Tower Bridge Time!

Class ended an hour earlier than usual. I was just planning on staying home and do a bit of job hunting when Gene grabbed me.

“Guys,” she pertained to Art and Tina, “let’s take Josh for a tour today, shall we? You kept on complaining that you haven’t been to any of London’s hotspots!”

It’s true. Ever since I arrived, I did nothing but to go to school, to look for jobs, to run errands in the nearby high street, etc.

“Where do you wanna go Josh?” said Art.

“Erm, I haven’t really taken a picture of the Tower Bridge yet…” I said meekly.

“Oh dear. We’ll take a picture of you beside the Bridge. Let’s go then!” said Gene.

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“Stand there. We’ll make this your FB profile pic.” Art was ushering me to stand at a certain spot while he moves my camera to check the perfect angle. We were standing at the Hays Complex beside the River Thames, overlooking Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

“Are you an aspiring photographer?” I asked.

“Yes, but man I hope I can get a DSLR soon,” he grinned. Blimey… his smirk’s so cute. But I have to stop this. He's straight, I think.

I tried to hide my discomposure by looking at the cup of Starbucks coffee I was holding. 3 quid. I have to find a job asap, or else I am really going to sleep here by the Thames.

“Say cheese!” And the camera went click.

“Do you also want me to take a pic of you?” I asked.

“Nah, I already have one, but you can take a shot of me with that over there.” He pointed to the onion-shaped building right next to the Thames.

It’s the London City Hall.

I tried to take the shot from the best possible angle. After showing it to him, he exclaimed: “Haha, you are totally better than me at this one!”

“Nah, I’m not really that good. I have a friend back home who’s really the professional one.” I was not sure if I was blushing or not when talking to him.

We had to go after a few minutes since Tina and Art have work that afterrnoon. Gene asked me if I can accompany her to play some pool (or billiards) in Park Royal. Before I even said yes, she was already dragging me to the Tube station as we headed off for Oxford Circus.

While waiting for Gene’s friend to meet us up, we just strolled along the busy thoroughfare. It was a marvellous sight. Thousands of tourists/shoppers were walking from all directions. Oxford Street was basically London’s Champs-Élysées. High street brands ranging from Zara to Burberry covered both sides of the road, and it goes on and on and on…

I was doing window shopping, while Gene did the actual shopping. Goodness. 25 quid for a shirt? Madness.

“Don’t worry Josh. If you did find a job, you can buy all the things you want.” Gene then gave me a pat on the shoulder, sympathising for me. She then went to queue for checkout.

Someday, I will be the one who will be shopping like hell. Just wait and see.