INTERNET FRIENDS ( SIMON MINTER ) ✓

seventy four

Charlotte fiddled with her hands and picked at her coloured nails, absentmindedly whilst watching over the bus railing, at the bright scenes surrounding her, passing by. They all merged together and became a blur to her defocused eyes, as if it was a large motion blur image she had taken with her prized possession - her professional camera, or maybe a snapshot she had taken in her mind and it had been tainted and had merged over time as she had forgotten the details. The feeling of passing by had been a feeling she had been feeling a lot recently, she felt as if time floated passed her and she couldn't stop it. She didn't want to stop it either, her life had become one long repetitive day, she didn't do anything anymore, there was anything she wanted to do anymore, she wasn't bothered anymore. The feeling of everything blurring together and forgetting details, was another she had become far too familiar with recently, she couldn't remember the time before she had met Simon, or what she did before he entered her life.

Both her mind and face were blank and she blocked out the annoying speaking of the overly bubbly tour guide. After a while Charlotte reached over to her bag, which was closely sitting beside her and clutched her well loved and cared for camera, quickly taking a shot of the sight seeing spot the tour guide had pointed out, before zoning out again.

She was like a hollow shell. She had been since she'd broken up with Simon. He must have thought her just cutting him off was easy, but it was anything but. It was the most difficult thing she had done in her life, and it had severely broken her. Even after the photo, she still didn't hate him.

She was knocked out of her trance when the bus jolted to a sudden stop, it probably wasn't sudden, there had probably been a warning but Charlotte was too zoned out to listen. She reached out her pale hand and clutched the warm metal bar in front of her, which was attached to the long cushioned bench in front of her seat, to support herself, so she didn't go flying off the bus, and onto the busy London road.

"We will have a lunch break here and we'll regroup right back here, on the bus at half two" Charlotte glanced up at the woman who seemed to always be smiling and knew everything about London. Her short chestnut hair bobbed as she spoke and her green eyes shone so bright Charlotte was able to see the melding shades from the back of the bus. When she had finished explaining to the group, she disappeared down the steps, the other photography students close behind her, obviously excited to get off the bus and into London, ready to explore for themselves, instead of through an overly ecstatic, text book tour guide.

Charlotte waited until everyone had left and the entire top of the bus was empty, before she made sure everything was back in the protection and security of her bag, clipping the only button on it closed and throwing the strap over her shoulder. She held the hand railing as she descended the steps and as soon as she was off the bus, she slid the thick black strap of her camera around her neck, pulling her purple ponytail out from underneath it, her purple nails merging into her hair as she tightened it. She walked down the unusually bare street, watching her feet as she tried to walk in a straight line on the grey curb, her arms outstretched to her sides, to keep balance. At first glance no one would know that she was a heartbroken twenty one year old when she was acting like an easily amused child.

She stopped at the first coffee shop she saw, she wasn't hungry but she would never say no to a cup of coffee. That was blasphemy and treason at its finest. Plus she had a lot of time to waste. She pushed open the glass door and the aroma of freshly grounded coffee beans hit her and she felt warm and at home. She breathed them in deeply and sighed in happiness and sudden thirst, as she joined the back of the queue, beginning to fish around in her bag for her purse. Once she reached the front, she told the barrister her order and handed over the money, as well as grabbing a sealed gingerbread man off the counter. She wasn't hungry, but she didn't know how much she wanted the biscuit until she saw it.