Woke up at 6am, wanting to go back to sleep. What’s new. Fixed brekkie for Germaine then woke her up. That girl is such a grouch in the morning, like me. Tied pigtails for her, then sent her downstairs for the school bus. Then the whole rigmarole of housechores and food preparation before taking a shower.

Feeling girly this morning. Even my choice of outfit reflects. Cream-coloured pinpoint camisole with lace trim. Camel shrug. Vintage cream A line pin striped skirt. My darling Hansa Jaeger calfskin toffee brown tote. Brown leather on cream tweed heels. The amber necklace mum bought fro me from Taiwan. Preened for a few seconds in front of the mirror and feeling a tad smug at my fabby get up. False modesty was never one of my flaws. Kekeke.

Woke the little Munchkin up, where she promptly gave me a hug with her trademark “Good morning mummy!” and a peck on the cheek. She’s such a sunshine person, unlike her mummy who’s definitely not a morning person, to say the least. It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why I adore this little pip so much.

Dolled her up (yes, she takes after me in this aspect) and off we go on our daily walks to school. I love the walks we take together every morning. We’d hold hands and talk about stuff. You know, stuff like, trees, snails, motorcycles, dying ants. Heavy issues. Amazing how much we can cram into a ten minute walk.

Then as usual, accosted by a bevy of visual monstrosity and fake LVs prancing around at the bus stop. But. BUT. I got an unexpected respite this morning after boarding the bus.
My eye spied a really cute guy. A really empty seat beside him. Promptly swooped the seat and fished out my “Love in the time of Cholera” whilst checking him out discreetly sideways.

And then, our friend starts a conversation with the lamest line ever.
“Don’t you think the bus is real jerky this morning?”
I had to bite my tongue AND my gums to stifle the giggles that were threatening to break out.
“Is it?”
“My name is Raj. You are….”
“Rachel”
“Beautiful name. Matches you.”
*me trying to stifle giggles again*
Then he goes, “What’s that you’re reading?”
“Love in the time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“I read his ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ too”
“Really? Me too. I love his literary style - very whimsical.”
And then we talked more about books, and he told me that he’s a consultant specializing in Muslim financial banking. Interesting.

I put on my absorbed “you are too fascinating for words” face and he basically told me his work history for the next ten minutes.

I had to cut him off mid sentence when we were approaching Springleaf Tower.
Then he asked, “how can I contact you?”
“See you tomorrow same time same place?”
“Where?”
“On the bus.”

And then I sauntered off, leaving him waving to me through the window.