‘It doesn’t matter about the change,’ I muttered, feeling like I was paying a taxi-fare.
‘Okay.’ He pocketed the note. How rude. It was only £2.25 but I had expected at least a little objection or perhaps an offer to buy some popcorn. He thrust a ticket into my hand and headed into the lobby without even holding the door for me. I watched him through the glass, heading towards the usher. Was he even aware I wasn’t with him? Or bothered now that he’d been paid – with interest – for the ticket? I hesitated for a moment wondering whether to follow or run. Sod it. I’d paid and it was a film I really wanted to see so I might as well go in.
I caught up with Steve as he reached the door to screen two. ‘Ihope we can get some decent seats,’ he said, finally acknowledging me again. He then surprised me by stepping back and holding the door open with a big smile that lit up his eyes and transformed him from Mr Grumpy into Mr Pretty Hot Actually.
I relaxed, putting his earlier rudeness down to a combination of nerves and frustration at my lateness. I’d have been the same. Well, not rude, but I’d have been fed up if a date was late, especially if I’d already paid for tickets.
The opening credits were rolling and, as my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I saw that the cinema was packed.
‘Shit. We’re going to have to sit right at the front. Nice one, Sarah.’ He spat my name out in disgust then stormed down the slope.
I was mortified as I took in the curious gazes of the cinema-goers sat in the closest seats to our disturbance. ‘Sorry,’ I whispered, scuttling after him.
‘Sorry,’ I whispered again as I pushed past several pairs of legs to slide awkwardly into a seat beside him in the middle of the second row. ‘Sorry,’ I whispered to Steve as I sat down beside him.
He shushed me. The cheeky git actually shushed me.
As I slowly walked back towards the Old Town, I switched my phone off silent and noticed several missed calls from Clare. I decided to wait until I was back at the cottage before ringing her but she beat me to it, no doubt desperate for a progress report and probably even more desperate to score points by knowing everything before Elise. If I were a betting woman, I’d put money on her having had me on solid redial for the past half an hour.
‘How was it?’ she said, the moment I answered.
‘Absolute disaster…’
‘What an eejit,’ she cried after I’d told her about his reaction to me being late. ‘Why didn’t you just walk out?’
‘To be honest, I was so surprised at his reaction, I just followed him and sat down but I kept going over his reaction, getting angrier.I’d finally plucked up the courage to leave when he completely threw me by taking hold of my hand.’
‘No!’
‘Yes. Can you believe the nerve of the guy?’
‘What did you do?’
‘Faked a sneeze and put that hand over my mouth. He wasn’t so keen to grab it after that.’
Clare laughed. ‘You’re learning. I hope it hasn’t put you off.’
‘No. I’ll stick with it. Maybe the next Steven will be The One.’ I hoped so anyway. Because I didn’t want too many repeats of this evening. I cringed as I recalled shuffling out of the cinema with the crowd, trying to ask Steve what he thought of the film. He looked at me as though I’d asked him what he thought of shooting a few ducklings for fun. ‘I’d have enjoyed it far more if we’d got a decent seat.’
Well and truly put in my place yet again, I began rehearsing how I could bring the evening to a swift close. He beat me to it. ‘I’m going to the gents’,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to wait for me. In fact, I don’t want you to wait for me.’ Then he disappeared in the direction of the toilets. Rudey McRude from Rudesville.
17
‘I had a visit from a rep this afternoon,’ I told Elise when she dropped by on her way home from school a few days later. ‘He was called Steven.’
Her eyes widened. ‘And…?’
I smiled. ‘He was lovely.’
‘Are you going to see him again?’
‘On a work basis, yes. On a personal basis, no.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because he’s already married.’
‘Happily married?’
