**author's note: I'll be posting as I type this up with only minor editing. [Brackets] mean I plan to go back and do research or change something. The POV is all over the place - I'll try and focus it as I type up, but apologies in advance if I miss some jumps.**
Windsor, England
Summer 2011
Anna
"Make way for the Windsor Castle Guard!"
Anna Russell had just enough time to turn and take a step back before a group of five guards marched over her hastily-vacated spot. Her phone already out and in camera mode, she snapped a shot of the serious faces marching past.
Their uniforms, bright red and deep black, stood out against the green of the grass and dull grey of the asphalt road. Anna continued watching as they moved down the street to who-knew-where. Some important duty for Her Majesty, perhaps? Anna laughed at the thought.
Windsor Castle was absolutely charming to her young sensibility, like the palaces of Disney movies and picture books, it felt both quaint and majestic at the same time. The guards, while still performing their tasks diligently and with the grandeur required, seemed more accessible. She'd managed to get a photo with one while he stood at his post, and this second one of the marchers. At Buckingham Palace, she couldn't even get close enough to distinguish the component parts of the changing of the guard.
The guards, of course, had been one of the items on her "Must See" list before she began her graduation trip to Europe. Her family never had the money to take vacations like trips to the beach, much less out of the country. She vowed to herself she would change that. She went to community college for two years, working two part time jobs to cover tuition and books while saving for the next two years at the state university to finish where she finished her degree.
She hadn't graduated debt-free, but she also wasn't drowning in it. Even so, she never would have been able to take the longed for trip without a surprise lottery win by her parents. Each of the Russell children were allowed one wish. Her older sister asked for a down payment on a small house. Her younger sister asked for a car. Anna asked for the only thing she'd ever wanted: wings. Two months to tour Europe before she went back to the real world, a low paying entry-level job, and those damn debt payments.
The guards were out of sight now, and Anna a little sad to see them go, turned again and headed back into the courtyard where there were sure to be more guards, more tourists, and more history to consume and enjoy.
Freddie
Lance Corporal Freddie Worth carefully removed his bearskin plume and set it on the top shelf of his locker. He undid the brass buckle on his belt and pulled it through the loops, hanging it on a hook inside the locker door.
Around him, his fellow soldiers in various states of undress stretched and laughed, comparing the worst tourists of the day. Normally, Freddie would have joined in, but he was about to begin a long [stretch of leave] and wanted to get into his civilian clothes and out the door as soon as possible.
He'd put off taking his leave as long as he could, wanting to travel the continent before his next deployment. The regiment being stationed at Windsor had come as a pleasant surprise, but it was about to move over to Buckingham Palace and Freddie had never been a fan of London.
Jeans on, shoes laced, Freddie made arrangements for his uniform, said goodbye to his friends and headed out. He'd get a pint, then catch the train to Oxford to spend a few days with his sister, Sophy. The perfect beginning to a holiday, he thought.
He'd downed about half the glass and had his eye on a group of cute girls further down the bar when his phone buzzed in his pocket. A text from Ginny, his best mate's girlfriend.
Spotted in the wild, you handsome devil!
She included a link, which when clicked took Freddie to a photo posted on Instagram of him and two other footguards marching stoically past the photographer.
"I was almost run over by some Royal Guards at #WindsorCastle!" the caption read.
Freddie laughed and instinctually commented, "Hey, that's me!" on the random stranger's post. He closed the app and called Ginny.
"All your time snooping on this new site finally paid off, huh?"
"I'm surprised you're the first one I found. Harv told me tourists take hundreds of selfies with him in a day."
"They take hundreds of selfies with all of us."
Ginny ignored that comment. "And this one isn't even a selfie! She just randomly happened to be in the same path as you marched by and happened to get the picture. And then I just happened to be searching the Windsor Castle hashtag tonight. I usually search #QueensGuard, but for whatever reason I went with Windsor this time. It's like fate or something."
"I don't know about fate."
"Wait a moment - you commented on it."
The barman had paused in front of Freddie, and pointed to his almost empty glass. Freddie shook his head no. "Why are you still looking at it?"
Ginny ignored that, too. "She hasn't liked your comment yet."
"She probably hasn't seen it - I just posted it - and I don't care if she does like it. I don't even know why I commented. It seemed funny in the moment."
Ginny wasn't listening at all. "Harvey! Come look at this!"
Freddie gulped down the rest of his pint and pushed the glass away. He wiped his hands on a napkin and stood to leave, listening to Ginny jabbering away at Harvey on the other end of the phone. His amused smirk probably wasn't the best look to have on his face when greeted by a young women in a pub, but he'd been planning to leave.
"I'm sorry to bother you," she spoke with an American accent, "I wasn't eavesdropping on purpse, but I couldn't help but overhear your part of the conversation."
Freddie lowered his phone and focused his attention on her. Damn she was pretty. Her hair was pulled back, off her face, allowing her dark brown eyes to draw him in. And her lips - he forced himself not to watch them as she spoke again.
"I think you were talking about me. My picture." She held her phone up, showing the very Instagram post he and Ginny had been discussing. A faint squeal came out of his phone's speaker before he shut the call off.
"Hey, that's me," he said, immediately cringing. He wanted to throw himself in the Thames. What an idiotic thing to say.
But she laughed, and it was the kind of laugh he knew he could get addicted to. "You already said that." She clicked the heart beside his comment to like it, then held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Anna."
"Freddie. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too, Freddie."
