Date Cafe

By Simone Diston

Andrew has always lived a normal life. In spite of his condition, he has always maintained good friendships and a good relationship with his family.
But the one thing that he has not been able to do is to maintain a relationship with a woman. They shy away when they discover his condition. That is until he meets Alison. At first he is very hesitant about his feelings. But then he realizes she accepts him.
Can he muster the courage to tell her how he really feels? And will things change between them if he does?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483553702

Book preview

Epilogue

1

She was so peaceful. There was not a frown on her face or any hint of loneliness in her features. She was completely at ease.

I marvelled so much at her. The way she was able to capture my attention by simply staying so still was truly magical. It was hard to withdraw my eyes away from her. She was so incredibly beautiful.

I wondered why those around me could be oblivious to such beauty. How could they just walk by with their eyes retreated and be ignorant of her? I considered it to be their loss. They were losing the chance at seeing how perfect she was. Not an imperfection, not one single flaw. Eyes so clear that you could see your own reflection within them and into the depths of her very heart.

I felt so lucky that I could have her all to myself. I was the only one who could fully appreciate and be able to see her inner beauty. Anyone else who did look closer and happen to notice her could still not see her inner beauty as I did.

I smile at her and she smiles back. I could smile at her all day long. Take in her beauty all day…

A sudden beep brought me back to my senses. It was my watch signalling a new hour was at hand.

I sigh, withdrawing my eyes away from her. If only she were real. At the moment the beauty that I was really seeing was that of the river. She was very still today, still as a mirror.

Every weekend I came down to the riverside, watching its moods and reflecting on the atmosphere. On a nice day such as today, it would be still and peaceful. Then on a windy day it would rise up in anger, menacing and taking revenge on the winds’ disturbance by splashing heavily about.

I loved observing its moods. It was very much like the moods of a human. It laughed and was peaceful then at other times it was very angry. But it never took its moods out on us too strongly. That was the best thing about having it keeping me company. It was always going to be there. It wasn’t about to leave anytime soon.

Sighing again, I took a sip of soft drink and looked at the empty chair opposite me. I wonder if eventually that beautiful woman that I described will fill it someday.

I knew she would eventually. One day I would be sitting here and she would be sitting opposite, smiling at me and taking my hand and looking at me with those deep warm eyes.

For now, I would have to be content with the company of the river. It wasn’t so bad really. On days like this it was actually quite peaceful.

Besides, there was no point in pondering over the woman that I had yet to meet. I would have to wait.

I took another sip and observed instead those other people that were sitting in the same cafe.

They all seemed to have company of sorts, fully engaging in conversation in between mouthfuls of food. Behind the counter there were waitresses bustling about, keeping up with the intake of customers and dodging around each other to get the food that was coming from the kitchen.

I could sympathise with them in this respect. I knew exactly what it was like to be serving behind the counter. I was a waiter myself. It could sometimes be difficult juggling between serving and taking orders. I think the key is to find a balance and don’t think too much about the workload. Try to remain positive.

I was so immersed in observing my surroundings that I was startled by the sound of a voice addressing me directly.

‘Is this seat taken?’

I look up at the owner of the voice. It is a woman. She’s looking down at me with a pleasant smile etched on her face. She seems unaware that she has caught me completely by surprise and just continues to stand there awaiting an answer from me. I can tell straight away that she’s not a very patient woman and that if she didn’t receive a response from me she would disappear.

I sigh, knowing that I would have to respond.

‘Of course not, you know it’s not.’

Ignoring the tone of my voice, she grins at me and seats herself down opposite me.

‘No need to sound so gloomy Andrew.’

I shake my head at her. This wasn’t any mysterious woman that had smiled pleasantly at me. This was a woman that I had known my whole life. This was my cheeky older sister Amanda.

She really wasn’t so bad. She was the kindest person you could ever meet and there had never really been much rivalry between us. It was only when it came to the topic of my relationship status that there was really that much conflict. Even then it was only quite minor.

‘I’m not gloomy, just enjoying the view of the river until you so kindly came along and interrupted.’

She shook her head at me disapprovingly.

‘That’s no way to talk to a lady. You need to be nice and polite.’

‘Giving me some lessons now are you?’

‘No, just some advice.’

I chuckled at this comment.

‘Come on Amanda, I know how to talk to a lady.’

She raises her eyebrows at me. I just roll my eyes. This was sibling affection and I knew that she was only humouring me with her comments. In fact she had complimented me in the past for the respect that I showed for women. I suppose that’s why she was frequently humouring me as to why I didn’t have a girlfriend. After all, a man who showed respect was sure to be able to get that girl of his dreams right? I wish.

