Who: Wayne Hopkins & Hannah Abbott When: 18 August, mid-afternoon Where: Charing Cross Road, London What: A friendly meetup in the rain Rating: PG Open/Closed: Closed
Central London was always buzzing in the middle of the summer, even in the rain. Tourists were scurrying everywhere, ducking into any souvenir store they could find to buy their rain ponchos and Union Jack umbrellas. Wayne simply put up the hood of his zip-up jacket and continued down the pavement. It was London; it was bound to rain at some point during the day. As far as he was concerned, being English meant the sixty percent of his body comprised of water was really rainwater.
Having left his Discman at home, Wayne had only the music in his head to occupy his head--and he was a little too wrapped up in it to react well to a door opening and an explosion of loud voices from a group of four people in newly-purchased ponchos. One woman walked straight into Wayne's arm. He was uttering a polite "Sorry" when a second woman plowed into him at speed, leaving them both sprawled on the pavement.
"OH, now I'm soaked!" the woman whined. Her friend cackled with laughter a few steps away. The two men behind them picked the woman, who was on top of Wayne, up onto her feet. One of the men scowled at Wayne and yelled, "Why don't you watch where you're fuckin' goin', you fuckin' prick?" in a thick accent that Wayne knew right away was American. They ran down the street as if the rain was going to melt them, the man who yelled at him continuing to rant about the fucking Brits and how Wayne would be speaking German if it hadn't been for his grandfather.
"Unbelievable," Wayne said as he sat on the pavement...