Chapter 10

Three months have gone by since that night happened. When I woke up the next day, a bottle of water and pain meds were on my bedside table. Henry offered to talk about what happened again, but I told him, that I would need to work on it on my own. Reluctantly he accepted my decision, but told me, he would have a sympathetic ear if I needed to.

In the past three months a lot has happened. While I started to grieve and heal with the help of a psychologist, Henry moved back to London to be close with his family and friends. We have stayed in touch through texts and phone calls. We even managed to throw in an occasionally call via FaceTime. On bad days he was more than happy to cheer me up with a funny picture of Kal. Henry has become a very close friend, if not even my best friend.

I started and finished renovating and redecorating my whole house, because everything reminded me of my relationship with Luke. It was an important step in my healing process and while I had the contractors at my house, Henry offered me to stay at his, which I accepted hesitantly.

Heather came to visit me twice and she was excited when I told her that I am Rae Dawn and that I am taking the step of telling the world who is behind this pseudonym. She took my portrait for my new book which will be in the bookstore within the next week.

I was able to figure out what key element was missing in my new book and my publishers were excited about the changes. I felt so inspired that I even finished the second book within the deadline of the first and my editor was thankfully quick enough that I was able to let a hardcopy be printed. I have both books in my handbag which I am planning to give Henry as a belated birthday present.

The runs in the morning have become a ritual and I am now able to round the whole lake without stopping. I am already in the process of deciding if I want to improve myself in running longer distances and add another round, or to quicken my pace.

I can feel the plane that I am currently sitting in descending and look out of the window to my right. We are approaching London and I can't wait to explore this country as I have never been outside the US before. I'm also looking forward to seeing Henry again and catch up with him in person. Maybe he has met someone in the meantime? I would be very happy for him.

After landing, getting through customs, I get picked up and driven to my hotel, where I am going to stay for the next few days to settle in this time zone and explore London on my own, before travelling north of London to the Lake District where parts of the movie will be filmed.

At the hotel I get changed into my running cloths to run through the park that is located on the opposite side of it. I wouldn't want my daily streak to come to an end just because of a flight. Afterwards I take a quick shower in my room, and then I head out to explore the city. I take a picture of the first red phone box that I can find and post it in my social media platforms telling my fans that I have arrived in the UK, and I am excited that filming will start soon.

It doesn't take long for my phone to vibrate, and I see a text from Henry.

You are already in London? Do you need a guide?

Thanks, but I think I want to explore this city on my own for now. I write back and immediately the three dots on the bottom of the screen appear.

What are your plans for tonight?

Actually, I don't have any yet. I would be more than happy to meet, if you want to.

I wouldn't have asked, if I wouldn't have time. :P

Then count me in.

Anything you fancy?

A pub, I think.

You think? You don't sound so sure about that.

I don't know what's good around here, that's all. My agent has warned me that you Brits have a very different culture and taste when it comes to food. But fish and chips are supposed to be good.

Let's go to a pub and I will introduce you to good beer and not that stuff you have in the US. ;)

Okay, it's a date. I text him and quickly add: But not as in date date. Just meeting a friend date.

I know what you meant. Stop overthinking. I will text you the location. Enjoy your time in the city I call home and if you need anything, call or text me.

Will do. See you later. :) Smiling I put my phone away and start to walk through the streets of London.

Couple of hours later I step into the pub to which Henry sent me the location to during the day. I spot him sitting in a corner of the establishment and he waves at me. Then he gestures me to walk over. Quickly I take off my jacket, even though it's already the end of June, it's cold compared to California. I notice his gaze wandering over my body.

"You totally look like a tourist," he tells me amusedly after greeting me.

"And you look like you are nuts with just your t-shirt on. It's cold outside," I give back and sit down across from him.

"Today was perfect. Neither too cold nor too hot. You are used to the temperatures of South California."

"Probably. I might need to get long sleeved t-shirts if the weather stays like that."

"I think you will manage to squeeze shopping into your schedule. However, I need to tell you that you look good. Happy and healthy. And you have changed the color of your hair since our last video call," he states and smiles as me widely.

I went to the hairdresser a week ago and dyed my hair back to my natural color. My roots were already showing too much and keeping bleaching my hair would have been a pain in the ass. So, I decided to get my hair done, before my long stay here in the UK.

"I take that as a compliment," I tell him and can't help myself to grin. His smile is contagious.

"It was one," he chuckles, and he wants to continue, but a woman interrupts him.

"Here you go," she says, and places a glass filled with dark beer in front of each of us. Then she looks at Henry and then back at me. Maybe she recognizes him?

"Don't you want to introduce us, or have you already forgotten your manners, Henry?" she scolds him and looks at him with a stern face.

"Charlotte, please meet the owner of this pub Grace. And Grace, this is my friend Charlotte."

"It's lovely to meet you, Charlotte. If this boy or anyone else in my pub gives you any trouble, I am just a call away," she tells me and pats my shoulder gently, then she continues, "Have you thought about what you want to eat?"

"Do you have fish and chips?" She looks at me, shocked. Did I say something wrong? I glance over to Henry who tries to hide his laugh behind a cough.

"Dear, surely, we have fish and chips. A pub without this dish or beer, wouldn't be a pub. Do you want yours with or without vinegar?" When she notices my confused look, she starts to laugh. "You are so American. I'll bring you each option and if you don't like the one with vinegar, I know that Henry will take it gladly," she adds and then leaves our table.

