Nicole

Turns out, you can never see the Queen looking out the window at Buckingham Palace.

I knew it was a long shot but I had to try the hypothesis for myself anyway.

Lucas and I met up for breakfast at Magic Beans today, so he and I could go to the centre of the city and see all the touristic spots, monuments and all, but one day just didn't seem to be enough.

Well, it's  good thing I'm gonna be here for another month and a half. Or maybe more, I'm not sure. All I know is that the change of scenery caused the words to flow through my brain effortlessly and put my book on a good track.

And whatever place in the world worked out for my book, was whatever place in the world I should be.

"So, where should we go tomorrow?" I asked Lucas as he sat down on two seats next to each other on the tube train, on our way to Hampstead.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't let you know." His blue eyes starred at me with serious apology look. "I have Lexi tomorrow, my sister is going on a date."

"No problem. We'll go some other time, or I'll... go by myself. You don't need to come with me every time I go see if the Queen's home." I added with a light chuckle, hoping that would be enough to ease my disappointment and to hide it too.

"Or, you could come over." 

The suggestion caught me off guard. Come over? As in... go to his house? Like... a date?! 

"That is if you don't have anything better to do, which I'm sure you-"

"I'll go."

"Really?"

"Yes! I'd love to."

"You can come over for lunch. Lexi's coming around four, but you're welcome to stay as long as you want to."

"Thank you."

He pulled his hand out of pocket and with his fingers he gestured for my phone and I gave it to him. He typed in his name and phone number, saving it on my contact list.

As weird as it seems, I haven't even realized we hadn't exchanged phone numbers.

"Just in case you ever get lost again." He winked at me and gave me the device back, holding my gaze the entire time.

And so, after arriving at Hampstead a few minutes later, we shared a pepperoni pizza at the pizza place next to my apartment and with a kiss on the cheek and a smile straight from heaven, he said goodbye before turning in his heels and making his way to his apartment.

I stood frozen in the pavement, watching the cold air of the night turning my deep sighs into what looked like smoke, right in front of my eyes, blurring the image of Lucas walking with his hands in his pockets on his way home, still thinking about the kiss.

I brought my hand up to my face, letting my fingers caress the place where his lips met my skin and thinking about the whole thing again, reliving it, yearning to feel that electricity charged lightning bolt hit me again. Because it felt fucking amazing.

Eventually the image of him walking home got smaller and smaller until I couldn't see him anymore, which led me to protect from the cold and take the first steps in a while, walking up the stairs to my apartment.

I changed from my fancy clothes - full disclosure: not that fancy, but still fancier than what I mostly owned - to my comfortable, soft pink pajamas after showering, and I spent my Saturday night  face-timing Diane while we both binge watched Friends together and drank margaritas, even while being 5,362 miles apart. Talk about friendship goals.

  * * *

Sunday rolled around and with a simple long sleeved black dress and a beautiful grey coat that I had bought when I went out for shopping the other day, I found myself ringing the doorbell to Lucas' home.

"Hey."

With his million dollar smile and casual look that highlighted his blue eyes that I always found myself drawn to, he opened the front door and moved to the side, gesturing me to walk inside and I did, mentally thanking every lucky star in the sky that his place was warm and cozy unlike the streets of London. 

"Hello to you too. Wow, this is a very nice place. And thank God for central heating, am I right?"

"Oh, yes!"

He offered to take my coat and I accepted the offer, wiggling my arms to help him get it off of me. 

"Make yourself at home. I am just going to check up on our lunch."

Oh, so he cooks.

"Do you need help with anything?" I asked, my fingers fidgeting with the hem of my dress I looked at him, noticing he was hesitating a little before he answered.

"Uh... no, it's fine. Lasagna's in the oven, I'll just work up a salad later."

An audible gasp was heard in the room, and yes, it came from me and from my mouth that was ajar.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, I didn't check the food with you. If you don't like lasagna I can easily make something else right now."

What the fuck was he talking about?! Me not liking lasagna?!

"Lucas, that's my favorite meal."

"Oh, well... that's a good thing then." His smile penetrated through my soul in ways I didn't know were possible and I let myself enjoy the moment between us. "Um, follow me, I'll give you a tour of the house."

I agreed with a grin that I simply wasn't capable of wiping off my face and followed him as he walked through the divisions of his home. 

