Liam got to Pret half an hour earlier than expected, unintentionally dressed in the same colours as I. Being the gentleman he is, he did not come empty handed, holding a white rose, my favourite flower, in one hand and using the other to pull me into a hug.
"Hey you," he said, his the scent of cologne transferring onto my clothing. "Hi," I replied, smiling from ear to ear. Liam and I met through a work-related event through no other than my work wife, Maia. Instantly hitting it off that day, he asked me out, confidently knowing I would say yes. Despite having lived in London for three months and been here several times prior, there were some things I had not seen/been to yet, the Natural History Museum being one of them. Being a native, Liam wanted to take this opportunity to take me to some of his favourite spots.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked, handing me the rose. "Yeah," I said, fixing my things once I managed to schedule my video. "Let me get that for you," he said, putting the laptop into its case and grabbing it before I got the chance to do so. "Thank you," I responded, putting my hand on his. Being the gentleman that he is, he opened the door and waited before I was outside the cafe before going out.
"Do you want me to hold onto that?" I asked, pointing to my laptop. Although not has heavy as my previous one, I did not want Liam to be forced to hold onto it during our date. "I can hold onto it. It's not a problem," he said, putting his free arm around my shoulders. Feeling a bit guilty, I thought of a suggestion: to bring it back to the flat. "How about we drop it off at my place first?" I suggested, "that way, you won't have to hold onto it during our date." Liam chuckled for a bit, his eyes lighting up. "We can," he said, following me.
It took us around ten minutes to get to the flat as there was not much foot traffic. I opened the door, praying Martijn would not be there. "You have a nice place," he uttered, looking around the living room. "Thanks," I replied, putting my bag on the couch. "Do you want anything to drink?" I asked, to which he moved his head from the left to the right. "No, thank you. I'll wait here. Just put your laptop in your room."
Quiet, I took it as a sign that it was just the two of us here and that there would be no need to worry about my ex trying to ruin my date. With every second passing, I rushed upstairs and placed the laptop on my desk and went back down as soon as I heard another voice echoing. Much to my dismay, it was Martijn and here he was striking up a conversation with Liam.
"Where are you guys off to?" He asked Liam, turning around as soon as he spotted me descending the stairs. "I was planning on taking Alessandra for lunch, to the Natural History Museum and then probably walk around Covent Garden afterwards," he said, his arms folded against his toned chest. Liam noticed that I was approaching them when Martijn kept moving his eyes from him to me.
"There you are," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder. This made Martijn uncomfortable. I could tell by the way he started looking at me, cold and upset. "You ready to go?" I asked, grabbing my things from the couch. "I am," he said, turning to Martijn and took out his hand, "it was nice to meet you." Trying to be nonchalant, Martijn brought out his hand and shook Liam's. "It was nice meeting you too. Have fun," he said, his emotions getting the best of him.
We then left the flat, making a right and another one. Curious as to where we were going, I searched nearby spots in the area. "What are you doing?" Liam asked, wondering why I randomly whipped out my phone. "I want to know where we are going," I answered, still searching. V&A and The Natural History Museums have been on my bucket list for ages, so I was wondering if we would be heading to either one. "Well, I'm about to take you to lunch," he started off, "Nando's sound good?" It had been ages since I dined at Nando's, so the obvious answer was yes. "I'm down," I smiled, letting Liam lead the way.
