Pragmatism

She tried to put the fact that it was Friday the thirteenth out of her mind.

She sat at the table, nervously looking at her watch, she had arrived very early.

Meanwhile, he was running along the street, avoiding the rain. As he entered the restaurant, a quick glance at his watch told him he had cut it very fine.

She wondered whether she was doing the right thing. She had never done this before. Her friend in the office had told her about the dating site and she had thought about it for several months before logging on with her details. Now she was having doubts about what she was doing. She was wondering if there was a back way out when she saw him.

He felt it was rude to turn up right on the dot. It would look as though he wasn’t really bothered about what impression he gave. He should have left work earlier, instead of stopping and talking to his friend on the way out. He peered around looking for the woman in the photo he’d been carrying for several days. He saw her.

She gave a little wave. She felt silly doing it. She felt silly sitting here waiting for him, it should be the other way around. She wondered whether he would see that as being too forward. She was aware of how uncomfortable she was.

He smiled back and made his way between the tables. It was a busy night and he wondered if he should have made enquiries about what were the quiet nights, before making the booking. She would probably think he was not a good planner; and she would be right. She seemed really nice and he wanted to make a good impression.

She stood up as he approached. She thought, should she be doing that? Isn’t that what a man is meant to do?

He approached, saying “Right on time. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long. I didn’t estimate how long it would take to get here very well.” He thought, shut up, you’re rambling. For goodness sake just say hello. She had dressed up for the occasion and looked very attractive. “Well, anyway, hello.” They shook hands. “It’s good to meet up with you in person, after all our messages going back and forth through the site.”

“Hello. No. I haven’t been waiting long.” She lied.

They chatted for a few minutes, until the waiter brought the menus. Her date seemed to be very nice, but…

They were looking them over when noises could be heard somewhere in the corner of the room. They grimaced at each other before returning to consider their choice of food. She jumped, along with many of the diners, when she heard a great clattering coming from what she presumed to be the kitchen. She had known… She should have known.

Moments later two of the kitchen staff burst through the kitchen door followed by a great plume of black smoke. This was followed by an orange glow lighting up the corner of the room as flames ran along the carpet.

The manager was shouting “Please, would you all leave the restaurant. We have a fire. Please don’t panic, just make your way out through the front entrance. Thank you.”

Outside it was still raining and customers were huddling under the small awning. Some were phoning for taxis, while others ran off to their cars. They had got separated in the general rush to get out and he was walking to and fro searching for her. As the crowd dispersed, it soon became evident that she was gone.

In the days that followed he discovered that she had removed herself from the dating website, and after leaving a number of phone messages realised she wasn’t going to return any of his calls.

She was a pragmatist.