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“So that’s the London Bridge, huh?” Jeff asks as he looks out over the water.
“Actually, it’s the Tower Bridge,” Britta corrects him. “London Bridge is the next one over. But it just looks like a plain old bridge, so most people think this one is London Bridge.”
Jeff squints. “Why would they do that?”
“Do what?”
“Name the boring bridge the London Bridge?”
Britta sighs. “I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I only know the fun fact because it came up in Vatican trivia once.”
A slow but steady drizzle bears down on them. It had been raining for almost the entirety of the day and a half they’d been in London - a possibility that Britta had warned Jeff about before they left, but he hadn’t listened. As such, their first outing in the city had been to locate a raincoat, boots, and a larger, more functional umbrella than Britta’s small red one that had a tendency to invert itself.
“I miss the days when you worked there,” Jeff says.
“You miss the free drinks,” she counters.
He takes a moment to consider, then shakes his head. “No, no, it’s not just that. I miss hanging out there.”
“You do?” Britta exclaims. “That place is a dump.”
“And that made it all the more charming.”
She scoffs and wraps her arms around herself as much as she can while still keeping her hands in her pockets. “Whatever, you’re only saying that because you never saw the back room.”
Jeff looks down at her, takes note of her posture, and slightly purses his lips. “Are you getting cold?”
“No!”
At the exact wrong time, a gust of wind blows past them, and Britta shivers involuntarily.
“Aw, it’s okay, you don’t have to stay tough for me, Perry.”
Jeff lifts the umbrella he’s holding between them a little higher in the air and wraps his free arm around Britta’s torso, pulling her into him as close as he can. Britta lets out a small huff of indignation.
“It’s not that cold…”
“But you’re always cold because of your thyroid condition.”
Britta sighs. “Fine. I’m cold. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“No, what I wanted to hear was ‘let’s go find a pub to warm up in, it’s five o'clock somewhere’,” Jeff replies.
She laughs. “Couldn’t you have just said that?” She turns herself around so that their chests are flush with one another and she’s able to look up at him. He looks down and grins.
“Yeah, but I’ve gotta start beating these alcoholism allegations one way or another.”
She rolls her eyes. “Getting you to download TikTok was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. I don’t know if your speech patterns will ever recover.”
Jeff doesn’t stop grinning as he leans down a little further to kiss her, feeling her lips like ice against his warm face.
“So a pub, then?” he asks hopefully.
Britta sighs as she nuzzles her face into his side. “A pub it is. Since it never stops raining in this damn city.”
“You were the one who wanted to visit!”
She shrugs. “Your point is?”
It’s Jeff’s turn to let out a frustrated sigh. “Nothing. You always make wonderful decisions, dear.”
Britta smirks, then pulls herself away from him enough to grab his hand, squeezing it tightly a few times once she does. “Exactly. That’s what I thought.”