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They would be hard to miss—three arms jutting in the air in a joint wave, three pairs of eyes taking in my arrival with shameless interest, suspicion, scrutiny. I know the third degree will follow, but right now, I’m just hoping they’ll be civil until the poor man leaves, before he starts regretting his kind gesture.

‘Yep,’ I say, before turning to them. ‘Hey guys, sorry I’m late, it’s been one of those days.’

Normally, I would just plop into the free chair, drop my trunk-sized backpack on the ground—a mum must always be prepared—and start with, ‘You won’t believe what happened.’ But currently, I’m slightly intimidated by the presence next to me, those amused eyes under scrutiny.

‘I have to move on,’ he says, still not making a clear gesture to leave.

‘Yes, of course! I’m sorry.’

‘Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, Corrie?’

There’s a hint of stress on Bea’s friend, helped by the cocktail in front of her. In solidarity towards me, it’s espresso martini today, because I need to pull an evening shift. Although other than one sip from the regular sort, mine will be alcohol free.

I turn towards the bridge guy. ‘This is…?’

‘David,’ he offers.

‘Nice to meet you, David,’ Lola takes over, her dark brown eyes sparkling in anticipation of the information she’ll drag out of me the moment the stranger leaves.

I butt in before another insinuation is dropped. ‘That’s Lola, Bea, and Dory.’ Hands are lifted and fingers wave as I tell their names.

‘Lovely to meet you all,’ David says in a British accent I can’t place. ‘So, I have to go, but…’

‘Thanks again,’ I cut him. ‘My averted concussion or broken skull is because you had more brains than me.’

He laughs. ‘I very much doubt that. I was wondering, though…’ He gulps, casts a quick glance at our delighted audience who all but order popcorn, then continues, ‘… whether you’d like to have a coffee sometime. Or… a drink… a cocktail?’

David gestures towards the half-empty glasses on the table, and I could kill all three of my friends right now for the way their lips press together at the sound of cocktail. The poor man didn’t say anything wrong, and how could he know that we’ve given our own twist to our happy hour? His gaze returns to me, expectant, oblivious to our group’s double entendres.

My ‘Oh’ contains all my surprise.

Dory almost stretches her leg to kick me for encouragement, full lips pressed together to hide her smirk, while Lola tries really hard to not blare out a triumphant ‘Yes!’ on my behalf.

As for Bea? I’m pretty sure her brain is buzzing under her bright pink mane, as she’s definitely going through her cheesecake recipes—her absolutely favorite dessert and her specialty to hobby bake—to find the one for our wedding. ‘Lovely idea! Right, Corrie?’ She all but fishes my phone from my bag to type in his number.

‘S-sure, sounds lovely.’ There’s considerably less enthusiasm in my voice at the prospect of a date.

‘Great!’ David smiles, visibly relieved. ‘Here’s my card.’

‘Thanks.’ I hardly look at it before putting it into my pocket. ‘And thanks again for saving my… for saving me.’

His smile is now genuinely amused. ‘It was a pleasure. Looking forward to seeing you again.’

‘Bye, David,’ three voices chant in unison as he walks away, and I finally take my seat.

I’m about to drop my backpack on the ground, wondering how long I have before going to work, when my phone pings. I hurry to check, in case Mom needs something, ready to assume a disaster involving the kids, but the message isn’t from her.

Luuk

Hey there!

Luuk

Can’t wait to get this interview over and done with…

Luuk

Looking forward to seeing you guys!