Come Rain, Come Shine Parts XII and XIII

[blackmacjay]

Part XII

The streets were busy as they strolled towards Knightsbridge and Kate remarked that her shiny white rubber mac was proving to be a lot warmer than the rubberized polyester but she missed the feel of the rubber lining. As they crossed the street having to concentrate hard to compensate for the “wrong-side of the road” traffic, Kate’s stomach started to growl.

“Look,” she said, “There’s a pub; do you remember what Steph said about ‘pub grub’? It’s supposed to be good value but please, no kidney pie.”

They entered the public house and were able to find a place at the bar as most people had gone back to work. Both he and Kate unbuttoned their macs as the bartender came over to take their order. Kate ordered a glass of white wine while David settled for a pint of, what he expected to be warm, draft beer. When it came he took a sip and was pleasantly surprised that, while it wasn’t icy cold like American beer, it was cool, refreshing and with a lot of taste. He offered the glass to Kate who tried it, agreed it wasn’t bad but decided she’d stick to her wine.

David asked the bartender for a couple of menus which he provided and told them that the steak and kidney pie was sold out. “Oh no”, said David tongue in cheek, “And that’s just what I was thinking about ordering.”

“Sorry about that sir. Usually Americans won’t go near it but I could ask the kitchen if they could squeeze out just one more order.”

“No that’s quite alright,” said David hastily, “I’ll be just as happy with something else.”

The bartender directed them to a small table at the side of the bar and told them to order at the bar when they were ready. “

At least,” he said as they were picking up their drinks, “You’ve come prepared for England. The macs I mean! Most Americans seem to wander round London in shorts and tee shirts believing that, if they’re on holiday, the weather will have to be warm. It’s probably what the tourist brochures tell ‘em.” And, he went to the other side of the bar to serve another customer.

Kate and David tried hard to translate the menu items into something recognizable. She settled for fish and chips while David opted for the “Ploughman’s Lunch”, only because he had no idea what that it was but a question to the bartender revealed that it was bread, cheeses and salad.

While they waited for their food, Kate dug out the note that the flight attendant had stuffed into the pocket of Kate’s rubberized polyester mac. She took out her glasses and pushed the note around the table so that David could see. On it, there were four names, some with telephone numbers and some without and they concluded that their best resource would be the local Yellow Pages.

A minute or two later, a couple came in, both laughing and both very wet. She was wearing a shiny black PVC raincoat which had no buttons but whose sides were held together with a tie sash belt. He had only a man’s umbrella which he shook before he folded it. Some splashes fell onto Kate’s shiny white rubber mac. He apologized and bent to brush off the drops. As he did so, he stroked the outer surface and also noted David’s trench coat. “It’s pouring out there again,” he said.

“Oh great,” responded Kate and I’ve no hat and no umbrella.” She learned that if they went around the corner to their right there was a store that may be able to help.

In a little while, David paid the bill and they went out into the street. By this time, the rain had subsided to a heavy drizzle but they hurried around the corner and found a store whose sign proclaimed the name to be, “Mactastic”. It was, however, closed but the display in the window looked very interesting consisting as it did of a variety of rainwear from traditional riding macs to women’s shiny PVC to full-length capes. Kate and David made a note of the store’s business hours for a return visit.

Back on the main street, Kate noticed that they were close to a department store and they decided it was worth a try. In the ladies rainwear department there was little to interest either of them but the assistant noting Kate’s shiny white rubber mac and hearing her request suggested a mid-blue PVC rain hat and a large clear PVC dome umbrella.

While not what they had in mind, “They will serve the purpose until something better comes along,” observed Kate as they left the store with their purchases. And not a moment too soon, as the previous drizzle turned into a steady rain. Kate pulled the rain hat over her hair and David raised the umbrella that was just big enough for both if David put his arm around Kate’s rubber covered waist.

