Page 56 of Loving London

She parks on the street in front of her apartment building. I think back to last year when I saw her sitting at that restaurant with that guy in his expensive suit. She was laughing and smiling. She looked stunning, and when he kissed her, I had to go. If I had only known, the past year would have been so different.

We both exit her car and meet on the sidewalk. London reaches out her hand, and I entwine my fingers through hers. Just the feeling of her hand in mine does crazy things to me. This day has been so surreal.

“I can’t wait for you to see our apartment,” she says as we walk into the building and up the stairs. “Kate and I redecorated the entire thing. When I moved in, every room was painted a different bright color—yellow, green, red. I’m talking, like, neon shades. It was hideous. Kate and I spent weeks finding stuff at flea markets and secondhand stores. We painted the entire place by ourselves.”

“You painted?” I ask with a quirk of my eyebrow.

“Yep. I guess I’ve changed a lot since the last time I saw you.”

“I suppose we both have,” I agree.

“Yeah,” she says quietly.

She opens a door on the second floor and pulls me in with her.

“Oh, praise Jesus. I’m dying of hunger in here,” a peppy Southern accent says. A girl about London’s age with wavy bright red hair enters the living room. “Oh, hey.” She stops in her tracks when she sees me.

“I ran into someone today,” London says. “Kate, this is Loïc. Loïc, my roommate, Kate,” she says by way of introduction.

“TheLoïc?” Kate asks, her voice rising an octave.

“Yep,” London answers.

“Nice to meet you.” I extend my hand toward Kate, and she shakes it.

“You, too. Oh, wow. Well, I’ll let y’all catch up and stuff. I’m going to head out and get dinner, I think.”

“It’s okay. We’re starving, too,” London tells Kate. “Does sushi sound okay?” she asks me.

“Sounds great.”

“All right, let me just go fix this mess”—she motions toward her face—“and we’ll head out.”

She’s cried off all of her makeup, and her eyes are slightly red and puffy.

And she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

I take a bite of my seaweed salad as Kate talks about her big move from Mississippi to LA. She’s a chatty little thing, which I like because it gives me lots of time to stare at London. God, I’ve missed her. I don’t know what’s going to happen after today, but I know I can’t go back to life without her, not after seeing her again.

“What about you, Loïc? What’s life like in Michigan?” Kate asks.

“Well, I’m involved in a lot of groups at the VA hospital.”

“What’s the VA?” Kate wonders.

“It stands for Veterans Administration. It’s a hospital for veterans.”

“Oh, I see.” She nods in understanding.

“Anyway, I run some groups there, mainly for PTSD. I travel around, giving talks—like the one I did today—to raise awareness for issues that affect our veterans. So, I keep myself busy. But I’m retired or honorably medically discharged. I’ve been thinking about going back to college for something else. But I haven’t had time so far. I live with my sister and little nephew. He’s almost one.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Kate says.

“Well, she’s not technically my sister, but she’s the closest thing to it.” I sneak a glance at London, knowing there’s some animosity between her and Sarah. If it’s bothering her that I’m talking about Sarah, it doesn’t show.

“So, what do you two spend your days doing?” I ask.

“Well, Kate and I work together. She’s the receptionist for our office. We read, shop, watch marathons of TV shows. Nothing too exciting. I work a lot,” London says.

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