"That was the kitchen, obviously. This is the living room. It's small, I know, but it's just me here. And little Lexi sometimes and she doesn't take up any space at all."

"No." I giggled. "That little girl fits in your pocket." 

I looked to my right as the feeling of warmth hit me from the side, and I noticed the small fireplace. The crackling sound of the wood logs burning ever so slowly was like music to my ears, combined with the image of the orange fire moving vividly as if it were dancing its own waltz, making every fantasy I ever had of living in a real life tumblr. post, come true.

I followed him as he made his way up the stairs, step after step and found myself in a small hallway. 

"That's my living room, that's the bathroom, and that's my makeshift office. It was a bedroom when I moved in." He explained as he pointed at the different spaces, earning all my attention.

The whole house and all its rooms were enough to fit into a rather large apartment but instead, the place was like a two floored doll house that contained every little room in its designated place, and very cleaned too.

The smell of our prepared lunch was our cue to go back to the kitchen and after we walked down the stairs and he made the salad just like he promised he would, we sat down at kitchen table to eat.

I decided to take all the chef's pleasantries out of the way right in the beginning, wanting nothing more than to talk to him, about him - he seemed like such an interesting guy right of the bat, I just wanted to get to know him more. 

"So this is basically your bachelor pad right?"

He laughed at my question and nodded is head at me while he took a sip of the (very good) wine that he had picked out to serve with the food today.

"Not in the slightest. I cleaned up the place before you got here but you should have seen it - toys everywhere! Lexi spends a lot of time with me so there's a lot of her stuff here like stuffed animals and dolls and... you know, anything really."

It was very clear to me that his niece and him had a very strong bond and a sweet connection and that she meant the world to him, almost as if she was his daughter, and I simply smiled as the thoughts crossed my mind. 

"You're really close, aren't you?"

"Yeah." He nodded again, this time with a smile too and not only on lips, on his eyes too. "Her father left Melanie before Lexi was even born. It was a complicated time, she needed all the help she could get. I helped her back then, still help her now and I guess I sort became the only male figure in the kid's life, you know? Maybe that's why she likes me, maybe it's just because I try to be the coolest uncle in town."

Suddenly, I was seeing a side of him I hadn't gotten the chance of seeing. He presented himself to me very vulnerable, yet it didn't make him any less interesting. In fact, in made him anything but.

And he captivated me.

"So, how about you? How's your book coming along?"

"Pretty good, actually. The ideas I have just don't stop and it's great when I'm on a roll. That hasn't happened in quite a while."

"I'm glad to hear. And are you enjoying London so far?"

"Yeah, I love it. Much more than I thought I would." He starred at me, waiting for me to elaborate my response and I did. "You know, I come from the West Coast also known as the Golden Coast. And I thought I was going to hate the weather here and that it was going to put me in a mood and whatnot. But I was wrong, it has its sort of... magical quality."

He hummed something I couldn't decipher, and brought the glass to his lips as he took another sip of the red wine, keeping his eyes on me the whole time, drinking me in.

If I hadn't known better, I would think he was mentally planning my murder. 

"What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, it's just... you're really beautiful."

And that was the moment I felt all the feelings that I write about in my stories.

He looked at me, told me I was beautiful and I felt like a rug had been pulled out from under my feet. Why was that? To be honest, I don't know. 

All I know is that when he looked at me with those jaw dropping ocean blue eyes and tells me I'm really beautiful, I felt week in the knees and I felt my heart beating out of my chest.

And more than that, I felt beautiful. Because he spoke with so much truth, so much honesty, so much love... that it was impossible not to feel like the most gorgeous woman that ever walked on Earth. And I fucking loved this feeling. 

"Thank you." Was all I said.

The rest of the meal went great and it was quite a task to keep on eating when we couldn't stop talking to each other, hearing one another, speak up about our dreams and hopes and what motivates us. 

It has been quite a while since I sat down to eat with someone who I shared a lot of values and beliefs with, and especially someone who truly was interested in me and in every word I spoke.

After we ate desert - a chocolate mouse that he made from scratch - I helped him with the dishes and he convinced me to stay a little longer, explaining that Lexi would love to see me again. I obviously didn't protest, and gave in, agreeing on not leaving the comfort of his house and presence right away. 

