London

Macklaine and Pangli picked me up at Heathrow. I landed in Terminal 1. I had mistakenly told him I would be coming into Terminal 2. He had mistakenly remembered Terminal 3. In fact, it was a miracle that we found each other at all. But it wasn't long before I was safely ensconced in their car, weaving in London traffic through the familiar sights of Knightsbridge, Marylebone and St. Pancras. I had an oddly unsettling feeling of homecoming, and felt sad to remind myself it wasn't 'home' anymore.

The first thing we did was go to lunch to Nando's. It was where Macklaine and I have always eaten, and suffered through many an eye-wateringly spicy meal that we would down gingerly. I ordered the 'mild', but Macklaine had the 'extra hot'. "You're mad," I warned him. But he impressed me by finishing it anyway.

Later in the evening we went out for dinner with Shab and Stu. The conversation was inanely familiar, as if I'd never been gone.
"Guess what I did last weekend," Stu recounted happily. "I spent the weekend in Paris with Rob. It was lovely but we couldn't get our heads around all the French food names, so we just ended up eating pizza everywhere." He giggled. Shab and I rolled our eyes.
"I'm back to school tomorrow," Shab groaned. "But soon I'm going to get out of teaching and start something else," she added resolutely.
"Guess what someone told me at the wedding I went to last weekend," Macklaine said impishly, and we all leaned closer to hear what promised to be a juicy anecdote.

It was an evening of smiles and giggles and empathy and bonding, and I was sorry when it eventually drew to a close. Shab gave me a tight hug as we said goodbye. "Now I'll have to get used to missing you all over again," she said. That was exactly how I felt too. I could feel a lump building in my throat as we all headed home.