Odd Meetings In London

Hello, people!

If you know me from Twitter you may know that I used to half-live in London. Due to Covid, Brexit and some issues two years before Covid I haven’t been in my favourite city of all for a long, long time.

Anyway, I’ve been posting some 10-words stories on Twitter and Wattpad (click here to read the stories on Wattpad) to celebrate my 10 years on both platforms. So, today, I posted this one:

Under the rain on Tottenham Street, I saw a fairy.

This is actually a true story. Of course the “fairy” is a guy, not a real fairy. But this reminded me of some other odd and interesting “meetings” I had in London. Some of them I’d rather not mention and you’d rather not read. 😏

But let’s see three more innocent ones.

Three Women In The Tube

I was in the tube, and at a stop a group of three women about 65 or so years old entered the train and sat right across me, and began chatting with each other. Two of them were very English. The third could have been an American, or she simply didn’t look too much like a movie’s stereotype of an English woman, and next to her friends, she looked American enough.

I could have sworn I knew them. They didn’t seem to recognise me, so I thought they were some celebrities and I was racking my mind to remember who they were. It took me some time to realise who they “really” were.

Agatha Christie, Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher.

Yeap! Not the real persons, of course. Two of them are imaginary characters, after all, and the actors that played these roles would have been much older in real life, at the time. Nonetheless I could have easily assign them their respective roles.

The Cutie In The Tube

Yes, a tube story again, but if you live in London you spend lots of time there and it’s a great place to see many different people.

I enter the train and I spot a cutie reading a book. So I sit right across him, since I was lucky enough to find an empty seat there, and I enjoy the wonderful view of London Underground. 😏

A few stops later a group of three, a couple carrying luggage and another man, enter the train, and the bloody bastards come and stand right between me and the cutie. There is an empty seat next to the cutie. The man who doesn’t carry luggage sees it, but he doesn’t seat there, probably because it’s only one. I’m really annoyed with him because he is the one who completely blocks my view.

Anyway, this guy is a Londoner, and the couple are his friends who came to visit, from what I gather from their discussion. And the annoying guy is very joyful reckoning what a nice time they had together.

Finally, after a few stops the couple gets off and the annoying guy goes and sits right next to the cutie. That’s not my concern. What matters is that the view is back.

The cutie with the book is around 20 years old. The annoying guy, whom from now on I’ll call “guy”, is about 45. I wouldn’t have paid enough attention to him to know that, but!

Not very politely, I admit, the guy takes a peek on the book the cutie reads. And:

“Oh! Is it any interesting?”

The cutie half-annoyed turns to answer him, but on seeing the guy, his face brightens. I thought he was some relative, to be honest. But no! From the conversation that followed they clearly didn’t know each other.

So, apparently the cutie was reading the book for the third time, and he claims that every time he reads it he notices something new. The guy keeps on asking specific questions about the book, always focused on what the cutie thinks. He never expresses any opinion, but he very obviously knows the book.

The guy had a very friendly tone and demeanour – nothing flirty, I must clarify. The cutie, on the other hand, was blushing all the time – even cuter! – and was replying very politely. Much more so than he would do if the guy was, let’s say, his uncle.

I’m in a shock. “Is this how one hits on a cutie?!”

As their conversation continues and I can’t make sense of the situation, the cutie relaxes a little and closes the book – his finger still marking the page he was reading – and I see the back cover. And the photograph of the guy on it.

Yeah, I would have been equally happy!

The Fairy Of Tottenham Street

If London is known for one thing, that must be its bright sunshine and always-clear skies, right? 😜

So, yes, unsurprisingly it was a rainy day with an overcast sky. In days like these everything seems greyish and desaturated. That’s physics, actually, not just a feeling.

So I was going up Tottenham Street and before crossing a street I checked in the wrong direction – on my right – if any car comes. And I saw, standing there, an amazing otherworldly beauty. Dressed in black trousers and a black jacket which ended up with a synthetic “fur” at the collar. And above this fur, his extremely white face, with pale blue eyes and almost white hair.

Yes, an albino guy, of unparalleled beauty.

Moreover, the way he was standing there, as if he didn’t even feel the rain, and the fact that his too-white face seemed like it’s beaming light in that gloomy day made him look even more like a fairy.

I really regret I didn’t take a photo.

But I’m a chicken. 😮‍💨

Every City Has Its Magic

So, these are three of my odd meetings in London. Incidentally, I have spent much more time in Thessaloniki than I have spent in London, but I can only remember one such odd meeting that coincidentally happened there. I might talk about it in a different post.

Have you ever had an interesting meeting that just happened, but you still remember? If so, please share. It doesn’t have to be from London – every city has its own magic!

Love and Kisses!
💖💖💖😘😘😘
Yorgos KC