bloodsong1 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodsong1) wrote2005-09-04 09:08 am
bloodsong1) wrote2005-09-04 09:08 am
Entry tags:
Sweetshop
London is huge! Yes, I know that sounds obvious, but keep in mind the only big city I’ve been to is Boston. London trumps Boston completely. Rae’s mom’s friends met us at the airport, thank heavens! A charming couple, Gregory and Susan McCormick. Scottish, if you please, happily relocated from the Highlands. I love their accents! Susan hugged all of us, gushed over Rae; “Och, how ye’ve grown, lad!” and nearly drooled on Sher; “A bonniest lassie I’ve never seen. Ye did well for yerself, Raphael.”
I felt rather third-wheel-ish until Gregory offered me his arm and whispered in my ear not to mind Susan, she always treated Rae like a son and welcome to Great Britain. I grinned and thanked him. We meandered through customs, finally claimed our bags and all piled into Gregory’s lorry. I kept looking for Kenji, but after customs I lost him. I crossed my fingers, with little hope. As I said, London is humongous, so really, what are the odds?
Sher and I clung to Rae during the drive, oohing and pointing and generally acting like giggly girl tourists. The McCormicks lived in one of the northern suburbs, in this cute light gray house that was squished into a row of houses. There was no space between the homes! Inside was beautiful; lace curtains, cheerful colors, a variety of rugs, an honest-to-God flagstone kitchen and a postage stamp garden. We clustered in the living room after the quick tour.
“Mrs. McCormick, we all talked about it and we wanted you to know that we are more then willing to pay rent or whatever you feel…” Sher started. Susan blinked at us.
“Didn’t Carol tell ye?” She asked.
“Tell us what?” Rae countered. Susan threw back her head and laughed. Gregory chuckled and shook his head while we young adults looked confused.
“Och, I’m sorry. That Carol. I suppose she said she had made special arrangements for ye.” Susan said, wiping her eyes. We nodded.
“Silly woman. So very French. We are a host family for exchange students. We take in as many as six a year and we enjoy it. Summers tend to be very quiet and we were eager to have young people with us, so when Carol called, we volunteered!” Rae muttered something about stiffing Carol on the wedding party.
“However, there are ground rules, so pay attention.” We all snapped to attention, making Gregory chuckle again. Susan nodded and held up a finger.
“Rule number one. The bath is co-ed, the bedrooms are not. Birds in one room, blokes in another. Now, because Raphael and Cherie are engaged, I will overlook any conjugal visits, but ye MUST change the sheets in the morning.” Sher choked on a gasp, turning bright pink. Rae found the braided rug under our feet fascinating and I fought back laughter. Susan smiled.
“Washing day is Friday, which brings me to rule two.” She added a finger. “We are a family here, so everyone helps. Cooking, cleaning, washing, going to market. I expect yer rooms to be tidy. They don’t have to be pristine. And finally, rule three.” She held up a third finger.
“Any friends ye make are welcome, but they must leave by midnight. This is for our benefit, not yers, as we like our sleep.” I gave in and giggled.
“Similarly, if ye’re going to be out and about, please call and let us know so we won’t try to shoot ye coming in at 3 o’clock. After dawn is fine, we’ll be up by then. Ye’re adults and can take care of yerselves. Staying in a hostel or hotel is fine, but longer then 48 hours without notice and we will be sending the bobbies after ye. Everyone understand?” We nodded.
“Splendid! Cherie, Candace, follow me. Gregory, ye get Raphael.” We all grabbed our bags and trooped up the stairs. Sher and I were roomed to the left, Rae to the right, with a w/c and separate bath between us. A room devoted totally to bathing without a toilet, how fascinating! Our room was simply adorable: more lace curtains, twin beds done up in a flowery comforter. The walls were painted cream with cute ribbon stencils bordering the top in light blue, pink and green. Twin desks, also cream, flanked the door, two freestanding wardrobes and a window seat upholstered in light green with pink and blue pillows completed the room. I squealed happily and claimed the left hand bed.
“Oh, this is beautiful! Thank you Susan!” I cried, hugging our newly adopted mom. She laughed and hugged me back.
“Tea will be ready soon.”
“Yay! Tea!” Susan left, chuckling. Sher simply rolled her eyes and began unpacking.
“This is so…” She said, carrying a load of clothes to the right hand wardrobe.
“Cute? Sweet? British schoolgirl?”
“Schoolgirl. Entirely too young and too girly.”
“So buy some geek posters and put them up.” I said, tossing my head and unzipping my suitcases. “I bet you’ll be able to find some neat ones here that you can’t in the US.”
“Maybe some prints.” Sher mused. We finished unpacking and went knocking on Rae’s door. He opened it with a strange look on his face.
“My mother is NOT outfitting our wedding.” He announced.
“Oh, it can’t be that bad!” I said. Sher’s lips twitched in her special way and pushed past him. I tagged behind and my mouth fell open. Blue. The room was blue with various shades of brown. Twin beds with geometric comforters in tan and blue, graduated blue wallpaper, dark wood wardrobes and desks and a small study area of lighter brown upholstered chairs and matching table. No window seat and the curtains were tan. It screamed “I’m Male!” in a way that’s SO not Rae.
