The Dating Game (10 page)

As it was a week night, the hotel bar opposite the concert
hall wasn’t too busy and they managed to snap up a table farthest from the bar,
which afforded them some privacy.  Anton told Gill of his family, his two
brothers, also scientifically minded, and his mother who was a teacher.  His
father had died when Anton was eleven.  He spoke of his father with great
reverence and Gill felt touched.  A man unafraid to talk openly of his
emotions.  She’d been limiting her options by seeing only British men.  She
should have broadened her horizons to include dating foreigners a long time
ago.

As Gill listened intently to Anton, she couldn’t help
noticing his beautiful smile.  And when she went to the bar for another round,
she could feel his approving stare on her back.

All too soon, though, it was time to leave.

‘Are you getting a taxi home again?’

‘Yes, I’ll get one from outside the station like last time.’

‘Great, let’s go,’ and he held open the door for her.

They meandered down Buchanan St, as slowly as was possible,
without Anton actually missing his train.  Anton put his arm around Gill’s waist
and when he found no resistance from her, left it there.  Gill revelled in the
feeling of this gorgeous man beside her.  She just wished he didn’t have to go.

As they turned into West George St, Anton stopped and gently
turned her towards him,

‘I wish I didn’t have to go.’

Had he been reading her thoughts?  Was he angling for an
invitation to stay at hers?  Should she invite him back?  These questions
buzzed around Gill’s head until Anton said,

‘But unfortunately I need to work.  Hopefully next time I
will have more time.  Maybe we could meet at the weekend and I could stay over
in a hotel or something?’

Gill wondered if the ‘or something’ meant stay at hers.  She
hoped so.  But he’d already said he was busy this weekend and so was she.  Come
to think of it, she was busy most of the week.  What would she say if he asked
her to meet up mid-week?  She already knew that she’d rather meet him than any
of the others.  She felt as if she’d already met The One, if such a thing
existed, but she didn’t want to rush it, and by the looks of things, neither
did he.

Gill smiled and nodded, not trusting herself to speak, in
case she voiced how she felt about him and more importantly in case she let
slip how much she wanted to jump his bones!  He was the full package all right. 
She had a Bridget Jones moment where she fast-forwarded to their three
beautiful children.  She was distracted by Anton’s voice and by him bending
down to look into her eyes.  He caught her off guard even further by brushing a
strand of hair aside – his touch was electric - and then kissing her, initially
as gently as before, but then more deeply.  She felt her arousal return.  Oh
God, she didn’t want him to leave.  When was she going to see him?  He was
perfect and she wanted him – all of him – every last morsel.

‘I’d like to see you again,’ he said when he came up for
air.  Gill felt dizzy – that had been the perfect kiss.  Gentle, but insistent.

‘Me too,’ she whispered, aware that by The Rules she should
have kept her mouth shut and waited for him to continue.

‘I’m going to be busy next week preparing for Minsk, but I’d
really like to see you before I leave, as I’ll be gone two weeks.’

‘OK,’ she didn’t know what else to say.  She wasn’t going to
see him next week, then?  She seriously thought about telling him to hell with
work tomorrow, and inviting him back to hers. But she had gathered that he took
his responsibilities seriously.  He wouldn’t intentionally let anyone down.  A
good trait, she thought, if he applies it to his relationships, and more
importantly, to whatever’s happening between us.

‘Gill, you have no idea how much I’d like to be spending
time with you next week, but I’ve been working on this particular project for
three years and it’s very important.  You do understand, don’t you?’

Of course she understood, she had an engineering background,
plus she knew what it was like, from running her own business.  Quite frankly,
all she could think was how delicious it had sounded when he had said her
name.  She had to get a grip and stop behaving like a teenager with her first
crush.

‘No problem.  If you have to work, you have to work, right?’
she said, hoping it came across sincerely.

‘Thanks.  I like you, Gill.  I really like you.’

This time Gill followed The Rules, giving Anton a smile
which reached all the way to her flashing emerald eyes, but said nothing.

As they stood waiting for a taxi to take Gill home, Anton
kissed her as if he had no intention of ever stopping.  When she finally had to
pull away to enter the taxi, she knew she wasn’t the only one who was aroused.

Anton watched her taxi head off towards the traffic lights at
the corner of George Square.  He waved once, and then headed into the station.

