Erica had told me about this new cafe on Bishop Street just across the road from the Afghan restaurant. We decided to meet there because she had some important news and I was dying to find out what it was.
I set off early so that I wasn’t too late.
Erica was already in the cafe with her laptop and cappuccino. The cafe had a really bare interior, exposed brick walls and huge lights draped from the ceiling. Apparently it was run by two guys from Barcelona. Erica waved to me and we both sat down.
“So”, I said, placing my phone and iPad on the table. “Don’t tell me you dragged out here because the the coffee’s good”. She laughed for a moment.
Erica looked me in the eye and bit her lip.
Ok, I knew it was something important.
“You know how I’ve always wanted to try a new experience.”
“Er, yes.” I said and I looked her straight back in the eyes. “Tell me, right now.”
She leaned forward and whispered, “I’m thinking of getting a full sleeve tattoo”
“Oh my god Erica” I almost screamed.
I honestly couldn’t believe it. Here I was sitting opposite one of the most beautiful girls in London and she wanted a tattoo. Covering her entire arm.
“What for!”
Erica was working in marketing for a large American pharmaceutical company and there’s no way this would help her career. “What would the company say!”
She just smiled and shrugged. “I could always wear long sleeves?”
I’ve always admired her quick thinking and resourcefulness!
Anyway, apparently, when she was going through a really difficult period after university she went travelling for a year around South America which really helped her. Recently, she really connected with some Mexican designs when she went to London Fashion Week with Ella. She knew straight away that the designs represented a change for her.
“I felt so plain! Just like everybody else in this city. I want to be different. I want a personality.”
I knew this was an life-changing decision for her.
“Honey. Let’s stop this conversation right now and let’s go get some mojitos to celebrate.”
I took her to Raul’s Cuban Bar on Merchant Street. Raul learnt how to make mojitos in Havana, came to the UK as an asylum seeker, set up a business which is now rated as one of the best cocktail bars in West London! He greeted us and started preparing “the usual”!
We sipped our fresh mojitos and talked more – just us. It turns out she already had a tattoo in a rather private area which only a few dozen people have seen!
I felt a slight pang of jealously. I admire this girl so much for her honour, determination, confidence and decisiveness… and okay, for her down right good looks too. Tattoos aren’t for me but I can definitely see where she’s coming from. Maybe she just wants to explore her feelings in a really tactile way. Maybe she wants to connect with some latin spirit again.
Afterwards we went to the Israeli restaurant for some hummus dips which was recommended by my landlord. Okay, I know I go there literally three times a week but I absolutely adore the food and all of it is Fair-trade sourced from Palestine. So that’s ok right?
Suddenly Erica became indecisive. I knew perhaps the decision was too much for to take on her own.
“Look Erica, I know how much this means to you and you just need to follow your heart, yes.”
She looked up from her hummus and took both my hands in her hands. “Don’t worry, Nina. I’ve already decided!”
I smiled, we ate up and as we walked back to the tube stations as best friends, we knew that nothing else mattered.