– I am to have a parcel sent to me today, so I think I must go home at once» I said hastily.
– Then let's go! Let's quicken our step!
We walked briskly up Cowley Road, reached the turn into our alley, and suddenly Mary stopped.
– You know what? You go home and I'll go to the orphanage and talk to Reverend Charles. I need to find out when I can go to work» she said. – And don't worry about groceries, I'll stop at the supermarket on the way back. So what can I get you?
I thought about it: I didn't need human food, but I needed something to eat in Mary's eyes.
– I don't want to bother you with my problems. I'll buy it myself» I said, to discourage her from monitoring my diet.
The fact that Mary would make me have to mess around with human food I didn't need irritated me a little, but I was willing to put up with the inconvenience.
«What good timing she's leaving: she doesn't need to see my 'humanitarian aid!» – I thought with relief.
– 'Well, suit yourself, if anything, the supermarket is on the other side – you certainly won't miss it. Well, I'm off! I'll meet you at home! – Mary started to leave.
– I'll move my stuff out of your room! – I shouted after her.
– Your clothes are cool! – she shouted back at me.
That phrase made me frown: was she going through my stuff in her bedroom wardrobe? That's rather unpleasant…
I headed home.
By midday Cowley Road had become a torrent of everyday energy, with shop windows, pubs and cafes on both sides of the street, and I was fascinated by this new information landscape.
I liked Oxford from the first sight: such a cosy, warmly atmospheric town, and with insanely beautiful Gothic architecture coming from all sides. It was so numerous and varied that it would take at least three months of daily contemplation to see all its richness.
The sun was high in the sky, and the asphalt glistened dully under its probably warm rays: the people around me were dressed almost as warmly as I was, so I had not failed in my appearance.
And how many young faces there were around! Girls, guys, probably also students, walking on the pavement, sitting in cafes, chatting, cyclists passing by… And they were all looking at me. I could feel their eyes on me. And it was all the fault of my vampire beauty: I was tall, thin (not skinny, as Mary said), I had beautiful pale clear skin, beautiful nails, long, wavy golden hair that went down below my waist, big grey-blue eyes…