As Gill reclined in the taxi, en route to Shawlands, she felt
like she’d won the lottery.  Could she really be this lucky?

Friday 9th September

‘Well at least those interviews are sorted now,’ Gill
breathed a sigh of relief and sat down heavily on the edge of Janice’s desk. 
‘Honestly Janice, I know you’ll be just as relieved as me to have someone else
give us a hand, but seriously, roll on Thursday.’  Gill had received replies
from each of the applicants successfully selected for initial interview for the
SRC post.  She had to keep reminding herself that the readily available ones
should not go to the top of the queue, tempting though it was.  Being in
Recruitment herself, meant she didn’t automatically assume someone wasn’t a
worthy candidate, if they didn’t currently have a job. The number of
redundancies lately and the highly competitive nature of the job market at the
moment meant many candidates who shouldn’t be available were, even in
Recruitment.

Ten to five on a Friday and she actually felt she had things
under control.  Of course she still had screeds of e-mails to get through, but
that would always be the case.  At least she could breathe now and hopefully
soon also have some help.

She’d received an e-mail from Anton, saying how much he’d
enjoyed her company last night and reiterating his desire to spend some more
time together soon.  She’d like to spend a lot more time with him.  She was
meeting Lisa in town after work, for a quick drink.  The others had family
commitments.

‘Janice, why don’t you just head off?  You’re going out
tonight, aren’t you?’  Janice had filled Gill in during the week about her
cousin, Siobhan’s fortieth birthday party on the Friday.  It was in Edinburgh
city centre in some posh hotel.  Gill felt sure Janice would want as much time
as possible to get ready, before heading off into the capital.  Even though
Friday afternoon traffic was lighter than during the week, it would still take
Janice a good hour and a half to get home.  A forty minute head start would
help.

‘Are you sure?  There’s still so much to do here.’

‘I’m sure,’ Gill said. ‘You’ve put in more than enough hours
here, especially the past few weeks. The least I can do is let you leave a
little bit early to get ready for this party.’

‘Thanks, Gill, I appreciate it,’ Janice beamed at her, as
she quickly shut down her computer.  She popped her tortoiseshell glasses into
their case and then dropped the case into her bag. Picking up her keys from her
desk, she wished Gill a good weekend and was gone.

Gill was trying to get finished up when her mobile alert
indicated she had an e-mail waiting. Sean.  ‘Is the new Italian place on Ingram
St,
Civitavecchia
, OK for you, one o’clock?’

Sean either wasn’t counting on kissing her, or was assuming
they would both be garlic breathed, so it wouldn’t matter.  She liked him
instinctively.  He hadn’t overthought things.  She replied saying she’d see him
there at one.

Her phone beeped again.  That was quick.  He must have been
sitting on his phone.  Smiling, she checked his reply, but to her surprise, it
was an e-mail from Gary.

‘Hi Gill, was pleased you would like to meet me.  Realise
it’s too short notice to meet over the weekend, but how’s Tuesday for you?’

Gill decided to wait a while before e-mailing back.  She’d
run it past Lisa first.

An hour later Gill walked into Flanagan’s pub at the top end
of Bath St, near the Kings’ Theatre, and glanced around for Lisa.  It was very
busy and men and women in business suits, thirsty after a hard week’s work,
filled the bar, laughing and joking.  A bald, fifty-something man leered at
her, his ruddy, unattractive face blocking her view momentarily.  She
sidestepped him and walked deeper into the bar, trying to see if she could spot
her friend.

Just as she had given up hope, she finally caught sight of
Lisa, being chatted up by not one but two city boys.  Whether she had sat at
their table, or they at hers, wasn’t clear, but one seat remained vacant.  As
Gill approached, Lisa stood up to kiss her hello.

‘Hi Gill, this is Danny,’ she said, indicating the tall,
blond man wearing a pale grey pin-stripe suit.  He looked not dissimilar to
Anton, Gill thought.  Same height, hair cut the same way, but without the
piercing blue eyes.  Yes, not as good-looking and no Slavic bone structure, to
set it off.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Gill extended her hand.  His cool hand
briefly grasped hers and he smiled at her. 

‘And this is Trevor,’ Lisa introduced the shorter man with
dark hair, starting to go grey at the sides, but interestingly not the
temples.  He seemed fit underneath the crisp, white shirt he wore, tie undone,
and navy suit jacket already discarded over the back of his chair.  She
wondered why he simply hadn’t taken it off.  It looked untidy, just hanging
there, making him look like a recalcitrant schoolboy.

