Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 26

Oliver's employment contract came to an end at the end of your fourth month, and you opted to not renew his services for yourself. He remains employed by the firm, but his services are rendered to other partners while they are in London. Since then, you have been relying solely on the Underground for your travel throughout the city of London.

The six-month anniversary of your tenure in London is only two weeks away. However, you think that in order for the London office to be able to operate fully without your supervision is still at least two months away. The entire time you've been here, you have not heard from either Josh or Jin. You are genuinely happy on their behalf that they have been able to move on with their lives without you. Nevertheless, you can't help but feel some sense of sadness and loneliness because you haven't been able to find fulfillment in that part of your life yet.

The people that you have hired for the office are working out well thus far. Most of the work your firm will be handling in this office will involve helping European clients that want to do business in the state side, get legal counsel to make that happen as smoothly as possible. But you think that with a little more organization and growth, your firm may be able to get involved in servicing clients that require legal counsel here. All of that is something about which you are thinking, not anything that you are looking to do while you are here this time around. You have really learned to love this country and the city. The experiences you have had in London so far have been fully immersive.

Out of all the things that you saw and experienced, the most memorable was the guided sightseeing tour called The Jane Austen Literary Tour. A couple of months back, you finally pulled the trigger on doing the said tour of Jane Austen's homes and of some of the places where major events in her books take place. You have always been a huge fan of her entire body of work and felt like you made a literary equivalent of the pilgrimage to Mecca. At the end of the tour, you couldn't help but ask the universe, "Where the hell is my Mr. Darcy?" and have a good and private chuckle to yourself.

Since Clayton left to return home two weeks ago, you have been handling business alone once again. And this Wednesday morning, you go through your normal AM routine of getting yourself ready for work and walk to the nearby Underground station. As you make your way, you see plenty of tourists and feel good about not feeling like one anymore. Before you make your descent to the Underground platform, you stop at a café across the street from the station to grab your morning coffee as usual.

The baristas that work the weekday mornings all know you by your first name. At this point, you don't even have to place an actual order. When they see you enter the café, they automatically prepare your "Usual" and call your name when the order is ready. This morning, things work the same way that they have been for the past several months and when you enter the café, you are greeted by one of the four baristas that are working behind the counter this morning. "Good morning Love. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Good morning Lizzy. I can't complain so far, but it's still mighty early. How are you?"

Lizzy replies, "I am vertical, so there's that."

You smile and say, "Yes, at least there is that."

One of the other baristas, this one named Noah, says, "Here is your Vanilla latte and a bottle of water."

You say, "Thanks Noah. Boy, it is really busy in here today. Are you guys giving something away for free this morning?"

Noah gives you a crooked smile and says, "It seems that way, doesn't it?"

You pick up your drinks and engage in brief exchange of pleasantries with the people behind the counter. And as you walk out the door, you announce, "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning."