Beauty and the Brit- Chapter 14: Britbound (Patreon)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BRITBOUND

This was it. Paige was all packed and ready to go to the airport. Her hands were shaking for a moment but she knew she was ready. England, (and Derick DeBurgh) awaited.

Though she’d contacted him last night, Derick had unfortunately been unable to get her a seat on his same flight home. “I’m so sorry I should’ve just tried to book something sooner and cancelled!” She assured him it was alright; it gave her more time to get ready anyhow. If she left at five PM on Sunday that gave her almost an additional six hours to make sure she was prepared for her month long trip abroad.

“I’ll meet up with you on the stopover,” he offered instead. They would both find out later that he had to go from there without delay; an important meeting had come up that he couldn’t decline. Paige didn’t mind. Her stopover was only meant to be two hours in Toronto anyhow; enough time to get through customs before departing again to England! She found herself calmed down during her first flight over the idea of what she was doing before she got onto that second and final flight into London Heathrow.

Derick made sure that she’d be picked up and taken care of and so both he and Paige were at ease about her travel. They’d also made arrangements so that she could use her cell phone abroad without incurring roaming charges and so forth. She’d be able to talk and text for a fee that Derick, once again, would cover himself. She was set.

Rae gave her the biggest bear hug at the airport. She had of course driven Paige and was super excited for her friend. “I’ll let you know if anything else happens with Nate otherwise please just assume that all is well here ok?”

“What about your gallery opening? I hate that I’m missing it!” Paige lamented.

“You already got the private tour,” Rae winked, “Besides I’ll host something else when you get back ok?”

“You’re too sweet.”

“I love you Pay. Have a shit-ton of fun and friggen kiss the man okay? If you haven’t within the week I’m flying over there—”

Paige laughed nervously but promised she’d likely follow through.

Her flight was pleasant and though it took awhile, customs in Canada was pretty easy before she was on her second and final flight going into London.

Then came customs at Heathrow Airport which became a little awkward when they asked for the address that she’d be staying at. “My friend Derick is putting me up at a hotel,” she spoke and when asked which she shook her head. “Uh…”

The customs officer looked concerned and then Paige recalled the information that Derick had sent over to her that she’d read on her stopover when he’d told her about his flight and the arrangements he’d made to have her picked up, “Sorry I do have an address,” she apologized and pulled out the information to put on her customs form for entering Britain. Claiming jet lag had fried her brain a bit (the officer probably got that excuse a lot), Paige quickly filled out everything she needed and presented her passport again for stamping. With the misunderstanding cleared up and all sorted, she was allowed into the country!

Derick had told her to give the information on the hotel and that the two of them would decide her accommodations when they met up. He’d put a temporary reservation in her name at the aforementioned hotel so that the officers had confirmation that she had a place to stay and then if she didn’t choose to actually stay there it was easily cancelled.

After customs, she went and claimed her bag, used the toilet then texted Rae to let her know she was alive and well and safely at the airport and then headed a bit nervously out of the gates in search of Derick’s driver. ‘He’ll wear a purple tie so you know it’s him. I won’t have him hold up a thing with your name coz I think that’s a bit corny but if it makes you feel better or you like corny I’ll do it just email me your request when you reply to this!’ Derick’s email had told her on the stopover. She had decided that the purple tie was enough and told Derick what she’d be wearing so that the driver would recognize her in return.

They both quickly spotted each other which gave Paige little time to let her nerves settle into her stomach.

“Miss Paige Wilkinson I presume?” the driver asked in his accent which Paige wasn’t quite sure about at first but soon realized it was in fact a very ‘Londoner’ accent.

“Yes.”

“Such a pleasure I’m Martin, Mr. DeBurgh’s driver. Or one of them anyhow. Can I help you with your baggage?” he offered, gesturing at her luggage cart she’d grabbed for her large suitcase. Paige smiled at the man who looked to be in his late forties or early fifties with silvery grey hair, a heart-shaped face and a kind smile. He didn’t have a special hat or much to distinguish him as a driver except perhaps his black suit jacket he had on with dark slacks and white button-down, the expected purple tie also. He sort of looked like an actor Paige knew but couldn’t put her finger on it until much later when she was on her own and the name of ‘Hugh Bonneville’ came to her. Maybe he is the actor’s cousin! she mused to herself at that time. She wouldn’t be brave enough to ask, though.

“Sure, you can drive the cart,” she agreed, figuring it was his job and she should be polite enough to allow him to do it even though she could manage on her own.

“You must be hungry,” Martin exclaimed, “Mr. DeBurgh asked me to take you for some food before we head out. There’s a place just through there that does a really great hot breakfast but if you’re not hungry or prefer something other than breakfast because of the time change for you, I can accommodate to whatever you wish.”

“Oh gosh a nice breakfast would be great,” Paige agreed. She’d not eaten much in her excitement coming over and now that he mentioned food, a hearty hot meal was just the ticket!

They got to the restaurant and Martin helped her by ordering for her as she was too nervous to choose something for herself and he seemed to know just what might be best.

“A proper English breakfast for you Miss.” The waiter departed after refilling Martin’s water glass. He wasn’t going to be eating on the job and had already eaten his breakfast he’d told Paige.

“What’s that?” she pointed as she surveyed her plate.

“Blood pudding.”

‘Oh my God! Wow, crazy!’ she thought to herself, ‘But amazing!’ She was truly living the fantasy life now; she was actually here in England! She decided to wait for her first taste of this unique dish and instead cut herself a piece of pork breakfast sausage. “Why’re there tomatoes?” she asked and Martin smiled to explain that they were grilled. Not uncommon in restaurants that served a full breakfast.

“And beans too?” She stared at them for a moment then looked up.

“Most like them on their toast,” he smiled.

“Oh interesting! I’ve only ever had them at lunch or dinner before,” she admitted as she took a taste of the baked brown beans in sauce and found them to be familiar to those she’d had before.

Her meal consisted also of scrambled eggs, toast, hashbrowns and long strips of thick bacon.

Paige ate her fill and almost couldn’t finish but made the effort, not wanting to leave anything behind on her very first meal in England that had been so kindly and hospitablely chosen for her.

As promised, her driver issued money from Derick to pay for her meal which Paige felt shy about. “He was insistent Miss Wilkinson,” Martin declared.

“I’ll leave money for a tip then,” she spoke, going into her purse.

“Tip Miss?”

“Yeah. You...you don’t do that here?” she asked shyly.

“We do but it’s not like America where it is expected,” he explained.

Paige blushed but decided to leave a little for their waiter. She’d gotten a few pounds at the airport exchange booth back when Rae had dropped her off.

Then Martin took her out of the massive Heathrow to the exit near where he’d parked. “I’ll bring the car round just wait here a minute or two,” he spoke to her kindly and she waited patiently, looking around her and breathing in the air; the English air!

She laughed to herself that the air didn’t feel much different but just knowing that it was in another country on another continent was quite something.

Then he came and helped her with her suitcase and carry-on and she got into the slick, black vehicle with an excited heart.

As Martin drove through the city towards downtown London, Paige’s eyes grew wider and wider with each new thing she saw. He took the M4 at first and she marvelled at the large glass buildings of the car dealerships, the hotels and largely sized advertisements along the route. Then he got off the motorway and headed through the Chiswick roundabout onto the A205 towards Kew. Paige marvelled at the brick buildings that housed storefronts and people’s homes as they drove along. It was so quaint, beautiful and different and yet there was a bit of familiarity in the sense that there were similar setups of shopfronts back home though not with brick and white trim. It wasn’t long before Martin crossed Kew Bridge and Paige got a look at The Thames which here looked like any other river. She chuckled to herself at the humbling thought.

As they completed the bridge Paige saw the white and black Tudor style building to her right and she smiled wondering if it were a cottage or store or what it could be but they moved on so quickly she couldn’t quite tell.

They went along another minute or two more before the driver had turned down a street to the right and continued on down the road which had one lane in either direction. Paige suspected he was taking her down a sort of residential scenic route and she wasn’t about to complain.

“What’s that large brick wall for?” she questioned -noticing it immediately as they carried on.

“I was about to point it out,” he admitted, “That there to our right-hand side is Kew Gardens. It’s truly lovely in there; they’ve got all sorts of plants and flowers and greenhouses and so forth. And to your interest is Kew Palace, though it probably looks different to what you’d think a palace is like. But, all the same well worth a look if you’re into Georgian history,” he told her.

“I’ll make note!” she agreed, pulling out her small notebook and pencilling it quickly —not wanting to miss any sights she might catch along the drive.

Luckily she did catch sight to her left of a quaint building that said TEAS at the top with the words The Original Maids of Honour. It appealed to her immediately and she pencilled that down too. Tea in a cute tea shop across from a garden? Yes please!

Martin drove on with various twists and turns through mostly residential until they crossed Chiswick Bridge and he led them to Chiswick House and Gardens which he pointed out as another point of interest if she wanted to escape the tourist-side of London and wanted a bit of relaxing scenery and interesting architecture.

He then carried on and got onto the A4 where Paige could tell they were starting to head more central and away from the residential. Her breath was caught a few times but particularly when they passed a large church of some sort on the left side. “It’s called St. Paul’s Hammersmith,” he explained, “That’s the area we’re in now: Hammersmith. And this is called the ‘Flyover’!”

