"If we're good to go then, I'll meet you all there." Izzy takes a look at the hamper provided by Molly, happy for the sandwiches, and grateful that they aren't more traditional ingredients. She has zero issues with Molly's cooking, in fact, she's a big fan, but she can't quite stomach herself to eat some of the older dishes - things like sweetbread, tripe sandwiches, or even steak and kidney pudding - in fact, as far as Izzy is concerned, the entire realm of organ-based meats is one to be avoided at all costs.
She steps outside, heading towards Russell Square Underground Station as she mentally calculates the journey. She's made the trip between home and Stonewaters many times as a customer, to Leicester Square nearby even more on social trips, and of course the route between home and the Folly countless times since transferring to the department. As she walks through the centre park, she works it out - roughly three minutes to the station, eleven minutes on the Tube if she's lucky enough to arrive as a train is pulling in, another eleven minutes to walk to her flat at Argyle Court, roughly twenty minutes to feed Freya and clean out the litter tray. Eleven minutes back to Finsbury Park Station, sixteen from there to Leicester Square on the Tube if she's lucky with trains again, and just two minutes from there to Stonewaters. All in all, just a little over an hour to arrive at the store and meet with the others.
Before exiting the park, Izzy's phone buzzes in her pocket. She opens it up to find a WhatsApp from a new number.
"Hi there, it's Alice, Sarah's cousin. She gave me your number to get in touch, hope that's alright, I promise I'm not some creepy stalker! Anyway, she said you couldn't make it to Rowan's tonight because of work, so if you're free another time then maybe we can meet up for coffee? I'm available all day tomorrow, just let me know. There's this really great place near me in Whitechapel that I reckon you'd love!"
There's also a picture, a young woman around Izzy's age with long and messy chestnut-brown hair, a round and pretty face, and wide smile, baggy Florence and the Machine t-shirt and a rainbow pin clearly visible on her satchel-bag, taken at Thorpe Park going by the background. Izzy can't help but grin like a hormonal teenager as she sees the picture, and curses her luck at having to work tonight while simultaneously praising Sarah for being such a great friend and wing-woman. She quickly fires off a reply saying that she would love to hang out the next day, before descending into the pit of no mobile signal that is the London Underground.
It doesn't take long for Izzy to arrive home, opening the door to her cheap and small studio flat to reveal an absolute bomb site. Or more specifically, a room that looks like it was bombed during World War 2 and then left for the next eighty years with only a light clean every so often to remove layers of dust. She tries not to think about it as she picks her way around discarded boxes, clothes and underwear strewn around the floor, CDs and books lying haphazardly around the place, and un-made bed, to make her way to the kitchen area and her waiting kitty. She keeps it clean, vacuum and polish, but clearly not tidy, and Izzy thinks about how she'll need to make more of an effort if she ever gets to bring Alice round to the flat. For now, she completes the immediate tasks, feeding Freya and giving her a few strokes and pets before cleaning out the litter tray and grabbing a quick snack to keep her going until the evening.
Perhaps she can convince Molly to leave the Folly at some point and come over to tidy the place up.
Jobs done, Izzy finally heads back to the West End, taking the Tube as before to meet with her colleagues, new, old, and canine, at Stonewaters book store.