‘What are you doing down here anyway? I thought you were going out for lunch with your boyfriend?’

She shrugged.

‘He had to cancel.’

‘Why?’

‘Something else came up apparently. He couldn’t avoid it. We’re going to do dinner instead.’

I frowned at her. If there was one thing that we could disagree on it was this. It was of complete vexation to me when I made plans with somebody and they decided to cancel on me because something else of more importance came up. But I knew that she loved him. As a sibling, it would be wrong of me to think less of him because of one mistake.

Of course she saw the frown on my face and gave a chuckle.

‘I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry; he’s taking me out for a lovely dinner instead.’

I smiled. That’s Amanda. She was always looking on the positive side. She did have a valid point I must admit. At least he hadn’t cancelled on her completely. He had just delayed until later on in the day.

She shook her head at me and took her phone out of her handbag which she had put on the table.

‘I’ve got a little something for you.’

‘Really?’

She nodded and came around to my side of the table and knelt down with her phone still in her hand. She pressed a few buttons on the screen and then handed it to me. I took it from her hand, a little confused.

‘Does it need fixing?’

She shook her head.

‘No, take a look at the screen. I thought I’d help you out a little. See what you think.’

Still completely confused as to how she was intending to help me out, I looked at the image on the screen. I realised that the writing wasn’t visible enough for my eye so I enlarged it. The joys of technology. Goodness knows how we would manage without it.

It was on the internet at a website that I had never come across. At the very top of the screen there was an image of a woman. She had short brown hair, hazel eyes and a large smile on her face. There didn’t seem to be even one small imperfection on her face. Then again, I could depict that she had numerous amounts of make-up on. I read the text underneath.

Samantha, 27.

Hello, I’m Samantha. I’m a laidback casual chick who really loves my sport. I play both netball and tennis so I have a pretty active kind of lifestyle.

I’m friendly and outgoing. I enjoy spending time with friends and going out for a casual drink on a Saturday night. I’m willing to try anything new and love to be adventurous.

I’d like to meet someone who loves sport just as much as I do and is willing to be adventurous alongside me.

If this sounds like you please apply!

I frowned at her and handed back her phone.

‘What’s this all about?’

She gave me a look of disbelief and stood up looking down upon me. I was ignorant as to why she had presented me with this information. It didn’t hold any particular interest to me. She returned to the seat opposite me, still looking at me in disbelief and shaking her head disapprovingly.

‘What?’

‘Andrew, come on. Aren’t you always telling me you want to meet more good people?’

I sighed. She was right in that respect. I always wished that I had more good friends and that there were more respectable people that I knew would stay by my side no matter what happened.

‘Of course. But I’m really not sure what this has got to do with it.’

‘I thought you might like to meet her. She sounds really nice.’

I contemplated this for a moment. From the description of Samantha she did indeed sound quite nice. I liked people who were individualistic and liked a bit of adventure. I also loved my sport. Any opportunity I could I would be at a football game or cheering on my favourite basketball team at a live game. It was a little difficult to be able to attend all games as I was employed in a full time position. But I always did my best.

So I shrugged. Why not? The only means by which I was going to be able to meet good people was by being proactive.

‘She does sound really nice. Sure I’ll meet her.’

She claps her hands together and shows me a bright smile.

‘Great. You’ll just have to set up a profile and then you can get in touch with her.’

‘Sorry? A profile?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What kind of website is that that you’ve showed me?’

She presents me with a slightly guilty look.

‘Well… it’s sort of a dating website.’

At this point I was glad that I hadn’t been in the process of taking a sip of my drink otherwise I would have choked. I looked at her in disbelief.

‘Are you kidding me? Amanda I love you and I know you’re trying to help but I’m really not particularly interested in going on a date. I only want friends, not a girlfriend.’

She shrugged.

‘It doesn’t have to be a date. Just a casual lunch. Besides you can specify in your profile that you’re only looking for friends.’

I contemplated for a second or two. A casual lunch was always nice. But there were certain elements of this idea that caused some hesitation in me. What if she expected it to be a date?

‘I tell you what Amanda, give me the website name and I’ll sleep on it okay?’

She nodded her head.

‘Sure thing. I’ll text it to you.’

I smiled. It was great to have such an understanding sister. I knew she was trying to help me out and it was something that I greatly appreciated. We had a very close relationship.

‘Thanks.’

I look down at my watch and realise the time.