I travelled to work on the bus and saw a large group of mourners. There were so many that some were in the road slowing the traffic down. Their black clothes seemed at odds with the bright sunshine that morning.
I ate my lunch at my desk around 2pm, I tried to get on the BBC News website but for some reason it wouldn't load. When it finally did there was a breaking story that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I tried to find out more but the internet was slow as news sites were rapidly updating their stories.
Someone put a TV on at the far end of the office. The scenes were from a disaster movie, I couldn't believe they were real. I felt cold and shivery. Exactly two years before my future husband and I had stood at the top of the World Trade Center on a sunny September day. A friendly New Yorker, who thought we were Australian, had taken our photo there.
Everyone gathered around the TV and watched the first tower collapse in stunned silence. "They would have evacuated everyone wouldn't they?" I said to the person next to me. What a stupid thing to say. It was some vain hope that things weren't as bad as they looked.
I was meant to go to a meeting. I went along but everyone was distracted. The meeting was short. Phone calls and e-mails fizzled out. We all went home early.
Last minute wedding plans were forgotten that evening as we watched the horrific pictures again and again on our TV screen. They were so shocking but we were compelled to watch. We couldn't believe what was happening, we were frightened about what would happen next.
My thoughts are with the families and friends of everyone caught up in 9/11 ten years ago today.
