Page 8 of The Wedding Pact
‘You now know somebody in Bath.’
Flynn smiled at that. ‘That’s true. I feel like a local already.’
‘So what do you think so far? Of Bath I mean. Of here.’
‘Oh. It seems nice. I’ve not had a chance to explore yet. I got a bit caught up with … things … yesterday.’ No need to tell this stranger about his house-hunting debacle, or his godawful hotel, which by the way, offered just as little cosy comfort last night as it had the night before. He might have dozed off for an hour or so in between the corridor parties happening outside his door, the pub life outside his window, the stifling night-sweats, the drip-drip-drip of the tap in his bathroom and the anxious worry of never getting out of this place.
‘I could be your tour guide!’ August stated all of a sudden, slapping him on the arm and causing him to hold his coffee far away from him just in case.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
‘Now, I could show you around. I know Bath like the back of my hand, and if I can’t go and buy you another shirt at this time of day then let me give you a whistle-stop tour.’
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I want to, please, it’s the least I can do. Come on, it’ll be fun. Bath is lovely and quiet at this time on a Sunday morning, and the sun is shining, and no offence but at the moment you look so fed up you might just jump back on the next flight to Japan, so let me show you that Bath isn’t made up of people throwing coffee at each other.’
He hesitated. It did sound appealing, actually getting to see some of the city, and he didn’t really have much else going on for a while.
‘Come on,’ August cajoled. ‘I’m an actress, you know, so I can make all the stories really interesting.’
‘Don’t you have anything better to do with your day?’ he asked her.
‘Yes,’ August nodded, and looked at her watch. ‘But I have about two hours free. Do you?’
He was this close to saying,Maybe another day, when he thought of Yui again. Shaking her head at his lack of adventure. So instead he nodded at August. ‘That would be great. Where first?’
Chapter 7
August
This was great. August loved being a tour guide; it allowed her to boast about the city she adored and test out her amateur dramatics on unsuspecting visitors. And besides, by the sound of it, this guy needed a break. She didn’t know why he’d not brought shitloads of stuff with him from Japan (maybe he’d fled! Maybe he was a fugitive!) and she didn’t know why he looked like he hadn’t slept for twelve weeks. But she owed him some good karma, and this was the least she could do.
August was wondering where to take him first when he asked her, ‘Do you live in Bath?’
‘I do, I moved from London about six months ago,’ she replied. ‘But I have – had – family here so I grew up coming to the city a lot. What made you decide to move from Japan to Bath?’
‘Work. I work in international law, and the firm I was with in Tokyo has an office here. I saw an opening and went for it.’
‘You’ll like Bath,’ August nodded. ‘It’s a cool city. Just pick your team out of the Romans and Jane Austen and you’ll find lots of interesting things to do.’
As they walked, August noticed he was about a head taller than her, that his suit was well-fitting and he had a nice aftershave fragrance emitting from him. He was maybe a couple of years older than her if she had to guess.
‘So where first, Tour Guide August?’ Flynn asked. ‘If you’re sure you don’t mind?’
‘I don’t mind at all, in fact, it will help time go quicker, and stop me stressing about something I’m doing later.’ He looked at her inquisitively but she waved her hand to show she didn’t want to talk about it, instead changing the subject. ‘First things first, let’s take you to the most photographed hotspot in Bath. Be prepared to wish you were rich.’
August took Flynn on a highlights walking tour of Bath, showing him where the Royal Crescent and the Roman Baths were, pointing out the architecture of the abbey, and Pulteney Bridge, which had old Florence and Venice vibes with its lines of shops. She directed him to the main stores and the best spots for alfresco picnics, runs, or river walks. She gave him tips on pubs and cafes, threw in some history and lots of Jane Austen trivia which she bet he loved.
They grabbed Danish pastries from a bakery, whose doors had so recently cracked open that the smell of sweet dough wafted out into the street. With their treats, August and Flynn began a slow walk back towards the coffee shop where they met.
‘You know a lot about Jane Austen,’ Flynn commented. ‘Which came first, the love of Bath or the love of her?’
‘Bath, for sure. My grandma lived here and she got me to see all the beauty of the city. She would tell me all about the Regency period and I just became obsessed. From there I learned about this awesome author who wrote funny, complex women set in this time period I loved, and now, my biggest goal in life is to be a theatre actress starring in an Austen play.’Maybe my second biggest goal, she thought.
‘You said you were an actress?’ Flynn said.
August took a beat before answering, trying to form the right words. ‘Yes, I’m a voice artist, mainly, but I don’t do as much of that as I did back in London, to be honest.’ She drifted off for a moment, a guilt settling onto her. She sometimes felt like an imposter when she referred to herself as an actress, now that she’d let that side of her life all but dry up. But it’s okay, living in her dream home was about to change all of that.
