Weekend Fun [open]

Imogen sat down at two person table by the window. She had just bought herself a lovely pastry and cup of coffee, and planned on thoroughly enjoying the treat. Teddy was having to work that weekend, so Imogen was having to entertain herself. This was not extremely difficult to do, as Imogen was easily entertained. She puttered around the flat cleaning, watering her plants, and making sure she had all the ingredients she would need later for dinner. After watching an episode of Friends and working on her embroidery (a craft she had recently picked up), Imogen felt the need to venture out of her apartment. She had decided to check out the new bakery a few blocks away. Imogen loved baking, and she especially loved eating baked goods, so she was always eager to sample any new shops that opened up. She figured she would have a bite of something, maybe bring some goodies home for Teddy, and then wander down to the farmer's market for the rest of the afternoon. Taking a sip of coffee, Imogen settled into her seat and prepared for some excellent people watching. 

Lisa was a creature of habit. Per usual, she walked four blocks out of her way to get a cup of coffee and the best blueberry muffins in town. She was greeted by the cashiers as soon as she stepped inside (they were so friendly here), and made her way to stand in line. As usual, she went over the reasons not to get a big chocolate chip cookie with her order, but ended up walking away with one. Having enough time to sit and eat, she went to do just that and noticed someone sitting by her favorite outlet.

"Excuse me," She made her way to the blonde. "Do you mind if I sit? I need to charge my phone and this is a really good spot to do so." She bit her lip, a nervous tic.

Imogen turned her attention from people watching to the young lady who was asking to sit and charge her phone. "Oh!" Imogen exclaimed, looking at the wall and noticing the outlet. "Oh of course!" She moved her coffee and iced bun closer to her on the table and smiled at the stranger. "I love having the technology of cell phones, but it's such a bother being at the mercy of their battery life." Imogen motioned at the seat across from her, making sure the stranger knew it was perfectly okay to sit with her. Imogen always enjoyed meeting new people. That was the great thing about London.... always new people to meet and befriend.

"I'm Imogen, by the way." She extended a hand and offered a friendly smile. 

Lisa smiled and pulled her phone and cord out of her bag. She moved the chair so she was a comfortable distance apart and sat. "Its the damn games!" She laughed, "I'm always playing on the tube and it drains my phone." She set it on Airplane mode and turned to the stranger.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lisa." She took her hand and shook it. "You're new here, aren't you? I'm sorry, its just that I'm here a lot and you seem new."

Imogen laughed at Lisa's comment about the games on her phone. "Oh gosh, yes. I'm forever playing some sort of game on my phone. One day I went without playing a game and I ended the day with 89% battery. It was a shocking realization." 

"Nice to meet you, Lisa." Imogen smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I've been meaning to come 'round and check it out for awhile now, but I haven't been able to find the time until today. I love visiting new bakeries, and this one seems just lovely. I can see why you're in here a lot."

Catching a whiff of fresh out of the oven scones, Imogen let out a small sigh of satisfaction. "There's nothing quite so cozy as fresh baked goods, eh?" She commented amicably to Lisa. 

Lisa gasped. "You're kidding!" Her wide eyes settled on her phone's screen. "I don't know if I could do that. I need my daily bonus!"

She sat back into her chair, easing into the comfortable atmosphere. "Its a lovely bakery. And I'm all about supporting a small business - especially if they make the best cookies and muffins and whatnot. I'm always in here. I can't stay away. Its not good for my waistline." She bit into her chocolate chip cookie as she said this and closed her eyes, relishing the taste. "You have to try everything. You'll never bake again."

Imogen laughed at Lisa's comment. "I'm not really sure how I did it. I had my little sister hide my phone at one point so I couldn't play games. Not sure why it was so important to go the day without a game now." Imogen remembered regretting letting Louise hide her phone. It had taken her an hour to find it and Louise refused to help look.

"Small businesses are the heart of this city." Imogen agreed, sipping her coffee. The chocolate chip cookie Lisa was eating looked delicious. She would have to buy a few to take home with her. "Life is too short to not enjoy all the baked goods you can find." Imogen joked, eyeing the rows of biscuits and tarts behind the counter with tender affection.

Lisa's remark about not baking again made Imogen smile widely. "Oh, my husband might call the doctor if I stopped baking." She laughed a bit at the thought of Teddy's face. "He says that the two things you can rely on in this world are that the sun will rise, and that I can never resist a good baking recipe."

"Well for whatever reason, I hope it was a bet and I hope you got some money out of it." She laughed, throwing her shoulders back. "Its the only reason I'd do so! Oh and church or a wedding or something equally important." She fiddled with the cross pendant on her necklace as she said so.

Lisa followed Imogen's eyes to the biscuits behind the glass. "That's a good quote!" She exclaimed, quickly sliding her phone open to add it to a note simply titled 'Quotes'. "I embroider." She explained as she typed away quickly. "I can see that quote over a three chocolate chip cookies. I'll make you one!" She paused to look up at Imogen. "You're coming back, right?"

At Imogen's next comment, Lisa stopped. "You cook? Bake - whatever? Your husband is a lucky man. My mother tried teaching me but I managed to burn everything I made." She made a face as she put her phone down.

"I think I found a five pound note in my sister's room while I was looking and I kept that as compensation for the trouble she caused in hiding my phone too well." Imogen laughed. "That was a couple of years ago when I was in my 'trying to live more simply' phase or something. I was probably just trying to prove a point about modern technology." Noticing the cross that Lisa played with, Imogen smiled softly, but didn't pry into the meaning behind the necklace. Religion was a touchy subject for most people, and Imogen tended to avoid it with people she had just met. 

When Lisa mentioned that she embroidered, Imogen sat up straighter and a spark came into her eyes. "Oh my giddy aunt!" She exclaimed, grinning excitedly. "I just picked up embroidery and have been dying to meet other embroiderers... that's the word for people who know how to embroider, right? Oh, I'd love to have that embroidered with cookies!" Imogen laughed, imagining coming home with more embroidery. Teddy always loved watching Imogen get excited about projects, but he'd lately become a bit overwhelmed with the amount of embroidery she'd been doing. He had told her the other day that he was afraid of coming home to find every cloth object in the flat covered in flowers or something. 

"I am definitely coming back. It's such a charming little place." Imogen assured Lisa. She shrugged at the comment about baking. "My mum loves baking and she kind of obsessively passed it down to all her children. My husband loves that I bake. I've tried to teach him, but he's a bit rubbish at it, poor lad, so I know how your mother feels." This comment was accompanied by a wink so that Lisa could be sure to know that Imogen was just joking with her. 

Lisa nodded along to signal she understood the technology cleanse. Lisa, herself had tried a 'social media cleanse' two months prior. Needless to say, it lasted all of three weeks before she found herself on Pinterest's registration page typing in a fake name and her new email. Deciding not to share this embarrassing tidbit, she took another bite of her cookie and smiled politely.

"You did? I mainly work with hoops and sell or gift my items, but my mother makes the most beautiful designs on clothing - ESPECIALLY skirts! Oh its gorgeous!." She picked up her phone to show Imogen a few examples. (one, two, three) "That's typically what I'll sell, the next is my ma's latest skirt, and the final one is something I was working for my new flat."

She smiled once more when she heard Imogen say she'd be coming back to the shop. Lisa could envision a friendship blossoming between the two over the next few months. "That's great! We'll have sewing circles to drive your husband batty with more projects and we'll keep each other in embroidery and baked goods."