“That’s so neat!” She grinned as she took in even more details around her. They passed a large glass building that looked slightly like a fat ship (appropriately titled ‘The Ark’) and several other pretty buildings before Martin announced they were now in South Kensington and within seconds Paige gasped at the sight of a huge building that at first resembled a palace then parliament in her mind.

“Natural History Museum!” he announced.

Paige had a hard time believing that was a museum!

“There’s Natural History and the Science Museum,” he went on, “Then up ahead is the Victoria and Albert Museum! The V&A!”

“Just incredible,” Paige breathed out as they passed everything and she gazed in awe.

They carried on into Knightsbridge where Paige marvelled at the London Oratory and then gasped and grinned when she recognized Harrod’s Department Store.

“Hyde Park is off to our left. I wish I could take you up as there is also Kensington Palace up there but unfortunately we need to collect Mr. DeBurgh from The Athenaeum Hotel now,” he announced with regret.

“Oh it’s no worries!” Paige exclaimed. “Please carry on, don’t mind me! Even little store fronts are fascinating enough for me don’t worry! I’ll have plenty of time to explore! Thank you so much for the tour already!” she expressed.

It wasn’t long until they pulled up to the hotel and Paige saw Derick himself again standing outside the big glass doors. She barely had time to admire him or the gorgeous foliage growing up the side of the building as he walked up to the vehicle with a smile and undid the button on his suit jacket before opening the door and leaning in, “May I catch a ride?”

“It’s your car silly, get in!” Paige answered breathlessly.

Derick grinned, the sunlight catching his blue eyes perfectly, and slid into the seat beside her then closed the door.

“Hey!”

“Hey,” she responded, her heart thudding at being with him again especially after he leaned over and did a quick, polite kiss to the cheek in greeting. He’d never done that before. Perhaps the comfort of being ‘home’ for him had done with the familiarity?

“Martin if you could just uh drive perhaps back the way you came so that Paige doesn’t miss anything,” Derick spoke and she sat blushing in her seat. Derick was so thoughtful, gosh!

“So how was your flight?” Derick asked as they began their journey, “I still feel bad we couldn’t go together and that you had to go by your lonesome.”

Paige shook her head and dismissed his apology as unnecessary then described her journey over and how easy and pleasant it had been. “Probably because I was excited too,” she admitted.

“So not completely nervous?” he posed gently.

“No not at all!” Paige exclaimed. “Only a little when I was getting on the flight but otherwise… And now I’m here and it’s incredible I am in disbelief. It’s wonderful!”

Derick was quite pleased by that. But he quickly came back to reality and realized there were other matters to discuss:

“Alright now where would you like to stay? I’ve come up with a few options for you so that you’ve got choices for whatever might suit you best.”

Paige smiled gratefully and gestured for him to continue.

“Alright so first option is a Bed and Breakfast out in Surrey. You can still easily get into London by train but this place is certainly quieter than London —and you’ve the added bonus of easy access to Hampton Court Palace where famously Henry the Eighth lived sometimes and one of our other King Georges.”

“That’s quite neat!” she agreed.

“Then I’ve found a lovely and comfortable hotel in the South of London outside Zone One of our transit meaning you can travel around there for less than you would Central London.”

“Ah yeah those Zones!” she muttered with acknowledgement.

“So you’d still be close to Central London but you wouldn’t have to necessarily always pay the higher fares if you wanted to just go around there or bus or even get near Zone One by Tube and walk in. I only chose this option over a Central London hotel because I know you’d probably nag me on the price of staying so close to everything and the transit fares. But if I judged that wrong I’ve also got access to a pretty great one more centralized which would make tourism easier on you,” he grinned.

“I appreciate that but I’ll have to go over the options first,” she nodded. “What’s your next one or is that it?”

“Oh I do have another. You could also stay on my property in the staff accommodation. We’ve got a lot of lovely flats and little houses available for you to stay in no problem. I always keep at least two or three spots empty in case we have a staff change and we need to have something available. So you’d have an entire place to yourself,” he explained, “And we have train service running nearby so you’d easily be able to get into Central London though of course anyone could just drive you in when you wanted,” he put forward bashfully knowing she might feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of his privilege or relying on others. She was an independent business woman after all who had forged her own path in life. She probably wasn’t used to people waiting on her. “Oh and for location we live near Kew,” he added. “I’m not sure whether that’s terribly important to your decision but it just might be,” he shrugged shyly.

She smiled. “Well thanks Derick those are all great options,” she professed, “Um… well… Which one is most expensive on the accommodation?” she asked bashfully.

