A walk in the park (With you...)

x Introduction x

                     The humid air of the brisk English morning was making her paper curl. With each stroke of her pencil, the damp paper soaked up the lines immediately. Her long navy coat was not able to resist the water from the bench, making her feel uncomfortable and cold. But Iris didn't care. This was her last week before she was due to start her first year at Guildhall. She wanted to spend her time painting, visiting museums, taking long walks in the flower gardens, and enjoying exploring London. This city, this pumping heart. This had been a dream of hers since she was 16, but her parents weren't satisfied with her career choice and told her they wouldn't help finance it. They didn't want to be throwing money away when it could be going towards her sister or her two brothers that had "real career goals". So at the age of 18, once she had passed her last exams she got a job, began saving, selling her belongings she knew she would no longer have space for. She had traveled to London with a suitcase. She found a room to rent. A dark, damp, 9 metre room where you walked in and found a single bed on one wall, a sink, a shower and a small window on the other. She tried to reassure herself as best as possible that she would make her life a success and these were the stepping stones she had to take in order to get the future she wanted to have.

                        A gust of wind nearly blew her sketch out of her freezing hands. London was beautiful but far colder than where she used to live. She faced the wind, embracing the cold air on her skin and looked up to the flowing green trees she was sitting under. She admired the view, and tried to transpose it onto her paper, the dark sky, the emerald trees, the velvet grass covered in dew. Her eyes wandered as far as they could go. It was still rather early, the traffic was of a reasonable sound, you could still hear the birds singing, it was the quiet time where all the runners were going home and all the dog owners and parents with prams were coming out. She turned to face the wind once again, her hair flying over her face down her back where she could ignore it. When Iris opened her eyes, they met a blonde woman power walking her way in her direction. This blonde was wearing black lycra leggings with a matching top, she had a fluffy black scarf that went up to her nose. Streaks of her blonde hair that had fallen from her tight ponytail were floating behind as she zoomed forward as if in another world entirely. The blonde's focus never left the path in front of her, much to Iris's relief. It was always an awkward moment when people noticed you were staring, whoever it was. The blonde's thin figure moved further away, taking Iris's eyes with her.

                    The following morning Iris woke to the urge of going back to the bench. She had woken from a hunting dream of blond hair. It was like a blister picking at her. She had never felt so confused as to why a stranger was having this effect on her. She had felt attracted to women she crossed in the streets before, women she found pretty, that smelt insanely nice, that dressed in a way that made your eyes wonder. Never had she had the desire to go pursuing them though. They always remained at the back of her mind, a fantasy of "What if's?".

                  Her brown curls were braided, falling down her back, her green eyes waiting impatiently to see a glimpse of a blonde ponytail. This morning she had brought a book, a favorite play of hers. She read a page then scanned the park. There was a little more sunshine this morning, the dew was already drying out, the fog had lifted to reveal London's towers of glass near the thames. She read another couple of pages, still no sign. She didn't fully understand why she had had this need to come back for another look. Surely this was some way of stalking? Was it stalking if you didn't actually follow the person? The wind lifted and Iris turned to face it once again spotting the person she had secretly been waiting for. She was dressed exactly the same way, her scarf wrapped tight up to her nose giving nothing of her face away other than two small dark eyes. Iris turned back to her book, pretending to read, but at this point she had no interest in the book whatsoever. It was now a prop. An object to hide behind. As the blonde speeded by as the previous day, Iris lowered her book and gazed after this stranger that had dazzled her by her mere presence.

                      Iris came back to the bench every morning for the rest of the week, sat patiently until the time came. As if on cue, the mysterious blonde, not once giving her face away flew past her, making her feel like a weird hormonal teenager. It had almost become a game in her head. How long until the blonde would reveal her face to her?

                       On the Friday, the blonde glanced at her as she went past, Iris panicked and attempted to smile at her before it was too late and she had already zoomed past. They had finally looked at each other, they had both recognised each other's existence. Iris got to see her eyes, those small, almond, melt in your mouth chocolate eyes. They seemed to be slightly older than what she was anticipating, although it didn't phase her for too long. She had a feeling about this woman, there was a familiarity, a comfort. Iris picked her bag up and began walking through the park in the same direction as her mystery woman. A slight sadness rose in her when she realised her little game with herself would be over by Monday when she'd have to be in class.

                      By Saturday the rain had made its way back and emptied the park. On Sunday, after having walked round the park under her umbrella she sat on the soaking bench regardless of how wet it was and took her sketch out of her pocket. It was as damp as when she drew it, it had gotten smudged, the lines weren't as precise as on Monday. "Are you okay?" Iris lifted her head under her umbrella and her eyes widened in amazement, "Yes, yes... Thank you" She stood up and smiled back at the sympathetic blonde who was standing under a black umbrella. This time she was wearing a cream scarf neatly knotted under her faded pink coat. Her thin lips gave a small amicable smile, her dark eyes taking in Iris's. Her hair was loose, wild and free in the wind and rain. Her smile widened making her cheekbones even more punctuated. It then clicked, like a lightbulb going off in her head. Iris raised her eyebrows "Jemma..?" she whispered. Their eye contact was broken when a tall man brought the blonde's attention back to him, she looked back at Iris with the same smile "See you, look after yourself..." She turned and walked back towards the tall man "See you..." Iris replied, still in amazement. "Do you know her?" The tall man asked "Umm... Our paths have crossed once or twice here..." The blonde replied hesitantly, then wrapped her arm in his as they continued their Sunday walk.