dissolving on her tongue, sharp with the flavour of raspberries.
‘Mmmm, you’re right. That is heavenly!’ Lucy said, offering him a bite. ‘It’s not the best weather today, sadly,’ she complained, looking up at the dull sky.
‘I know, but apparently it’s going to brighten up later,’ said Alex optimistically.
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t rain, there isn’t much cover around here,’ said Lucy, steering him into the market. ‘Have you been here before?’ she asked.
‘A few times,’ said Alex. ‘I don’t know why I don’t come here more often to be honest.’
‘It’s a real treasure,’ said Lucy. ‘Though it’s slightly ruined by the tourists nowadays. And the prices are not exactly cheap!’ she laughed as she picked up a stick of dried salami that cost £13.99.
‘Wow!’ said Alex. ‘That better be some seriously good sausage!’
There were hundreds of stalls bustling with activity, selling freshly made produce and huge vats of hot food, from chorizo and prawn paella to hoi sin duck noodles. They marvelled at all the mouth-watering dishes, their senses inundated by the tantalizing aromas pervading the air.
‘Where is this burger stall?’ asked Alex.
‘It’s somewhere around here,’ replied Lucy, trying to remember which of the many twists and turns would lead them to the correct place.
‘Aha!’ said Alex, catching sight of the burger van.
‘Here we are!’ said Lucy, pleased they had managed to find it after a momentary panic that it was no longer there.
‘I’m never going to be able to choose!’ moaned Alex as he surveyed the options chalked up on the blackboard next to the van.
After several minutes of indecision, they ordered their lunch and then found an old stone wall to perch on while they devoured it, licking their fingers and laughing at their unsightly table manners.
‘God, you are right… this is hands down the best burger I have ever had!’ laughed Alex, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
‘I told you!’ said Lucy mid mouthful. ‘Best burgers in London.’
When they had finished their lunch they pottered around the market. Lucy bought a bag of fudge in all different flavours, from cinnamon to chilli peppers, and they aimed for the Thames Path, heading back over the bridge to the Tower of London, taking it in turns to choose a piece of fudge and guess at the flavour as they walked.
‘I think the Tower of London has to be one of my favourite buildings,’ said Alex. ‘I love the history.’
