Together

Night On The Town

Purely a filler chapter, honestly... oh well. I'm nearing writing the end of this book (but I'm about 20 chapters ahead of what I'm publishing, so no worries!) and I can't believe that, honestly. It has turned out to be way longer than Captivated, lol. And, yes, I do know what I'm doing after this book, but we will discuss that at a later date... keep you all in suspense, hm? In the meantime, enjoy this chapter. Comment and vote if you wish x

-ab

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June 26, 2026

Patrick

"Well," I say, walking into the flat and looking at my wife, who is sitting on the sofa watching telly, "I'm done with my pediatrics class. I passed with high marks, and my promotion is effective, beginning in July."

She jumps off of the sofa and runs into my arms to give me a hug. "Patrick, that's amazing," she tells me. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," I smile at her.

"How about we head out for an early dinner to celebrate, before I have to be at the theatre? Then, maybe you could get a rush ticket?"

"I think that sounds lovely," I say. "Just let me go freshen up first."

"I'd like to do the same," she replies.

Harper gets changed into a sundress, and I put on a button down shirt with rolled up sleeves and shorts.

"You look hot," Harper remarks.

"As do you," I wink at her. "Now, come on. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't care," she tells me. "Wherever you'd like is fine with me."

"How about we go to that little pub in Hampstead... the one with the good pizzas. I can't quite recall the name of the place, but it's by your old flat and the crepe stand that Katherine fancies is right outside..."

"Oh!" she exclaims, knowing the place immediately. "King William IV, I believe."

"That's it!" I nod. "How about we go there?"

"That sounds great," Harper says. "Perhaps I'll text Kath and see if she will meet up with me to take the tube into the West End, then, after dinner."

"That sounds like a good plan," I reply. I'm still not completely loving the idea of Harper taking the tube alone, after our encounter with Millie, a young woman being harassed on the tube, a few months ago. Harper refuses to get a car, though, as she says that it's rather expensive and too slow to drive. On top of that, there is nowhere to park in central London, anyway, she says. These are all valid points, so I'm not prepared to argue with her on it, right now.

Harper and I take the tube to Hampstead, then walk the short distance to King William IV. Inside, it's always fun to look at all of the pictures of the celebrities lining the walls. It's slightly crowded, as it is Friday and people are just starting to get off of work, but the real rush of people is going to come in a few hours.

"I won't lie," Harper says as we are sitting in the restaurant and have placed our orders with a friendly waitress, "I miss living in this neighborhood."

"Perhaps we could see what we could do about getting ourselves somewhere to live in this area then, hm?" I suggest.

"That would be amazing," she replies. "I think it's a rather expensive area to buy in, though."

"I'll look into it," I tell her, taking a sip of the beer which is in front of me. "It would be really nice to live around here, I will admit."

"It feels like its own little community," she explains. "And there's great schools nearby, too, just in case someday, we might be needing those... you know..."

"Someday," I nod. "Not until you're ready."

She gives me a little smile.

Our pizza which we ordered is just as delicious as it has been every other time I've eaten here. Once we are done, we sit outside, on a bench across a small alley, and Kath comes after about five minutes of waiting.

"You ready to get over to the theatre?" Harper asks.

"Yep," Kath replies. "Are you rushing tickets, Patrick?"

"Yeah, I'm going to see what they'll give me."

"It's so sweet that you're always coming to the show," she tells me. "I wish that I had that nice of a man in my life."

"You wish that you had any man in your life," Harper teases her friend.

"Whoa, shots have been fired," I laugh.

"Seriously," Kath shakes her head. "You didn't have to attack me like that, Harper."

"Just telling it like it is," she winks, causing all three of us to burst into giggles.

After I drop the two girls off at the theatre, I walk around Soho for a bit, with not much to do until it's time to go get a ticket and head into the theatre for the show. I end up stopping in a tacky souvenir shop and looking around at all of the junk which the owner is trying to sell to gullible tourists. There's a lot of that, especially considering that the store is condensed into such a tiny space.

I don't purchase anything, only walk out having killed a bit of time. Then, I pick up two cookies from a little bakery- one for me and one for Harper. I pick out one of them and eat it as I'm walking back to the Piccadilly Theatre.

I only have to wait around in Piccadilly Circus for ten minutes or so before I'm able to head into the box office for Anastasia.

The lady working is very nice and helps me to find a seat.

"I had a really close seat, but I just gave that away to Amelia's mum. She's the understudy for Little Anastasia and performing toinght," she explains to me. "That means that I'm going to have to put you rather close to the back, though. I have a seat in the last row of the dress circle, or a seat near the middle of the upper circle that I can put you in."

"I'll take the seat in the upper circle," I say. "Thank you so much."

As I'm usually sitting in the upper circle when I see the show, I've grown to quite like the view from up there. It's easy to see the entire stage, as opposed to having to pick one singular point and focus on that, like you have to do in the seats closer to the stage.

Once my ticket has been printed for me, I head into the theatre and find my seat quickly.

No matter how many times that I see this show, it'll always be exciting for me, because I get to watch my wife do what she loves up on that stage. That's the best part of the entire show.