“Ummm.” I said, trying to think of something. Sher just shook her head, took Rae’s hand and dragged him to our room. I heard a shout of Japanese disbelief and dashed after them.
“I agree. Your mom just lost a commission.” Sher said when I walked in. They were hugging, Rae stroking her hair.
“Don’t worry, love. We’ll survive this.”
“Maybe they have different rooms?” I suggested.
I felt rather third-wheel-ish until Gregory offered me his arm and whispered in my ear not to mind Susan, she always treated Rae like a son and welcome to Great Britain. I grinned and thanked him. We meandered through customs, finally claimed our bags and all piled into Gregory’s lorry. I kept looking for Kenji, but after customs I lost him. I crossed my fingers, with little hope. As I said, London is humongous, so really, what are the odds?
Sher and I clung to Rae during the drive, oohing and pointing and generally acting like giggly girl tourists. The McCormicks lived in one of the northern suburbs, in this cute light gray house that was squished into a row of houses. There was no space between the homes! Inside was beautiful; lace curtains, cheerful colors, a variety of rugs, an honest-to-God flagstone kitchen and a postage stamp garden. We clustered in the living room after the quick tour.
“Mrs. McCormick, we all talked about it and we wanted you to know that we are more then willing to pay rent or whatever you feel…” Sher started. Susan blinked at us.
“Didn’t Carol tell ye?” She asked.
“Tell us what?” Rae countered. Susan threw back her head and laughed. Gregory chuckled and shook his head while we young adults looked confused.
“Och, I’m sorry. That Carol. I suppose she said she had made special arrangements for ye.” Susan said, wiping her eyes. We nodded.
“Silly woman. So very French. We are a host family for exchange students. We take in as many as six a year and we enjoy it. Summers tend to be very quiet and we were eager to have young people with us, so when Carol called, we volunteered!” Rae muttered something about stiffing Carol on the wedding party.
“However, there are ground rules, so pay attention.” We all snapped to attention, making Gregory chuckle again. Susan nodded and held up a finger.
“Rule number one. The bath is co-ed, the bedrooms are not. Birds in one room, blokes in another. Now, because Raphael and Cherie are engaged, I will overlook any conjugal visits, but ye MUST change the sheets in the morning.” Sher choked on a gasp, turning bright pink. Rae found the braided rug under our feet fascinating and I fought back laughter. Susan smiled.
“Washing day is Friday, which brings me to rule two.” She added a finger. “We are a family here, so everyone helps. Cooking, cleaning, washing, going to market. I expect yer rooms to be tidy. They don’t have to be pristine. And finally, rule three.” She held up a third finger.
“Any friends ye make are welcome, but they must leave by midnight. This is for our benefit, not yers, as we like our sleep.” I gave in and giggled.
“Similarly, if ye’re going to be out and about, please call and let us know so we won’t try to shoot ye coming in at 3 o’clock. After dawn is fine, we’ll be up by then. Ye’re adults and can take care of yerselves. Staying in a hostel or hotel is fine, but longer then 48 hours without notice and we will be sending the bobbies after ye. Everyone understand?” We nodded.
“Splendid! Cherie, Candace, follow me. Gregory, ye get Raphael.” We all grabbed our bags and trooped up the stairs. Sher and I were roomed to the left, Rae to the right, with a w/c and separate bath between us. A room devoted totally to bathing without a toilet, how fascinating! Our room was simply adorable: more lace curtains, twin beds done up in a flowery comforter. The walls were painted cream with cute ribbon stencils bordering the top in light blue, pink and green. Twin desks, also cream, flanked the door, two freestanding wardrobes and a window seat upholstered in light green with pink and blue pillows completed the room. I squealed happily and claimed the left hand bed.
“Oh, this is beautiful! Thank you Susan!” I cried, hugging our newly adopted mom. She laughed and hugged me back.
“Tea will be ready soon.”
“Yay! Tea!” Susan left, chuckling. Sher simply rolled her eyes and began unpacking.
“This is so…” She said, carrying a load of clothes to the right hand wardrobe.
“Cute? Sweet? British schoolgirl?”
“Schoolgirl. Entirely too young and too girly.”
“So buy some geek posters and put them up.” I said, tossing my head and unzipping my suitcases. “I bet you’ll be able to find some neat ones here that you can’t in the US.”
“Maybe some prints.” Sher mused. We finished unpacking and went knocking on Rae’s door. He opened it with a strange look on his face.
“My mother is NOT outfitting our wedding.” He announced.
“Oh, it can’t be that bad!” I said. Sher’s lips twitched in her special way and pushed past him. I tagged behind and my mouth fell open. Blue. The room was blue with various shades of brown. Twin beds with geometric comforters in tan and blue, graduated blue wallpaper, dark wood wardrobes and desks and a small study area of lighter brown upholstered chairs and matching table. No window seat and the curtains were tan. It screamed “I’m Male!” in a way that’s SO not Rae.
“Ummm.” I said, trying to think of something. Sher just shook her head, took Rae’s hand and dragged him to our room. I heard a shout of Japanese disbelief and dashed after them.
“I agree. Your mom just lost a commission.” Sher said when I walked in. They were hugging, Rae stroking her hair.
“Don’t worry, love. We’ll survive this.”
“Maybe they have different rooms?” I suggested.
I know I haven't said this...
*bows*