“No, I’m sorry,” she said, slowing on the pavement outside a Ladbrokes and handing Tom back the rest of his book, which was now considerably more sparse in pages.
“Don’t be,” he said, desperately wanting to take his phone out to inspect his cheek, but also wanting to look like it was no biggie. Like he was used to the odd fistfight. “I think you just saved me from being beaten up by three men who belong in the early noughties.”
She broke into a smile that totally transformed her face. Her eyes lit up in the same way they had under the glint of the streetlamp earlier, a sparkle across them as dimples filled both her cheeks. He tried to smile back, but it hurt.
“Full disclosure, I’ve never been hit before.” There went his plan. It was something about what they’d just been through together that made him feel he could just be himself.
“Full disclosure,I’venever hit before,” she said, and they locked eyes and laughed. It was the most intimate exchange Tom had had in months and it made his stomach hurt, a fresh pang of how much he missed Sophie arriving with such a violent rush that he had to turn and start walking again. She fell into step beside him.
“Your book though.” She nodded toward it. “I’m really sorry. I know how much it means—”
She stopped talking abruptly and he looked at her, frowning.
“You’ve been reading it on repeat for months and I’m sorry that I know that but I’m just observant. It’s my job. But please can I get your address or something, so I can get you a new copy? That was all my fault, but wow.” She let out a laugh, stifling it with her hand. “I can’t believe I just did that. My fiancé wouldn’t believe me for a second if I told him I just...” Her words faded.
Tom laughed back, running a hand through his hair. “It waspretty awesome. You really got some power behind that right hook. Book. Book hook.” She laughed again, properly, and he started laughing too, the total insanity of the morning not lost on either of them, but the pain in his jaw from the laughter was a solid reminder. “If I need another, I guess I can just pop in there.” He nodded over to the British Library, which sat on the opposite side of the road, nestled just beyond King’s Cross as they kept walking.
“I’m not too sure you’re allowed to totally deface those ones,” she said. “Well... without getting banned after.”
“What a day that would be. Punched in the face by a guy who looked like a baby seal and then kicked out of the British Library for defacing a book. I’d finally be the rebel I always tried and failed to be.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling her these things. He’d stop.
“Rebels aren’t cool, you know? They turn into guys like the ones back there.”
“Are you saying they weren’t cool?” He looked over at her and smiled as two drunk teenagers wobbled past them on a Lime bike.
“No, but I think they mademecool, which is a first.”
“Andmetough as nails.”
“We should write them a thank-you letter.”
“Buy them another tinny by way of gratitude.”
“Might celebrate by getting an eyebrow piercing,” she said and he laughed, wincing.
“Am I still tough if it hurts to laugh?”
“I don’t know,” she said, turning to him, her face now serious. Steely eyes, staring right at him. “But does it matter if you’re tough or not?”
He thought about it and the only answer he had was that no, it didn’t matter to him. But a little voice in his head whispered that maybe it mattered to Sophie.
Chapter Five
Daisy
How had Daisy gone from outright ignoring this man for months to walking alongside him to her workplace? Walking withTom, for she now knew that was his name from the altercation he’d had with the group of men. It was endearing, really, that he answered such an aggressively rhetorical question with such a genuine response: “I’m Tom.” A man who responded in that way could perhaps be trusted, just a little.
“You get off at Goodge Street normally, right.” He said it as a statement rather than a question, just after they passed the British Library. “Can I—” he signaled with his arm to the long road that went all the way from King’s Cross to Euston and beyond “—walk you, on this...” Stopping, he put his hands in his pockets as he looked up to the night sky and back down at her. “This dark, slightly creepy night. Just in case those guys pick up speed at some point.”
Daisy frowned, enjoying the breeze on her face. “Would you have described it as creepy without those men? Just...” She looked around, trying to take in everything and put it into words. “I always find this time of day quite special. It’s like for a small moment in time, London is only for the people who woke up early and got outside. Look at it,” she said, holding outa hand. “In a couple of hours it’ll be a completely different city. My dad used to say that dawn is when you get the best weather, and most people miss it.”
He looked at her, a slow smile forming. “That’s why I’ve always liked it,” he said.
“Well then you passed the test. Yes, you can walk me. Thank you.” She took off back on the street toward Euston.
It was going to be okay. Felicity was already on her way to the office and Daisy wouldn’t be too far behind her. Although, with the pace they were walking, she was going to be later than she’d planned, but somehow that wasn’t making her want to speed up. And it should... Shouldn’t it?
“Can I ask you something...?” Tom said, trailing off as a woman with a suitcase ran past them toward St. Pancras, most likely to catch an early Eurostar to Paris or Brussels. Somewhere exotic. Somewhere more exotic than where they were, although Daisy wasn’t sure about that. She meant what she’d said to Tom. Even now, after years of getting up at this time, there was still nothing for her that beat London at dawn.
