A London Recap: Part 9 of 10

KATY

What can I say about Katy? She is lovely, she is kind, she is good. All those words mean the same thing and yet I find the need to use them all to describe Katy the good, Katy the kind, Katy the lovely.

Katy is another grad school cohort who I lived with during my unemployed stint in London (2009). When I say lived, what I really mean is that I was crashing on their living room floor for six months. Katy was going through her own life change at the time, and we found ourselves connecting on a level that could not be described. We were both a bit lost I suppose and wondered why things had happened as they did. Looking back on those moments now I can say with certainty that both our lives are better because of it.

When we moved out of that flat (which included Kerri) I felt as though things would never be the same again. I would go off to a place where I would have my own room, my own things, where I could stay up as late as I wanted, slept in as late as I wanted, or danced with my headphones on and didn't worry about anyone walking in on me (which has happened) but I also lost something. The conversation over toast and eggs, watching 'Murder She Wrote' in bed together, and laughing like mad at each other's eccentricities. Living with Katy was like living with a significant other, though our relationship was purely platonic. Soon after, Katy would move to Ireland to pursue her dream job in casting.

When she found out that I had to leave London she flew over to say good bye. We spent the better part of a weekend together but what I remember the most was our session of afternoon tea.

For those of you who don't know what afternoon tea is, it's when you have tea and a lavish tiered platter selection of sandwiches and cakes. It is a very classy thing to do and is usually only privi to the older wealthy folk.

As we roamed the streets of London one lazy afternoon we found a place that had a moderately priced afternoon tea on offer and since it would have been my first time, and could have possibly been my last, Katy and I jumped at the opportunity.

Katy didn't drink her tea and I ate most of the sandwiches and cakes. At the end I thought to myself, was that all? It didn't seem like such a big deal anymore and though I have returned to London I have never had afternoon tea again. Though whenever I think of Katy, I think of that afternoon were we sat in that Hotel Restaurant, where I drank my tea and stuffed my face with cake, and just looked at the girl sitting opposite me. The Lovely, the Kind, the Good. Katy.