"I think I like her," I chuckle, and Henry nods his head.

"Yes, Grace is an amazing person. I have been coming here for years now and she always takes good care of me and doesn't care who I am."

"Speaking of which, I am surprised that I haven't noticed anyone trying to approach us or asked you for a picture." Suddenly everyone around us starts to sing loudly and Henry does as well. I am confused about what is happening right now.

"That was our national anthem," he quickly explains, "Their interest is currently focused on the rugby game which is televised right now." He points to the screen in one of the corners of the pub and I look at it. I can see two teams standing on a field of grass in a stadium.

"Do I want to know what is about to happen on the field?" I ask him when I turn my head back to him.

"Do you like to watch American football?" he inquires and takes a sip from his beer.

"I am American, I have to like football. So, explain the differences to me," I tell him as I take my glass into my hand and inspect it skeptically.

"It's a stout. You will like it."

"The taste reminds me a bit of dark chocolate," I say confused after my first sip and he chuckles lowly.

"That's because it has a certain sweetness to it. How about you sit next to me, so I don't need to scream, while I explain to you what is happening on the screen when the game starts."

Two hours and hundreds of explanations later, the game finishes and I am not one bit wiser than before. When I already thought that football was brutal, rugby was even more so. Maybe I did learn something about that sport.

I ate my fish and chips with vinegar, even though the taste of it was weird at first. But I've come to like it.

"How much of London have you seen today?" Henry asks me when I take the seat across from him again. He rests his underarms on the table and looks at me enquiringly.

"I was able to cross of a few things on my list. My first stop obviously was a red phone booth," I tell him, and he starts to laugh.

"It's called a telephone box. What else?" I mentally take a note, because I don't like it if I use the wrong words for specific things.

"I walked over to Buckingham Palace, then down to Westminster Abby, saw your parliament and Big Ben. Then I took the metro," when I says that word the corners of his mouth twitch and I know that he probably wants to correct me.

"Spill it out," I tell him and mockingly roll my eyes.

"Tube."

"What?"

"We call it tube, due to the shape of the tunnels."

"I see. So, I took the tube and got out close to Millennium Bridge over which I had cross to see Shakespeare's Globe. My last stop was Tate Modern which is right next to the theatre and the view from up there is amazing."

"You have already covered a lot in the past few hours. I am not even too surprised, that one of your first stops was Shakespeare's Globe. But why not the British Library, I ask."

"After all I have my master's in English, I couldn't pass on the opportunity to visit the famous theater. The I ask at the end was one of the most British things I've heard you say so far. And the British Library is on my check list, but I want to spend more than an hour in it."

"Happens, when I am back in England. What else is on your agenda to visit?" he wants to know, and I rattle off the sights I want to see which are basically all the tourist attractions.

"Oh, and I forgot that I was running through I think Hyde Park today."

"Running as in running or as in strolling through?"

"Like running shoes and six miles in an hour."

"That's actually not bad at all. Just be careful if you want to go for a run when it is dark."

"I might be blonde, but I am not dumb, Henry," I joke, but instead of a grin or laugh, he only has a serious expression on his face.

"I would never call you dumb and reduce you to the color of your hair, because you are way more than that."

"Point taken. We already talked so much about me. What about you? How have you been?"

"Good. I was preparing for the movie, spent a lot of time with my family and even indulged myself in a week of staying at home and doing nothing except going to the gym. It was amazing. I was able to read a few books and even played some video games on my computer."

"You are a gamer?" I ask him surprised and he nods while taking a sip from his second beer.

"Yes, an avid one if I have the time."

"Okay."

"You look opposed to the idea of that."

"No, I am just surprised, that's all. Luke never played any video games, he said it's a waste of time. I tried but it wasn't something that I liked. I rather stick to my books."

"I could give you couple of reasons why his statement is false, but I am not going down that rabbit hole. Let's change the topic."

"Sure. Have you met anyone?" He draws his eyebrows together in confusion of this sudden question and then shakes his head.

"Actually, I have been interested in a woman for a while now." Not what I expected, but I am excited for him. He deserves someone in his life who makes him happy.

"I sense a but coming."

"I'm not sure if I should ask her out."

"Don't tell me you are insecure or afraid." I cross my arms in front of my chest, because I wouldn't have thought, that this man could be either of these things.

"That's not it. I am merely mindful of her feelings and how she is doing at the moment."

"Sounds to me as if she has gone through a few things recently." I feel sorry for her, because I know how it feels like going through a dark patch in your life. It's not easy or glamorous.

"You could say that. What about you?"

"To be honest, therapy helped a lot to work through most of what happened. There are still things about which I need to change my mindset, but I am on a good way to achieve that. My psychologist taught me what I would need to look out for to prevent falling into the same patterns again in the future."

"You made a big step there," he tells me, and I think I can detect some sort of pride in it. "Would you say you are ready to meet someone now?" he then asks curiously.

"Do you want to introduce me to some of your friends and find out if I hit it off with one of them?" I laugh, because the thought of it is ridiculous. However, if any of his friends are like him, I'm happy to meet them and maybe it will lead somewhere when I am ready for that.

"I could, if you want me to."

"No thanks. I am definitely not there yet, but maybe I'll come back to that offer in a few weeks."

"Tell me as soon as you know."

"I will I tell him and smile at him, genuinely touched by his offer.