The Beautiful Hummingbird - Part II

The London Life Edit

Song: 'There She Goes' - The La's

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With the help of Harry and Gemma, I move into my new home over the weekend.  Even before a box has crossed the threshold of number 50, I manage to annoy my new neighbours.  Street parking is available on both sides of the road but being the weekend, there is hardly a space to be found. I somehow manage to squeeze my Mini into a small gap but Harry has no such luck. Being a relatively quiet street, he puts his hazards on and double parks the Range Rover outside the Victorian semi. 

No sooner is the first box out the boot, there is already a queue of cars forming trying to get past.  He waves apologies and smiles to indicate he will only be a minute but both cars start beeping their horns, profusely.  He gets all flustered because he does not like to annoy anyone so to let them through, he drives around the block a few times.  Eventually he finds a space but I cannot help getting a dig in about the ease of small cars in London.  He rolls his eyes sarcastically but admits I am right!

After lugging my belongings up the steep staircase and thoroughly cleaning my room from top to bottom, I make the bed and unpack my clothes, toiletries, laptop and a few essentials.  I decide to leave the rest of my boxes stacked in the corner to unpack another day.  Gemma goes downstairs to make coffee and to chat to her friend, and my new housemate Anita, whilst Harry makes himself at home by lounging on my bed.  He spends a good fifteen minutes looking through my childhood photo albums.  Despite throwing a few cushions at his head, he is not deterred in his chortling at my chubby legs in my ballet outfit when I was four or my Mum's disaster fringe cut along with missing front tooth school photo when I was seven.

Early evening the three of us grab a fried chicken waffles, fries and house slaw dinner at Bird in Camden.  Despite a long lens, Harry spots a pap sat in his car near the restaurant. He must be an opportunist because we did not make a reservation; it is a spur of the moment dinner.  Needless to say, his shutter goes into overdrive before he drives away.  We then enjoy an uninterrupted meal and toast my new abode before dropping Gemma home on the way back to my new Highgate residence.

This time finding a space is no problem and we sit in Harry's car.  The tension in the air feels like one of those first date drop off moments when you hesitate about whether to invite your date inside. Harry breaks the silence by saying that whilst he respects my reasons for doing this, I really do not have to. I can stay with him at anytime or better still, move in with him. I hug him and tell him how I love how he loves me. His response is to kiss me passionately then remind me he does and is just on the opposite side of the Heath if I need him.

Typically protective, he does not drive away until I have closed the front door. I check in with my three new housemates over a cup of herbal tea then after bidding them goodnight, I close the door to my room and sink into the unfamiliar bed.

The street lamp outside my window shines brightly through the thin cotton curtains and bathes my room in dim light.  Rain lashes against the sash window and the wind whistles as leaves tumble along the street.  The bed feels big and cold and I pull the covers tighter around me as I settle down for my first night in my new home.

I think back to what Harry said in the car.  This whole scenario does feel strange because I own my own home in Holmes Chapel, and in London Harry only lives a stones throw away but I am renting a room in a shared house with three other professional people I am yet to really know. I remind myself why I decided to do this and not move in with Harry; I have to push myself out my comfort shell and make new friends, get out into life and have new experiences. This is especially true as he is about to embark on a punishing new album promo schedule for Four that runs until Christmas, then from February embark on a tour for nine months. My new job only awards me five weeks holiday so I am going to have to make best use of it.  The separation is going to be tough on us both and I do not want to give him any reason to worry.