Our two souls therefore, which are one, 
Though I must go, endure not yet 

A breach, but an expansion, 

Like gold to aery thinness beat.

~ John Donne, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

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This morning brought with it terrible news, as Mandi wandered towards the kitchen saying ‘There’s no food in this house.’ It turned out that there were some scones in the freezer and a jar of mouldy jam in the fridge, so we managed to create a delicious breakfast after all, although I don’t agree with Mandi putting condensed milk in my tea. Some things just don’t need to be sweetened. We hopped on a train back to London and for the first time in a week made separate plans for our evening entertainment. Mandi was to meet a friend for a wander around Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, while I was to grab some cheap Chinese and hang out at my mum’s place with Chiara, a girl I know from uni. 

For the first time in my life, I managed to reach our designated meeting point, King’s Cross station, before Chiara. I have to admit punctuality is not a strong point of mine. We headed over to ‘Chop Chop’ a cheerful restaurant cum take-away opposite the station, for dinner on a budget. I ordered my two favourite dishes to share between us, laksa and seafood sar ho fun, disguising my selfishness by telling Chiara she should just trust my extensive knowledge of Chinese food. Our food arrived promptly, and I at once saw the huge dishes before us as an unspoken challenge. There was no way we could finish all that, surely. 

I have to say, I’m pretty proud of how much we did manage to get through, leaving only a small pile of vermicelli noodles uneaten so that Chiara had something to play with while we chatted. After that, it was on to my mum’s place, where Chiara and my mother decided to gang up against me, and I became the victim of some form of emotional bullying. I knew I shouldn’t have left them alone. So I sent my mum off back to Kent so that Chiara and I continued our dinner-and-drink-on-a-very-tight-budget by finding a 1.5l bottle of cherry Lambrini and a £3.50 bottle of red wine in the local mini mart. I haven’t had cherry Lambrini since I was 18, and seeing and tasting the bright pink liquid foaming away in my mug, I remember why. Memories of those good old student days came flooding back as we drank and chatted and chatted and drank, before eventually falling asleep.

As for Mandi, all I know is she ate a giant cheese and ham pretzel.

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