Status: Complete.
"Face it, dove, I've sparked your interest."
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Alyssa isn't looking for a fairytale; she has a perfect life in California with nothing more to ask for. But when she gets herself shipped off to England due to a major screw up, she m...
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They say real life begins when you start to live on your own... Picked that up from a Korean drama. So here I was at the biggest mall in London—Selfridges, to pick up everything I'd need when moving into King's. Henry already agreed to let me store everything at his town apartment until moving day—I can't risk taking everything home and making Gwan suspicious. As far as she knows, I'm gonna be commuting back and forth like a mad hatter. Yeah, right.
"Look at the size of this place!" I exclaimed with sparkling excitement on entering the department store. "They have everything here!"
"You sound surprised. What did you think, London was a medieval city?" Henry asked.
"Pretty much," I answered sheepishly. "So where to first?"
"Did you check the guide?" I had a guide from King's explaining everything I'd need when moving in (which I barely read) but I also made my own list of things I'd have to do on my own now that I'm officially an adult: just being practical. Grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, cleaning, and basic stuff. But that was before I entered a place that sold practically everything...
"Oh my gosh, they have a nutcracker shaped like a squirrel! So adorable! Oh, is that a tabletop pizza oven? It's to die for!" I got excited over everything in the store. I'd missed shopping so much! Ah, the lure of retail, the feel of malls and merchandise all lit up by bright lights while the hum of people strolling to and fro with crisp new shopping bags, (how I missed that smell) and the sound of barcode scanners... I was super nostalgic.
"Slow down, Lys, and only pick out the basics," Henry said, sounding practical. "Might as well start with the kitchen essentials since we're here. The list says crockery, cutlery, pots, pans, and kitchen gadgets." Henry had already taken charge of the guide.
"Will I really need all that?" I whined.
"You said you got a studio apartment, right? Which means you get your own kitchen. I take it you won't be using the communal kitchen?"
"Yeah, no," I replied. I was an American on foreign soil and needed my own boundaries; I wasn't up to sharing my eating space with strangers. I knew how to fend for myself at least, mom taught me well. I could manage on my own.
"Okay, that's everything," Henry said when we had swept through the kitchen aisle.
"Is that all?" I asked, glancing at an accessory store across the mall. I was longing to do a bit of real shopping, if you get what I mean. But Henry brought me back to earth with a bump.
"Goodness no, that was only the kitchen! Next, we have bathroom items, bedroom items..."
"Fine, let's get it over with," I said with a sigh. Shopping to live on your own was hard. But maybe a little fun too. It was like taking hold of your own life for the first time.
Two hours later, after a colossal amount of shopping, I came out of the mall with two well laden trolleys. Henry helped me wheel them to his car and load the things in. He managed to dissuade me from doing the 'fun shopping' after all.
