There was every type of food you could imagine. I ended up ordering a Bento box and Lucas got himself an authentic spaghetti carbonara. We sat down at a picnic table to eat.
“So where are we exactly?” I asked, stuffing my face full of noodles.
“This is Spitalfield’s Market. Shoreditch is the heart of the rag trade and it’s become a hipster paradise in the last few years. I figured you being a woman and all, you’d like to check out the clothes.” Lucas had a dab of sauce on his chin and I reached over with a napkin to wipe it off.
I noticed that while we got several looks as we walked along, there wasn’t the fawning craziness that followed Lucas in Chester. In London it seemed he was just another guy. Which was nice.
“Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m clothes crazy,” I corrected him.
“I’m so sorry to make that assumption.” He grinned and I grinned and all was right in the world.
After we were finished eating, Lucas took my hand again and we meandered through the market looking at the booths. A table covered in copper jewelry caught my eye. There were necklaces made from heavy cast copper on black chains. I fingered one in the shape of a human heart.
“This is pretty cool,” I said, taking it from the jewelry stand and holding it up to my neck. I asked the woman selling them how much they were and was mildly shocked when she said one hundred pounds. I promptly put it back.
“Stuff is so expensive here,” I observed after we walked away.
“Welcome to London, love.” Lucas and I left the market and headed down a narrow side street. We passed several tour groups. Listening to the guide I deduced they were Jack the Ripper tours, which seemed a little macabre to me.
“I used to beg my mum to take Anna and me to London. I would be a right twat about it too. Pouting and throwing tantrums,” Lucas said as we walked through a pop up market in a warehouse.
“You being a twat? I can’t see it,” I joked. I stopped in front of a booth selling taxidermy animals and specimen jars.
“Mum explained that she would love to take us but we couldn’t afford it. She was working as a dinner lady at the primary school and picking up hours as a maid as well. She worked her arse off to keep us housed and fed. And all I could see was that I couldn’t go to London.”
He leaned down and peered into a jar filled with liquid containing a dead lizard. “Why sell this shit? Who actually buys it?” he shuddered, pulling me towards the next booth.
“Kids don’t always see what their parents do for them. I grew up with a single mom too. She worked three jobs just so I could play basketball and go to basketball camp. That stuff is expensive. I don’t think I thanked her until I was much older,” I told him.
We were back out on the street. Vendors were starting to pack up for the day and the people were changing from shoppers to younger, hipper night owls.
“Sounds like we’ve had similar lives,” Lucas mused.
“Yeah, except for the whole you became a famous soccer player thing,” I pointed out. Lucas slung his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple.
I felt warm all over at the unexpectedly tender gesture. “There is that isn’t there?” he murmured against my hair.
“Did your mom ever get a trip to London?” I asked him. We were walking so close together. His arm still around me. It felt intimate. Familiar. I didn’t quite know what to make of it.
“After I signed with my first football club, I took Mum and Anna for five days to London.” His face was soft as he remembered. “My mother cried as the train entered Waterloo station. She hadn’t been to London since she was a girl. I will never forget her face as we walked along the Southbank and she looked out over the Thames.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder, my arm going around his waist. It seemed a natural thing to do. “That’s awesome.”
He gave me a squeeze. “Yeah, it was. Tell me about your mum. What’s she like?”
“She can be a pain in the ass.” Lucas laughed and I grinned. “But she’s my best friend. I’m an only child. My dad left when I was young, so she’s all I have. I didn’t grow up with much extended family as her parents died before I was born.”
“It sounds like you miss her,” Lucas surmised.
“I do. So much. Being so far away has been hard,” I found myself telling him.
We turned down a quiet street lined with Victorian looking houses. There wasn’t a soul around, which was odd considering we were in the middle of London.
“Will she come here to visit you?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t think so.” I felt so safe and warm under his arm. It was surprisingly comfortable to be with him like this.
“Why not? England’s pretty great, though I may be a bit biased,” Lucas remarked.