Gill greeted him and sat down.  She shot a searching glance
at Lisa, who raised her eyebrows in an
‘I know’
way, and Gill wondered
if she was referring to how good-looking they were, or the fact that one of
them was called Trevor.  How boring was that?  OK, a tad shallow of her
perhaps, but Trevor?  Trev to his friends, apparently.  Within half an hour,
Gill was bored.  Yes, they were good-looking, particularly Danny, who made it
quite clear he liked her, moving into Lisa’s seat when she vacated it to go and
use the Ladies’.  Gill had never really been one for going to the toilets two
at a time, so she remained with the two men.  After a knowing glance between
Trevor and Danny, Trevor asked what Gill would like to drink.

‘Pinot Grigio, please.  A small glass,’ she clarified.

‘And what about your lovely mate?’

‘Vodka and fresh orange, please.’  Gill couldn’t say exactly
why Trevor and Danny irked her, but they did.  Perhaps Trevor’s cringeworthy
‘lovely’ and ‘mate,’ indicating perhaps he had already forgotten Lisa’s name,
more intent on gazing upon her attributes.  Or maybe it was simply that they
were full of themselves. Whatever, she knew she had to disentangle herself and
Lisa from them.  Although you never knew with Lisa.  Their tastes in men
differed greatly.  But they were supposed to be on a girls’ night out, to have
a catch up, and so she could tell Lisa all the gossip about Anton, not so they
could be stuck with two arrogant, egotistical bores.  If she had to listen to
Trevor mention one more time about the trades they’d done that day and how
exciting it was, she’d scream.  Didn’t he realise that since the worldwide
financial crash in 2007, a banker was
persona non grata
.  It was rude in
the first place to be spouting forth so much about themselves, barely asking
anything about the girls in return, but to be a banker into the bargain.  Was
she meant to be impressed by this?  Heaven forbid.  Some people really could be
dim.

Gill was vaguely aware of Danny droning on, as she nodded
and said ‘Hmm’ every so often, willing Lisa to return and either tell from her
expression that she wanted to leave, or give her the opportunity to find an
excuse to get away from them, so she could think.

Fortunately Lisa returned from the Ladies’, took in Gill’s
bored demeanour and said,

‘We’ll need to get going soon, Gill, if we’re to make our
table.’

Relieved, Gill said, ‘Oh, is that the time?  I didn’t
realise.’  Taking one final sip of her wine, she stood up and said, ‘Nice to
meet you both.  Hope you have a nice night,’ as the men stared, gobsmacked at
their sudden departure.

Trevor asked Lisa for her phone number, to which Lisa
replied,

‘Tell you what, you give me yours.  I like to always be in
the driving seat,’ and winked at him.  Unsure if she meant the double-entendre,
Trevor hesitated then hastily scribbled down his mobile number.

‘It’s often switched off, but you can leave a message.’

‘Thanks.  Right boys, we have to go and eat.  Bye,’ and with
that, Lisa sauntered off, Gill at her side.

No sooner were they outside and able to hear again – the
music inside had been very loud -than Lisa said, ‘Married – both of them.’

‘What?  How do you know?’

‘Well, first of all, Trevor hesitated. No single guy hesitates
when I ask for his number.’

Seeing Gill’s look at her, trying to coax some humility into
her friend, Lisa said, ‘Oh well, you know what I mean.  I’m not one to hold
back, Gill.  Anyway, that bollocks he just mentioned about his phone being off
a lot.  I bet – in case it rings at an inopportune moment.’

‘Maybe he’s just sweet on you,’ said Gill, wondering why she
was defending one of a duo she had taken an almost instant dislike to.

‘Nope – defo married.’

‘And what about the other one?’

‘Well, in his haste to give me his number, Trevor knocked
over his friend’s briefcase.’

‘Yes?’ said Gill.

‘There was a baby’s bib in it – hopefully clean, but if he’s
not married, he’s definitely in a relationship and has at least one kid.’

‘Crikey, you should work for Strathclyde Police.’

‘No, I’m more an Interpol kind of a girl, me.  Right, now
that those prats have screwed up our venue for this evening, where do you want
to go?’

They walked along Bath St, until they reached the back of The
Sauchiehall Centre and then went into The Dragonfly which was diagonally
opposite.  Luckily, it was less crowded here.

