About Time

London, September 2016

After the first few weeks of being in London, she had already seen all the museums there were to see , walked through all the main parks, explored most of the little neighborhoods and main centres of the city, entered her fair share of little independent overpriced boutiques and shops with lovely but way overpriced stuff, and had shopped for groceries at at least 12 different Sainsbury's, even though they all had the same product selection, but at least the people who shopped there and the ones who worked there weren't the same she grew accustomed to see in her local one, closest to William's apartment. She noticed she often referenced to it as William's place and not "their place", because the words didn't sit right with her, since it was an apartment Williams father had single handedly paid for, chosen by his secretary, who had proudly described it as " a lucky find in one of London's most hip and current East London neighborhoods", "and "very popular amongst the younger people" she had said. But Noora loved it actually. It was a loft, just big enough for each of them to have their own "space" but small enough to feel cozy. It had a big glass window filling almost the entirety of a wall and it overlooked Regent's Canal, where there was always a lot of movement . Filled with young people jogging and walking their dogs, children on school trips learning canoeing. On the weekends, she and William would usually follow in the footsteps of the crowd of people catching the last few rare rays of sun the London summer had to offer, all along the canal, in front of the little pubs and cafes, with their artesanal drinks in hand. Having lived in Madrid, all this livelihood had felt familiar to Noora, even making her a bit nostalgic about it. She still kept in touch with some friends she had made while she lived there . Not that she had made any close bonds, or at least not closer than the usual skype chat or the random exchange of postcards once in a while. But she had met some cool people, all so different from the ones she knew growing up in her small town. People that were the breath of fresh hair she had needed back then, and that somehow helped shape the independent, strong opinionated personality she had when she came back to Norway and started attending Nissen. But she also loved the rainy weekends, when they would just lay in bed all day, sometimes going out at the end of the day to watch a movie or even just to get takeout. She loved the little garden she had started on the tiny balcony by the window. She loved the excessive amount of cactuses and candles she had insisted on buying on a trip to IKEA they had taken when they first moved. She had insisted they were "essential" to make that loft feel as homey as possible, while William just stared at her like she was a mad women, sustaining a big grin, and raising is hands in his defense as Noora noticed his expression, and raised a brow at him " What? Judging by your apartment back in Oslo and the lack of effort you put in decorating it properly, you have no say in this" she said, giving him a quick kiss and patting his chest playfully, before taking his hand im hers and turning her focus back to the shelves surrounding them, stating they had to "move a lot faster if we want to get this all done today before it closes", William let out a muffled laugh and a sigh and led Noora's intertwined hand to his mouth to give it a little peck and kept paddling alongside her, entertaining himself by observing her cute focused facial expressions, as she tried to choose between colors and designs that to him looked exactly the same. It kept amusing and surprising him how content and entertained he was just by being next to her, observing and padding along. As they were finally in line to pay, William turned to Noora with his signature deadpan look" Sucks that you didn't find what you were really looking for today" "Oh yeah, what was that William?" she asked, swiping his usually displaced strand of hair out of his face,hearing the subtle but now familiar playfulness of his tone "Maybe you're the one who's disappointed for not finding a big sound system?" she continued. "Maybe some neon lights? For old times sake to remind you of your glory days as a Penetrator" with a smug grin plastered on his face, one that Noora knew was usually just reserved for her, he boped the tip of her nose with his index finger "Actually I was thinking you were probably looking for some Justin Bieber memorabilia " "Hah, what a funny guy you are" she stated ironically, giving him a quick peck on the lips, none of them really being that fond of PDA " Actually, now you mentioned it, I think it would look great on the wall just above our bed , a big poster of the Biebs... you know to give me something to look at dur-" " Ouch" he said interrupting, placing one hand over his heart. The next day William had to leave early for work. He was being careful not to wake up Noora, who was still sleeping, now sprawled in the middle of the bed, when he heard a doorbell ring from the building entrance to their loft. Probably some more shit from IKEA being delivered, he thought. Checking to see if Noora was still sleeping, he opened the door and received what was indeed a package. But from Oslo? It wasn't addressed to anyone, only to his address. With a few minutes to spare before heading into his father's offices, he opened it, now a bit curious. "Fuck" he said and muffled a big laugh, careful not to wake up Noora. "Eskild, of course" he thought. A few hours later, as Noora slowly opened her eyes, waking up, she almost jumped and covered a scared scream with her hand as she saw a huge Justin Bieber poster standing against the armchair, starring right at her,in front of their bed, with a little post it note stuck to it , reading "From the coolest person you've ever lived with(and Linn)". "Eskiiiiiiild!!!" she exclaimed in the way she always did back in Oslo, even tho she knew he wasn't there to hear her.