Originally written on 20 November, 2004
Outside the Gap store in Picadilly Circus was a huge, bustling crowd. We exited, forcefully, swimming through the sea of passers-by until we were deposited in an empty area a few hundred feet up. I checked my pockets, a natural, instinctive reaction.
There was something missing. My left pocket felt empty, a large bulge from the cell phone gone. We made our way back to the Palace Theatre, where just a short time before we’d watched a matinee showing of Andrew Lloyd’s new musical “The Woman in White”. The show was enjoyable, dark, and even though it ended well still left a shiver down my spine.
The box office told me to enquire at the stage door. The gentleman at the door said no one had reported anything, and I left my number in the event they came across it later in the evening.
Her mood had soured considerably. The next two hours we spent wandering about in the Picadilly Circus/Oxford/Trottenham area trying to find the restaurant we had planned to eat at further sapped her morale. We eventually selected an Indian restaurant, outside the sleeze of the nude picture show storefronts. The food was good, in fact, and the mood rebounded somewhat. Nonetheless, I was tired, cold, frustrated and rather unhappy, and I’m somehow sure she wasn’t in much better spirits. The meal, and the further return home, were rather quiet.
Earlier, while we were waiting for the show to start, she had said she was having a good time and was glad I had come. I couldn’t respond to that, because I’m not sure I should have. Certainly this trip has been more uncomfortable for me than any others I’ve been on. And today’s cell phone incident is only a small part.
The phone has been reported stolen to the company and a police report filed. And I’m still questioning if this trip was really a good idea.