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It's late, I'm a little tipsy but . . . I've just got home from having dinner with a young* man who was the most amusing, attentive, interesting dinner companion I've enjoyed in quite some time. Sitting outside the restaurant over looking the Thames the evening just sped past. Tonight will go down as one of my favourite nights so far on this trip. Quite unexpectedly.
*yes, really rather young
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Dentist
Lingerie
Ice cream
Moving companies
Egyptian cotton bed sheets
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30th June
Like a swarm of bees, an army of ants or a well choreographed troop of dancers the packers move about my apartment, there is no role for me in this play so I retreat to a window seat and keep out of their way. All I hear is the screech of tape being pulled again and again, occasional voices in quiet conversation and laughter. Only three times in 3 hours do they approach me, the first time to let me know that the phone company have arrived to cut off my internet connection, the second to show me a wallet* they have found behind some shelves and the third time to let me know they are going for their lunch break.
As they close the door behind them I ~sigh~, I look around the ordered chaos and enjoy the silence. I wander from room to room and back again, after weeks of frantic running around today there is nothing I can do but to sit back and let things happen as I’ve arranged.
I decide to make a call, I look for my landline phone, its hidden behind a maze of boxes, I call myself from my mobile so that I know which boxes to move. I find the phone and sit down in the corner beside it to make a call. I call my best friend, she hears my voice and knows that I’m feeling a little wobbly, she says the right things, she reminds me that I’m making the right move for many many reasons, she calms me. I go to the fridge and pull out the chicken salad I’d made myself last night, I sit and eat on the floor, surrounded by all these material possessions I have ‘burdened’ myself with over the last decade and beyond. I feel better with some food inside me. My mobile clicks with a new message received, it’s someone elses news, I laugh out loud as I read the texts that follow, enjoying the distraction.
There is a knock on the door, the packers return exactly 59 mins since they left, they start work straight away. One walks into my bedroom and starts to dismantle my bed. As he does so I think of the 3 men that I’ve known intimately in that bed, the one that I tried so/too hard to make a future with, the one that broke my heart, and the one that was taken from me by a drunk driver before we had even begun to really know each other. I wonder if I’ll be able to sleep easier in my new home, without being ‘haunted’ by thoughts of the past.
Later ……….
Now I’ve discovered that the screech of tape becomes uncomfortable to hear after 4 hours. I literally cringe now every other minute as they make up new boxes and fasten them down. They want to pack up my bedroom now, so I move to another room, I follow a small maze through the packing boxes and roll of corrugated cardboard to get to another small corner in my sitting room. As I look outside I see the rain pouring down, it’s going to be another wet weekend as Hong Kong celebrates its 10 years back under the control of the mainland.
Later still . . . .
Many boxes later their job is done. And so am I. Time to head for a shower, then a cold drink in a hot bar.
*A wallet that contains a large amount of UK cash, my UK driving license and my Boots reward card! Nice!!
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There are a LOT of good looking men in London . . . . . . a LOT, its been a bit of a drool fest to be honest.
There are many new kinds of chocolate that I just didn't know existed!
Hail hurts when wearing a little sundress when coming home from watching Wimbledon tennis - yes there was a hail storm in July!
Buying a whole new outfit for a special occasion starts out as fun, and if you 'find' the perfect outfit within 3 hours then it remains fun, any time after that without sucess and its dull.
It's a little scary when someone in Thailand sends you a text saying "You've just turned your phone on"