In this fashion, they walked for about an hour seeing the local area before they returned to their hotel. Arriving back in their room and shaking off droplets from her mac, Kate also noted that they must make another addition to their shopping list. “If this weather keeps up,” she said, “I’m going to need some boots and I think I’d like to look at rubber ones, perhaps knee length with a heel”.

“Noted, and on the list,” replied David.

They sat and watched the BBC television news broadcast, then went downstairs to the hotel bar, enjoyed a pre-dinner drink and then ate in the adjoining restaurant. By 8:30pm they were both feeling the effects of the trip and the jet lag and decided that an early night was in order.



Part XIII

Dawn found Kate and David already awake. She was in the shower while he watched the early TV show because there was no way that two people could occupy that bathroom at the same time.

Kate came out, “Bathroom’s all yours.” she said, “What’s new in the world?”

David explained that most of the news stories didn’t mean too much to him as they were very “Britain-centric” however the weather forecast was for partly sunny conditions with only scattered showers.

After breakfast they were scheduled to take a tour of London on an open-top double decker bus and later on a boat down the Thames River. Before leaving the hotel they walked outside and were pleased to find that it seemed warmer than the previous day. However, because of the threat of showers, Kate opted to take her rubberized polyester mac while David decided to risk it with just a jacket; a choice he would regret later.

Finding their way to the location where they would board the bus proved to be much easier than they’d feared. The subway system, known to the locals as “the Tube” was well signed and the only challenge was figuring out the currency to buy the ticket.

When they emerged into daylight, a two-minute walk brought them to the bus depot and showing their tickets, they were ushered onto the bus. To get the best view possible they climbed the stairs to the upper deck and claimed two seats. When the bus left it was about 75% full and most of the passengers had also chosen the higher vantage point. Their fellow passengers seemed to represent all corners of the world but David had detected an accent behind them from the American South.

The tour was very well done and Kate and David left the bus impressed with it and the city to which they had just been introduced. As they boarded the boat for the trip down the river from Tower Bridge they were handed a box lunch which they ate while looking at the Tower of London and its “Traitor’s Gate”.

“That,” said David, “Is one place where we have to spend more time. Just think about Anne Boleyn, Cranmer and, who knows how many more that died there.” Kate shivered, unclear whether the cold was because of David’s speculations or because the boat had left its mooring and was headed out into the river. For the first time that day she put on her rubberized polyester mac, fastened the buttons and raised the hood over her hair.

“David,” she whispered as she felt the cool rubber against her cheek and inhaled that glorious scent, “If we can find it, I want an all-rubber mac because I do like to see rubber on the outside but I’m becoming addicted to rubber linings. So, a mac like my latex kaftan would be ideal.” David added that his list along with the boots.

As the boat began its turn to go back up the river, the first hint of a squall hit and a couple of minutes later the heavens opened. Kate laughed as David made a run for cover while she reveled in the raindrops hitting and bouncing off her waterproof mac. She looked towards the cabin where David was sheltering and a woman in her twenties approached clutching a very wet umbrella.

“Excuse me,” she asked as she touched Kate’s sleeve. “Is that a rubber raincoat? I think my husband has fantasies about seeing me in one but I wouldn’t know what to buy or where to buy it.”

“And how do you feel about that?” asked Kate.

Her accent proclaimed that she hailed from Texas as she said, “Well, I’d go for it here in London but I’m not too sure about Houston. Folks are kinda conservative in Houston.”

“Tell me,” asked Kate, “Doesn’t Houston get a lot of rain?” The lady introduced herself as Jessica and said her husband Tom was under cover near to David. Kate gave her the address of the store they’d seen yesterday and recommended they take a look.

As they left the boat, Kate and David were behind the couple and heard her whisper, “Yes it’s rubber and it felt really nice. She gave me the address of a store they know. Let’s go take a look. If this weather is going to go on, I need something and so do you.”

She passed the note to her husband who recognized the location. “OK honey, that’s only a couple of blocks from our Bed & Breakfast,” he replied.

s Kate passed them she turned, smiled and said, “Good Luck. Enjoy!”