Over the last two days, we had been entwined in each other. Emotionally. Mentally. Physically. We’d gone incognito wearing hoodies and sunglasses as we meandered around the South Bank, then headed west to the Notting Hill Festival. The whole day, my hand had been firmly tucked in his.

When I'd finally sort of kicked him out of my flat that morning, he'd grumbled, but also complained that he had work to do and that I was too enticing a distraction. I'd taken the opportunity to pick up my camera. It had been a few days since I’d taken any shots, and I wanted to get back at it. After all, that was why I was there. Falling in love wasn't part of that.

Who said anything about love?

No, not love. Falling in like. That was the thing, right?

The point was, I was there to study. And Alexi, while beautiful and enticing and fun, was not really at the top of the agenda. So, I needed to get back to it.

I headed toward Kingston Upon Thames in the morning, taking my usual stroll up to the 65 bus stop, traversing along the Thames and humming to myself as I walked. It wasn't raining, thank God, but I had an umbrella packed, just in case. The sky was gray, but that was London, though it wasn't bad in terms of temperature. Cool enough for a jacket, but I didn't need all the accoutrement of hat, gloves, and scarf. None of that. As I marched, I smiled. When I made it to the bus stop, I perched on the seat and turned back toward the river, shooting the rowers as they passed. When the bus arrived, I climbed on the second level. It was my favorite spot with a vantage point. I hadn't planned on getting off until Kingston, but the park we passed had some kind of kid's fair going on, so I hopped off there. They had some entertainers I could probably capture with my old striker, hopping on and off the bus as I pleased.

There were still some puddles around the bus stop, which I narrowly avoided by hopping. I bumped into a man dressed in all black and gave him a brief smile of apology. When his gaze pinned on me, icy blue, dead, flat, cold, I shivered. "Sorry," I mumbled and then scampered away from him as quickly as possible. The chill of the way he looked at me went bone deep. I made a mental note to avoid him again.

There was a funny thing that happened when people saw you with a camera. Immediately, they ran up to you with their cell phone. "Oh, would you mind taking a photo of us?” I didn't mind. I wasn't in a rush. And truth be told, I was happy. Not in that way of wide-eyed exploration, but in a way that sort of settled in the bones.