5
Saturday 2 May 2015
Sam had thought Anna pretty when they had first met, but when she walked into the restaurant she looked stunning. Her dark hair had been swept to one side, falling softly over her shoulders, and the black-and-white sleeveless jersey dress hugged her figure dangerously. Following Selina’s advice, Sam had gone for a smart casual look and, wearing chinos and a checked shirt, felt distinctly underdressed. They were in a lively Indian restaurant in Woolton Village and even if the other diners weren’t wondering what an odd pairing they made, Sam was.
‘You found it all right then?’ he asked standing up to pull out Anna’s chair for her.
Anna assumed Sam was getting up to give her a kiss and offered her cheek. There was an awkward moment where Sam didn’t know what to do and by the time he plucked up the courage to kiss her, she had moved away and the fumbling only added to his nerves.
‘Yes, I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. I love Indian food.’ She took her seat and watched Sam intently as he struggled to settle back in his chair. ‘You don’t do this often, do you?’
‘No,’ he admitted, ‘I’m more used to heating something up in the microwave. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Christmas do at work every year, I don’t think I’d eat out at all.’ The traditional Christmas dinner dance was one of those annual events that Sam forced himself to attend if only to prove that he could socialize, although without fail he would slip away while the plates were still being cleared.
Anna was laughing at him. ‘I meant going out on a date.’
Hearing the word date only compounded Sam’s anxiety. ‘Oh, erm, yes. I doubt I could even remember the last time,’ he said, which was only partly true. He wondered at what point going out with the woman who was to become his wife could still be considered a date.
‘Well, try not to worry,’ she said softly. ‘Things won’t have changed that much. The idea is that we both relax and enjoy ourselves. No expectations, no strings attached – and before we order our food, I want to make one thing clear: we split the bill.’ When Sam looked horrified, she laughed again. ‘What? Were you expecting me to pay for everything? I thought it was just a myth that Scotsmen were tight-fisted?’
Sam couldn’t help laughing, which settled his nerves, if only a little. ‘You know that wasn’t what I was thinking at all. And while I don’t want to start the evening with an argument, I have to insist on paying. It wouldn’t be right.’
Anna scrutinized his face. ‘OK, but only if I’m allowed to pay next time.’ Before Sam could object she was extending her hand towards him so they could shake on the deal.
They placed their orders for food and soon after the waiter brought their drinks. Sam had ordered a pint and was tempted to down it in one but made do with generous gulps as Anna sipped her wine. ‘So what made you come to Liverpool in the first place?’ she asked.
‘I was travelling through,’ he said, although travelling aimlessly might have been a better description. ‘And then I somehow fell into a job I enjoyed, found a nice place to stay and so here I am, still here four years later.’
‘And yet you haven’t put down roots.’
‘What do you think I do for a living?’ he asked.
The waiter arrived with their starters and they sat in silence for a while. From the look on Anna’s face, she was waiting for a proper answer, which he did his best to ignore. As the silence stretched in front of them, he was forced to accept that they risked spending the rest of the evening sidestepping the past unless he shared at least some of the baggage he carried with him. He wasn’t good at sharing information, but accepted that the sooner he got it out of the way, the sooner he could give his undivided attention to the beautiful young woman sitting opposite him.
‘I lived in Edinburgh all my life, right up until the day I decided to leave. My marriage of fifteen years was over bar the shouting and I decided that I wouldn’t hang around long enough for that to happen. I left and I haven’t been back since.’
‘I take it there were no kids, then?’
Sam felt every nerve in his body tense but his voice was surprisingly level and gave no clue to his real feelings. ‘The divorce, unlike the marriage, was uncomplicated.’
‘You’re very fortunate; in my line of business you see the fallout to a lot of acrimonious divorces,’ Anna said. ‘But here you are, young, free and single.’
The laugh wouldn’t come but he managed a smile. ‘Young?’
She shrugged. ‘I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s a youthful complexion underneath that beard. You might think you can hide behind it, but I see you, Sam McIntyre.’
‘You think I should shave it off,’ he concluded.
Anna tore at a piece of naan bread then pushed back on her chair as she took a bite. She considered her response before she said, ‘Unlike you, I have plenty of experience of the dating game. My last relationship ended three months ago and now I’m back home, living with my mum and dad, with my ex-boyfriend’s words ringing in my ears. He told me in great detail how I tried to change him rather than adapt, and while I think that was a little unfair, there was some truth in what he said and I intend to learn from my mistakes, Sam. If you like your beard then far be it from me to tell you how much better looking you’d be without it.’
Sam wasn’t sure how to take Anna but her honesty was refreshing and as she had been keen to point out, they were out to enjoy themselves; that was all. If something came of it then that would be more than nice. It had been a long time since Sam had had some excitement in his life and he couldn’t deny that he missed it. And if things didn’t work out then Sam could return unharmed to his comfort zone. ‘So you don’t like it, then?’ he asked her with the broadest smile.
‘Oh, now you’ll definitely have to keep it,’ she exclaimed. ‘Otherwise I’ll think I’ve pressurized you and that would make me feel awful.’
Their chatter continued as their main courses were served and eventually the conversation turned to the one thing they had in common. ‘I’m sorry I ever got you to mention that Wishing Tree story,’ Anna admitted. ‘I never imagined the trouble it would cause – other than a bit of littering, maybe.’ There was a mischievous glint in her eye but it quickly disappeared. ‘We were so busy focusing our attention on the kids we expected to misbehave that we let one of the quiet ones slip through the net.’
‘Did she get in trouble?’
‘Jasmine? No, it was me who got hauled over the coals!’
Sam didn’t look moved. ‘Don’t expect sympathy from me when I was the one left to clear up after you all.’
‘Sorry, was there much of a mess?’
Sam thought of the screwed-up ball of pink paper which he had transformed into a soaring paper bird when he said, ‘It’s all in a day’s work – and the way things are at the moment, I suppose I should just be glad I’ve got a job.’
‘Actually, I think that could be behind Jasmine’s behaviour,’ Anna said, making the link with Sam’s
