June
James Tims, having
plucked up the courage, at his Godsons Christening, to ask Emma Daley out on a
date and bolstered by her positive response he very foolishly neglected to
cement the arrangement there and then and furthermore left the Christening
party without securing, either a firm date for the erm…. date or any contact
details for her, but it wasn’t until he got home that the full extent of his
stupidity dawned on him.
In his defense
of course he was so taken aback by Emma’s positive reply, and such was his
elation that she had agreed to go out with him, he not only didn’t arrange anything,
but he had also left without any means of contacting her.
He had just
reached the point where he was well and truly feeling sorry himself when the
phone rang.
“Hello” he
answered forlornly
“Oh dear” his
sister Lucy said unsympathetically “cheer up”
“Don’t joke” he
said “I’ve done something really stupid”
“I know” she
replied “you’re a plank”
“Oh don’t” he
responded feebly
“Fortunately,
your wonderful sister has come to the rescue” Lucy said
“And I gave
your number to Emma so she can call you”
“You’re the
best sis” he said
“I know” she
said immodestly “now don’t cock it up”
James had been
so diverted by his foolishness that he hadn’t even given any due consideration
to where he would take her.
Given that
prior to that morning she had been a complete stranger to him, he therefore had
no idea what to suggest.
All he knew
about her was that she was a pretty brunette, who was a very successful
hairdresser with her own premises, and she drove a white Nissan Qashqai.
His normal
first date experience, limited though that might have been, consisted of either
a drink, a meal, the cinema or bowling.
Well, a drink
didn’t sound substantial enough for his liking and as he was somewhat nervous,
he imagined he would probably drink too much and make a complete dog’s
breakfast of it, so he ruled that out.
A meal on the
other hand was fraught with dangers of its own, food preferences, allergies and
intolerances, and he didn’t know if she was vegan, so that was a mine field,
and it was a given to rule out any food that required the wearing of a bib.
The cinema he
had always found to be a difficult area date wise, sitting in the dark with a
girl you didn’t know and spending most of the film weighing up the options of
when it would be appropriate to move in for a cuddle or a kiss.
Not that that
would be of concern to Emma, after all they were both well past the age of back
row groping, but it was knowing her taste in film that was the issue, so he
ruled out the cinema as well.
He also crossed
off tenpin bowling but for no other reason than he wasn’t very good at it.
After a couple
of fruitless hours of deliberation with himself, he still had no idea where to
suggest that he and Emma should go on their first date and then the phone rang.
James took a
deep breath and reluctantly picked up the receiver.
“Hello” he said
timidly
“James?” a
voice asked
“Speaking” he
replied
“It’s Emma”
“Hi” he said
weakly
“We didn’t make
a firm date” Emma said hesitantly “At the Christening”
“No I...” he
faltered
“Did you still…
erm still want to?” she asked
“Of course,” he
said firmly, almost shouting
“Good” Emma
said with a giggle
“I thought you
might have changed your mind”
“No not at all”
he stated “But...”
“But?” she said
falteringly “There is a but?”
“I don’t know
where to suggest” he said
“Is that all?”
she asked and laughed
She had had a
similar struggle to the one he was having to find a suitable venue/activity but
had, however, reached a totally different conclusion which he found out when
she announced she had the perfect date in mind.
“A Treetop
Trail”
“Brilliant idea”
he exclaimed “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Catherine was
what’s called in modern parlance, a nail technician, but she preferred to be
referred to as a manicurist and a pedicurist and was fully qualified in both
disciplines.
Philip was a
Tree surgeon who had been taking down a diseased beech tree from her back
garden and there was a mutual attraction and as he packed away his tools for at
the end of the job, he asked her out, and she said yes.
“When and
where?” she asked
“Next weekend,
how about a Treetop Trail”
“What’s that?”
she asked genuinely oblivious
“It’s a trail
through the treetops with Tarzan swings, rope bridges and Zip Wires” he said
excitedly “There is a new one just opened near Quarry Hill I’ve heard its great
fun, and I’ve fancied giving it a go”
Well, she had
no great expectations when he asked her out and Catherine thought he would soon
tire of her, because she was one of life’s spectators while he was center stage
living life.
But she was
wrong about that, Philip knew that they were cut from different cloth, but he
didn’t care that they were so different.
Catherine had
always been content to look on from the sidelines whereas Philip was in there
participating with all his might, he was a “joiner in” while she was an
applauder of other people’s efforts.
But no more,
and despite the fact that the thought of walking through the Treetops 30 feet
above the ground scared her to death she said.
“That sounds
great”
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