“I’m really hoping you’re Sarah” Chris said with a look of anticipation on his face.
“You’re in luck” Sarah replied, “I am!!”
“Could I get you a refill?” he offered noticing her near empty mug stood before her.
“That would be great – I’ll have a soya latte with a shot of caramel. Sorry to be so particular, I’ve just found out that I’m intolerant to a protein in dairy”, Sarah garbled quickly, her nerves proving to get the better of her. She always spoke quickly and non-stop when she was feeling nervous or anxious in a new situation.
Chris went to the counter and ordered the drinks from the waitress who said she would bring them over. He walked back to the table and hoped he would have enough to talk about with Sarah.
Sarah watched as Chris placed the order. “Not to bad”, she thought to herself – he was well dressed, on time and had a beaming smile. Three big ticks!!
Chris returned to the table and put a couple of cookies down. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m starving – please help yourself…although don’t tell me your one of those girls who never eat anything naughty?!”
“I try to be good by going to the gym” Sarah responded as she broke a cookie in half, “plus I’ve heard that if the biscuit is broken, all the calories float out of it” she grinned.
For the next couple of hours, they talked easily and freely to each other with no real awkward silences. They made each other laugh with tales of their dating woes and disasters and listened empathetically to each other’s stories of friendship groups that were now couples. They remained the only single friend in the group and the difficulties this sometimes bought to light.
As the last dregs of coffee were drunk, Chis asked Sarah how she felt about going on somewhere else. The wind that had blown them both into the coffee shop had died down and the sun had started to come out which would be perfect for a walk around Victoria Park in the now beautiful crisp air.
“I’d really like that – although I must go and put some more money into the parking meter. I’ll admit, I only put a couple of hours in case this was going o be another dating disaster” she said with a cheeky smile and a glint in her eye.