She is.“Let’s get it.” I will do anything to keep that smile on her face forever.
“Mommy look, half of that lady’s arm fell off.”
My body turns to stone at the little voice to our left and the sound of the mother desperately trying to shush her child.
Did London hear? Is that always how it is?
Before I can process what I should do, London turns. The mother tries to apologize but London waves her off and kneels by the little boy who can’t be more than four. “Hi, I’m London. What’s your name?”
“Leo.” He pushes his oversized beanie off his forehead and peers at her. “Where’s your hand?”
“That’s a great question. I was born like this. Just like you were born with those beautiful brown eyes.”
He blinks like he’s trying to look at his own eyes but can’t quite seem to do it. It’s adorable. He looks at London again, then he turns to his mom. “She's the coolest lady ever,” he says, very matter-of-fact.
I agree.
London chuckles. “Thank you. That’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”
I need to step up my game.
London stands up and looks at the mom who’s got tears in her eyes.
The boy is then distracted by a bird and takes off after it, pulling the mother behind him and London turns back to the tree.
“You’re amazing, did you know that?” I step up next to her and slip my hand around hers.
She shrugs, but she’s grinning. “Things that are different can be scary to people. But it’s not what's different that’s scary, it’s knowing how to treat people who are different that is scary. I used to hide my arm when things like that happened. It’s uncomfortable being the cause of so much attention when you’re still young and insecure. I didn’t know any different but then I’d pass a group of kids and suddenly I was awonder.” She shakes her head and my heart breaks for her and the pain and confusion she must have felt. “My parents helped me come up with crazy stories to use when I felt uncomfortable. Things like a shark bit it off, or I lost it while fighting with ninjas.”
I chuckle just thinking of a little London telling big stories like that.
“But around the time I met you, and suddenly everyone knew my secret—”
“Sorry,” I grimace.
“No,” she shakes her head. “Iwasupset at first, but it helped me realize that sometimes approaching things head-on is better than hiding. And why should I hide it? My arm doesn’t make me any less me.”
“You should never hide,” I whisper.
I love her. Never once in my life have I felt this way about a woman. Never once has one impressed me so much. My heart has jumped overboard, and I’m sunk.
I’ve been trying to compensate for so many things, for my differences and downfalls, and in one evening she taught me how to embrace them. I’m never going to be as patient as Grant, as smart as Trent, as driven as Michael, and maybe…that’s okay.
“Have I told you how incredible you are?” I hook a finger through her belt loop.
She bites her bottom lip and looks up at me expectantly.
“Because you are the most—”
“Sean?”
I spin toward the voice before my brain can catch up to me and tell me it's a bad idea. Because I know that voice. I have never run into so many exes as I have in London’s presence.
“Stacey?” I look at the woman. It’s her, all right. Blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and the token glare women seem to have around me. This isn’t good. “You look great, how are you?” My attempt at damage control, before the actual damage.
She pops out a hip. “Well, let’s see, after you made out with my boss at the company partyItook you to, I was fired.”
I don’t know what to say. Sorry isn’t enough. It wasn’t quite that simple. I glance at London, who looks shifty and nervous like a scared little animal ready to flee. She slips her hand out of mine, and I feel its loss like a visceral reaction.
