Choosing Her Lover

I make a point of arriving at Luigi’s a few minutes early. But I don’t go in, instead buying myself a latte at the coffee bar opposite, and seating myself in the window to watch.

Why am I nervous?

At five to eight, Ben appears around the corner. The rain has cleared, and he wears a plain white shirt, the top couple of buttons undone, and black jeans.

Nice….

He pops his head through the door to glance inside, then returns to wait outside, looking up and down the street.

Something feels unfamiliar about this. Of course, it’s been a while since I last had an actual date….

Yeah…. it’s a date. Not a meet-up for a quick fuck….

My stomach is fluttering, my throat tight as I swallow my coffee.

Don’t be so damn silly. It’s a date. That’s all….

Gulping down the last of my drink, I exit the cafe to cross the street. “Ben….”

“Ah, there you are.” He gives me a peck on the cheek, then, “I reserved a table for us. Shall we….”

Courtesy itself, he opens the door, gesturing me through first. At our table, he pulls out my chair to seat me, offers me the menu. He is a perfect gentleman.

But he never smiles. There’s something about him, a kind of grimness, that’s a little off-putting.

Is he nervous too?

“Got yourself dried out alright?” he asks. “You’re feeling okay? Not going to come down with anything?”

“I’m fine. I had a long soak in a hot bath. It’s going to be a while before it’s pleasant being in the car though. You know what the smell of wet dog is like.”

“Yeah. It’s just the worst, isn’t it?” And he laughs.

And with the laugh, his whole face changes, lighting up. Suddenly, from being a little ordinary, he is a strikingly good-looking man, his features transformed.

Wow!

he asks, and I realise

nothing. It’s just that you

My mother’s forever on at me to smile

more

hand back and forth. “No, not really. He was at the head of the queue when they

you’re underplaying yourself a bit.

’Not bad-looking’. He has women throwing themselves at him….” He stares down,

he jealous? Of

lighten the mood, crack a joke. “Every maiden’s dream, eh? Perhaps I

the boat. He got married recently.”

opted out of that club a while

“Why was that?”

my husband’s girlfriend was pregnant. It put me off the whole

“Yes, that would

“A couple of years.”

been no-one

What should I say?

dating thing. Didn’t want to get

brow. “This is your

“My first date, yes.”

Change the subject….

there’s no ‘Mrs Ben’ either, I

preferred my best friend to me.” He

that would

talk about

“Good idea.”

into bed on the first night with this

spaghetti around his fork, visibly casting for a new

lot. All rescues? They look a