They decided a bottle of Sancerre was the order of the day,
and as Lisa brought Gill up to speed on her week and how crazy work had been,
Gill started to relax and felt the alcohol begin to take effect.  She didn’t
like to get too drunk, but she did enjoy feeling nice and relaxed and having fewer
inhibitions.

Lisa relayed the details of the facial which had turned into
a rush to hospital case, as the woman had neglected to tell the salon she was
allergic to nuts.  They had used almond oil in her facial, not realising it
would provoke an anaphylactic reaction.  They’d needed to administer her
Epipen, which thankfully she carried in her bag.  Rather than be sympathetic,
Lisa moaned about the woman’s stupidity.

‘Imagine knowing you have a nut allergy, carrying an Epipen
with you, and not telling your beauty therapist you have allergies!  I mean,
we’re lucky, ‘cos she signed a disclaimer and she filled in our form which
specifically asks clients to list any allergies, which she didn’t.  Otherwise,
we could have been in trouble.’

Gill nodded.  She felt sorry for the poor woman who had been
rushed to hospital, when she had expected to be pampered, but she also saw
Lisa’s point.

‘And then I had this old biddy who came in and told me that
I had done her chin wax last week, and had missed a bit.  Cheeky cow asked me
to fix it for free.  We already give pensioners thirty percent off.  This woman
was like Grotbags!  Do you remember Grotbags?’

Gill shook her head, then said, ‘Oh yeah, vaguely.  Wasn’t
she the witch in that kids’ show with Rod Hull & Emu?’

‘That’s the one.  Well, this woman had a hairy chin like
that and warts on her face almost as large as Grotbags’, too.’

Gill could tell Lisa was on a roll.  It was best to let Lisa
rant when she was like this.  She could be very self-absorbed, but once she got
things off her chest, she then became the best listener in the world, and that
was what Gill needed from her tonight.

‘And then we had three cancellations.  Man, does that get my
back up.  Cancelling at the last minute on a Friday – our busiest day.  I had
just turned down two waxings and a spray tan as I couldn’t fit them in, then
the phone went three times in a row with cancellations.  It makes me so angry! 
People have no respect or manners nowadays,’ she finished.

Gill agreed, but it was just a part of life.  You couldn’t
beat yourself up about it.

Happy to have vented, Lisa sat back, took a sip of her wine
and said,

‘Right, so what’s happening with lover boy, the Russian
Rascal?’

Taking a deep breath, Gill related what had happened the
night before.  She would probably have gone into slightly more detail with
Debbie, but there were certain things she didn’t linger over with Lisa.

‘So, you’ve snogged him and there was a bit of hand holding
and that’s it?’ Lisa summarised, confused.

‘Well, yes, but he wants to see me again before he goes to
Belarus.’

‘What’s he going to Belarus for?’

‘Work – a course or project or something.’

‘And you really like him?’ Lisa said gently.  Lisa knew that
her ideal man was far from the same as Gill’s but really, she felt put out on
her friend’s behalf that Anton hadn’t tried anything.

‘Yes, I do.’

‘But you’re meeting Charlie tomorrow,’ a hint of a smile
played on Lisa’s lips.

‘Yes, do you think that’s wrong?’

‘No way!  You hardly know Anton.  You’ve not exactly
declared undying love to each other – yet.  Plus the guy has barely laid a
finger on you.  I get that he’s being gentlemanly and he might even have given
you the impression that next time he’d like to move things along, but the fact
remains you’ve been out twice and you’ve only had a snog.  You’re nearly forty
for God’s sake.  A woman has needs!’

‘Are we talking about me or you here?’ Gill asked,
suppressing a laugh.

‘Both of us and you know it.  Anyway, it’s a good thing
you’re going out with Charlie tomorrow.  It will give you something to compare
Anton against.’

‘That’s true.’

‘And what else have you got planned then? Any other dates?’

Gill told Lisa about the dates she had planned on Saturday
and Sunday with Sean and Charlie, and now possibly Tuesday with Gary.’

‘Woo hoo!  Would you look at you!  You’re the latest It
girl.  We’ll see you in the society pages soon, most wined and dined woman in
Glasgow,’ Lisa joked.

‘Well, it’s just drinks, to see if we like each other, but
who knows where it might lead.  And you did say I should see as many different
guys as possible.’