‘So you like your lunch in liquid form?’ Aidan said. ‘I wish I’d known. We could have just gone to a bar.’
Catherine laughed. ‘You make me sound like a lush.’
‘But you knew we were meeting in a restaurant, right? I sort of thought lunch was implied.’ He was struggling to understand why she’d have eaten beforehand.
‘To be honest, I just don’t like eating in front of other people. It makes me nervous.’
‘What if I don’t look at you and keep my eyes on my plate the whole time?’
‘It’s fine. I’m not hungry anyway. I already ate.’
When Catherine was not to be persuaded, Aidan gave in and ordered. He’d been looking forward to a nice lunch, but now he just wanted to get this date over with as quickly as possible and he wasn’t looking forward to Catherine sitting there watching him eat, like it was feeding time at the zoo and he was one of theexhibits, so he just ordered soup. He’d have his main meal later in the restaurant when he could relax and enjoy it.
‘So do you never go to restaurants?’ he asked.
‘I’m okay eating with family and close friends.’ She took a sip of wine. ‘I guess being a chef, food is pretty important to you.’
‘It is. But it’s important to everyone, isn’t it, one way or another? We all have to eat.’
‘I suppose. That must be a stressful job, if TV shows are anything to go by.’
‘It is, but I love it. How about you? Do you like your job? Cara tells me you’re a psychotherapist.’
‘Yes, I like it. But it can be stressful too. It’s such a huge responsibility.’
Catherine was gulping down wine faster than Aidan was swallowing his soup and by the time she was on her third glass, she’d relaxed considerably and the conversation got easier. As they talked about movies and TV shows, it turned out they had quite similar taste. Catherine was a sweet person with a decent sense of humour once she loosened up a little, and she was pleasant company. So when they got outside and she said, ‘This was nice. I had a good time,’ he could honestly say ‘Me too.’
But he was still surprised when she said, ‘We should do it again sometime,’ looking at him expectantly.Seriously?Surely she didn’t think it had gone well?Okay, they’d managed to make the best of it and have an okay time, but she’d had to down a lot of wine to get through it, and he didn’t want to date someone he couldn’t enjoy a meal with. There was no way he wanted to do it again.
‘I’m not sure…’ He raked a hand through his hair, grasping for something to say to let her down gently that wouldn’t sound too harsh. ‘I’m very busy at the moment. Sorry, Cara doesn’t get how much of my time is taken up with the restaurant and Bo. I just don’t feel I have the bandwidth for a relationship right now.’
‘Oh, okay.’ She nodded, looking disappointed. ‘I hope I didn’t put you off with my neurosis.’
‘No, not at all. I really did have a nice time. I just don’t feel we have a lot in common.’
‘Okay. Well, thanks for a lovely afternoon anyway.’
‘Thank you. And thanks for this guy,’ Aidan said, nodding to the bear he was clutching. ‘I really did enjoy meeting you.’ He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and they said goodbye. He watched her weave away somewhat erratically, apologising profusely as she bumped into a couple of people, and he felt awful.
This was crap, he thought as he stomped back to the restaurant.Wasn’t dating supposed to be fun?Instead he was left feeling guilty and sad – and bloody furious with Cara. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and rang her.
‘Hi! How’s it going?’ Her bright, cheery tone only made him grumpier.
‘Not well. I’ve just had lunch with that woman you set me up with – Catherine. Well,Ihad lunch. Why are you finding every oddball in the county for me to go out with?’
‘Catherine’s nice.’
Aidan sighed. ‘Yeah, she was nice.’
‘So what was wrong with her? In your exalted opinion?’
‘She doesn’t eat,’ Aidan began.
‘I’m pretty sure she eats,’ Cara interrupted him. ‘She brought her own flapjacks to class one time. They were scrumptious. I know she eats.’
‘Not in front of other people.’
‘Oh. Well, I didn’t know that, did I?’
