Lockdown on London Lane [PUBLISHED w/ WATTPAD BOOKS]

PART 2: The Honeymooners - Chapter 3

Danny's sucked into work for the evening after dinner. I watch a couple of old episodes of Brooklyn 99 but can tell it's distracting him by the way he keeps covering his ears and hunching over his computer, or when he laughs quietly and then shakes his head like he's chastising himself for getting distracted.

I turn it off, grab my headphones and a book, and head outside to the balcony. I settle into my large rattan chair, padded with cream and gold cushions. I probably spent way too much on this chair at the garden centre last summer, and I definitely spent too much on the cushions at Anthropologie, but every time I sit out here in it, I'm reminded that it was worth every penny. I put my phone and headphones on the gold-and-glass table, and light the candle I left out here a couple of days ago.

It's still light out, so I get to enjoy the purple dusk streaked with gold, silhouetting the other apartment blocks on the estate. I can see the tennis courts down the road from here, and wonder if they'll be closed by the time I'm allowed out of my flat.

I wonder if there will even be anywhere to go, really, once the building is out of lockdown. Everything seems to be changing so fast right now. My dad told me I was lucky to get a food order when I did: the slots are filling up so quickly, you can't even get one two weeks in advance, now. I keep getting emails from brands I'm signed up to reassuring me that it's business as usual except that their physical stores are now shut! But it's fine! You can still order from the website! Maybe only with a small delay and no more next-day delivery because they can't guarantee that anymore!

I know none of that should feel like a shock to me, since I'm working for a company where those sort of adjustments are our main focus right now, but even so...

I bet the tennis courts will be shut. I bet it won't even matter that the building is out of lockdown, soon, because everywhere seems to be closing up.

And what if Danny doesn't even go home? What if he has to – or wants to, stay here? What if we actually won't be able to see each other for who knows how long? Should he stay? And what about me – should I go home? One of my brothers did, rather than ending up stuck at uni by himself. Should I pack up, once Danny leaves, and retreat to my childhood bedroom? Am I supposed to ask Danny if he wants to stay with me, and – do I even want him to?

I end up not really reading much of my book, and never even get around to putting my headphones in to listen to some music. I simply stay sat in my chair, hugging my knees and book to my chest, staring out and having a mild existential crisis about what to do once this week is over.

I have no idea how long I'm out there, running through a million different situations and solutions in my mind, but the door slides open behind me and I jump to find Danny standing there, smiling down at me.

It's dark by now. The lantern-style streetlights on the paths below us have turned on, and the automatic light on my balcony has switched on, too, now he's come outside and activated it. It makes Danny's short auburn hair look more orange, and casts shadows across his face.