In a coffee shop in Norwich, watching a girl I had never seen before drink an Earl Grey, I smiled to myself, secretly knowing that she would never know how much I knew about her, just from watching her as she sat there with a camera case, her companion, by her side. But it was obvious; it was in her clothes, in her movements, in her voice quiet with confidence as she spoke aloud, but still cracking timidly, unsurely, at the ends of her syllables, as if she knew what she said was worth saying, but did not know whether now was the time to say it, or if it was coming across right. And it was in the tiny rising intonation she added at the end of her statements too, as if hoping for reassurance, agreement. (From anyone else it would have seemed an annoying Americanism, but from her, it was somehow endearing). (more…)