‘Just sit down. No need to ask permission.’
Russell took the seat, with a renewed smile.
‘I wasn’t about to ask permission,’ he whispered through the corner of his mouth. ‘I was about to say that it’s nice to see you again.’
Jennifer had to accept that Russell was pretty smooth.
This time they chatted until Russell’s stop came up.
It wasn’t until another whole week had gone by that they met again. This time, early in the morning, on their way to work. The bus was only half full, with loads of available seats, including the one next to Jennifer. Russell took it and their conversation was a lot more free-flowing than the previous time. Just before his stop came up, Russell took a deep breath and decided to try his luck.
‘Listen, would you like to maybe go get a drink sometime after work… maybe even dinner… a coffee… something?’
Jennifer paused. It had been such a long time since anyone had asked her out, that the words sounded almost foreign to her.
‘Umm… when?’
Russell’s shrug was subtle but nervous.When?sounded hopeful. ‘Umm… uh… whenever you’re free, really.’
‘I’m not sure when that will be.’
‘OK…’ Russell paused, before quickly reaching into hisworkman’s bag for a piece of paper and a pencil. ‘Here.’ He jotted down his number. ‘Just let me know when you’re free, and we can arrange something. How does that sound?’
Jennifer nodded in silence.
That had been a week ago.
Jennifer checked her watch. Russell had arrived exactly on time, and he had clearly made an effort. He looked elegant, with a button-up shirt and a blue tie under a well-fitting blazer jacket.
Jennifer looked down at her dress. It was a simple floral dress – one that she had sewn herself just a few days ago, exclusively for that night. She turned and checked her reflection in the dark shop window she was standing next to.
‘I look like a fucking bag lady,’ she said to herself, with a shake of the head. ‘This was a mistake. I shouldn’t be here. What am I doing?’
Jennifer turned to walk away, but her reflection called her back.
Jenny, where the fuck are you going?
She paused. ‘Back home, that’s where I’m going. I should never have said “yes” to a date. I should never have messaged him. This was all a mistake.’
Her reflection tried to argue, but this time, Jennifer didn’t want to hear it. She stubbed out her cigarette and, with her head down, quickly began making her way toward the bus stop.
‘Jenny?’ she heard Russell’s voice calling from a distance. She hadn’t noticed that he had stepped back out of the restaurant just seconds after she saw him entering it.
‘Oh shit!’ she whispered to herself, picking up the pace.
‘Jenny,’ he called again. ‘Hey, it’s here. Don Giovanni. You’re going the wrong way.’
Jennifer’s heart was beating so loud, she was afraid that the entire street could hear it. She took a breath, breathed it out and turned to look back at Russell. He waved at her, displaying thebrightest smile she’d seen in a very long time. That was when she noticed that he had a red rose in his right hand.
Too late to walk away now.
‘Sorry,’ she lied, as she approached her date. ‘For some reason I thought the restaurant was on the other side of the road.’
Russell handed her the rose. ‘Cheesy, right?’
Jennifer smiled. ‘Not at all. It’s actually very sweet of you. Thank you.’
They turned and Russell led her into the restaurant.