“Probably Central London hotel but I don’t want you to worry `coz I’m covering accommodation remember?”

“Oh I know but I don’t want you spending a fortune for me to stay here,” she blushed, “I wouldn’t feel right about it.”

“I can respect that thought even though I can assure you it’s nothing if it provides you the best experience,” he spoke, “Choose something that you actually want.”

She glanced at him blushing but smiling. “Well… uh… which has the longest train ride to most of the tourist kinds of things in Central London you’ve mentioned a few times?”

“Hm maybe Surrey? Or my home though that’s only if you’re walking to the bus or train. Even then I’d say probably longest is still Surrey.”

“Hm okay.” Paige then asked about National Rail, The Tube, The DLR and the rest of Transport for London: TFL. She’d read a little but was still a bit hesitant in understanding.

Derick explained a little more about each of them and how her transit card: an Oyster card would work for each of them and how it calculated her fare. Paige already had the London Tube map downloaded and Derick pointed a few things out on it and explained that he had asked that a physical copy be given to her but unfortunately Martin had completely forgotten to pick one up from a Tube station where they were available for free. She could grab one later, she assured.

Once she had a better grasp on it all, Paige had one final summarization for clarification to help her with deciding on her accommodation. “So ‘downtown’ per-say is shortest commute but probably highest cost to you. Staying outside of London would be lovely but a longer ride in if I wanted to do anything. South London would be fairly easy accommodation but not like staying on your property where I’d have easy access to food and basically my own place to myself, correct?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“And if I stayed at your place or rather to say on your property it would cost you nothing but food and whatever travel I want to make with that Oyster card?”

“Well, true. The accommodation would be free to me yes, it wouldn’t cost me a pence or a pound to let you stay!” he agreed.

“But travel into London some days if I chose to do it all on my own would sometimes be longer than staying at that South London hotel.”

“Eh yes and no depending on where you were headed,” he declared, “and what method you used to get into Zone 1 from your hotel.”

“Hm. Okay. Well then I think I feel best staying on your property. If you don’t have to spend ‘a single pound’ and I could make my own meals possibly without having to necessarily eat out or order room service well I think that’s probably the best option overall. I don’t mind eating room service and whatever but that would get costly for you—”

“Oh Paige don’t put cost into your consideration! I have memberships with the hotels I’m considering and as such I get a reduced rate on everything. Besides, I’m treating you to an all expenses paid holiday and I want it to be wonderful for you. Choose what makes you feel the best and makes you most comfortable not what will be the lowest cost option. Please. I assure you I’m not putting you up at the Savoy or The Ritz or something,” he teased, “Unless of course your dream holiday involves staying in a fancy place like that then I’ll make arrangements. Okay? But what I know of you you’re not that type of woman. But don’t choose based on cost. I’ve only answered you because I know if I was dishonest or didn’t answer you that you’d become cross and uncomfortable and I don’t want that. Just go with what you want. And bollocks— oh sorry for swearing— if your ideal holiday involves something else I haven’t yet mentioned then put it forward. I meant to ask you what ideas you had and then I rambled on,” he blushed.

Paige blushed too but smiled seeing Derick looking so humbled and insecure. He was a bit of a dork and she was really starting to fall for his quirkiness and kind charm.

“Okay well...all the same I think I’d still choose your staff quarters. If I’m completely honest I like the idea of having other people around nearby that are familiar to you and as such I’d feel less shy about asking for any guidance or help from. And being able to make my own meals if I wish right where I’m staying sounds great. I’ll still want to eat out and everything but just the option sounds...nice. Especially for breakfasts or late night snacks!” she chuckled and he laughed with her. “So, thank you very much for the options; all of them but especially for opening up a piece of your home even though it’s not your house but it’s sort of an extension of that…”

“It’s truly my pleasure. And I’m secretly glad —okay well not secretly anymore—!” he mused, “Uh but I’m happy you chose this option. I like the idea of having you close by in case you need anything or need a ride… Also in case I’d like to invite you for lunch or dinner or for a walk in the garden,” he admitted boldly after only a beat of consideration.

Paige was touched and started to blush. “That’s kind. I’d like that too.”

“A-and if you decide to come with me to any of my dinners or galas then it’ll be easy to have someone come in and help you get ready with hair or makeup or anything you’d need,” he went on.

“Then I guess it really is the best choice,” Paige mused with a grin.

“Guess so!” he exhaled with a smile. “Well then Martin take us home,” he told the driver.

For whatever reason, those words in that simple statement, and that word specifically ’home’ made Paige all at once feel simultaneously excited and at ease. In her brain it finally clicked: she was in London, England with Derick DeBurgh —and she couldn’t help but feel like this was right where she should be.