Which bit is he questioning?
“Yes, definitely can’t cook. I burn water.”
“Water doesn’t burn,” Lucy pipes up through a mouth full of food.
“I meant… you are really an urban planner?” Theo asks.
I nod.
He frowns slightly, like he’s trying to fit this into his mental image of me. “So you… plan London?”
“Well, more like I help design urban spaces, make sure buildings and transport systems work together, and try to stop people from ruining everything with bad infrastructure decisions.”
Theo looks at me like I’ve just told him I secretly run MI5. “That is so much more serious than I expected.”
“Wow,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “What did you expect?”
He hesitates, glancing at Lucy, then lowers his voice slightly. “Honestly? Something a bit… flashier.”
I smirk. “Like what? A job in entertainment?”
He presses his lips together, clearly suppressing a laugh. “Something… customer-service-adjacent.”
I gasp dramatically. “How dare you.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “I just can’t picture you in a suit, standing over a giant map, making life-altering decisions about where to put a new bus lane.”
“Oh, I have that power,” I say, tilting my head. “I could personally make your morning commute hell if I wanted to.”
Theo raises an eyebrow. “You’d… adjust transport logistics out of spite?”
“Absolutely.”
“Unfortunately for you, we live just around the corner. No commuting involved. Regardless, remind me never to get on your bad side.”
“Smart man.” I grin, taking a sip of my third hot chocolate this afternoon.
Theo watches me, like he’s still trying to figure me out.
Good luck, mate! I’m still trying to figure me out, too.
Before I can take another sip, Lucy suddenly perks up, eyes wide with excitement.
“Can you build me a playground?” she asks, her little hands gripping the edge of the table.
I blink. “Uh… what?”
Theo sighs, shaking his head. “Ladybug, that’s not how it works.”
“But she plans cities,” Lucy insists, as if I have the power to summon swing sets out of thin air. “She can put a playground here!”
I bite my lip, trying not to laugh at how serious she looks. “It’s a nice idea, Lucy, but I don’t actually get tochoose where things go. I mostly work on roads and boring stuff.”
Lucy deflates a little, frowning. “But there’s no playground around here. And the one at Uncle Jasper’s is so good.”
Theo nods. “She’s not wrong. There’s hardly anything for kids within walking distance. My brother lives in a small village in Kent and it has this massive playground. Every time we visit, Lucy acts like it’s Disneyland.”
“It has a zip line,” Lucy adds dramatically.