It didn't take long for his sister, Melanie, to arrive with a very much energy charged Lexi, that was in fact, happy to see me. And surprised, very surprised.

"You're the lady who was lost." She pointed at me, and I bent down to hug her. 

"Yes, I am. I'm Nicole, remember?"

"Yes." She giggled while nodding her head, but I knew all too well that she didn't. The girl wrapped her arms around me, hugging me back, before she ran inside the living room and crouched near a box, going through some DVDs.

Melanie and I said our hellos.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here. How are you?" Her British accent made her sound even more sweet than she was.

"I told you I'd have a friend over today." Lucas responded, cutting me before I could even say a word. His sister's expression of pure bewilderment and surprise had him explain himself better. "Nicole and I are friends."

"Well that's..." I could see her brain searching for the right words. "That's great, lovely. I would love to talk to you some more but I've got to go. Have fun!"

And with that, she just hugged me and then her brother before she turned in her heels to go back inside her car, while Lucas and I closed the front door behind us as we walked inside the room to find a happy Lexi, holding up the Frozen DVD box and begging her uncle to put it on the DVD player.

"Lexi, we have Nicole over today and she's too old for Frozen. Maybe we should choose a different one?"

Excuse me, what?!

Bold of him to assume I'm too old for Frozen. 

"It's okay, I like Frozen." I said, the words feeling stuck to my tongue. "Plus, you're never too old for a Disney movie."

"How old are you?" Her small voice made its appearance in the middle of what seemed to be like a very awkward moment between me and Lucas.

"I'm twenty four."

"Oh, wow." The little girl starred at me in sheer astonishment, her mouth open. "That's... a lot of years. I can't even count them with my fingers."

I simply giggled at her genuine shocked expression and shrugged. "I know, it's a lot. But I still like Disney movies."

"Nic, I'm... sorry." He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "I didn't mean to say that you're old or that... you can't watch children's movies anymore. I'm a big fan myself, at twenty eight. I mean, my dream is to design them for God's sake!" We shared a small, shy laugh at his jumbled words and I put my hand on his shoulder, truly feeling bad for the guy. 

"That's okay. I'd love to watch Frozen with you two."

And that was enough to have him show me his white pearls in a smile that could make me melt into a puddle right then and there.

"I'll go make some popcorn."

"Yay!" The girl jumped up and down on the floor while she clapped and thanked her uncle and the sight only made me softer. 

Not too long later, Lucas came back with a big red ceramic bowl filled with golden popcorn that Lexi held on her lap as she sat in the middle of the two of us, on the couch and just like that, my date (still not sure if I could call it that) turned into a Disney movie session on a Saturday afternoon and weather it was a date or not, it was still one of the best plans anyone could have asked me to join to. 

"Nicole, do you have a boyfriend?"

The question caught me off guard, and so did the two pairs of eyes that were starring at me while I looked down at my lap. Suddenly the popcorn that I held in my hands was a very interesting sight. 

"I don't, sweetie. Why?"

"If you had a boyfriend, what would you do if you were Anna?" 

"I don't know, honey. I guess I would choose Kristoff, Hans is the bad guy."

Thank God the kid has watched this movie so many times, at least I can't be called out for spoiling anything. 

"I used to think that too, but then the other day at school my friend Rose said that Hans is a prince and princes should be with princesses and Anna is a princess."

"That's not exactly how it works in real life. You should be with the person who treats you well, who loves you for who you are, even if they're not a prince and you're a princess. Which you are." I ran my hand across her hair, pulling it gently to the side and watching as the bright, beautiful blonde hair fell down her left shoulder. 

Lexi showed no complaint or protested about my words, and nodded as she refocused back on the movie playing in the TV screen in front of us, already halfway through.

This five year old girl was taking my words for granted, believing them blindly.

It's time I believe in them too.

 * * *

Author's Note:

Hey readers and writers! How do you like this chappie? Lexi is the cutest little girl isn't she? Also, who else loves Frozen ? ❄

If you're liking this story, please vote, comment (any feedback is appreciated!), and add this book to your reading list or follow me so you won't miss out any updates! 💘

Huge, special thanks to walrosie for reading my story, voting and giving me tons of feedback AND for creating two beautiful covers for this book of mine 🌸 I absolutely LOVED them! Here is one, and I'll share the other (my favorite of the two) on next chapter!

Xoxo, Mars