The Dating Game

by Susan Buchanan

  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?

  Chapter Fifteen

  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 wha
t 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.’

  ‘I’m just winding you up. Of course you should. Plus, you’re paying that agency through the nose for the privilege. And, it’s good to see you getting out and about. You’ve had more of a social life in the past few weeks, than you’ve had in the past few years.’

  That was another truth, Gill thought. Yes, she really should make the most of it. She’d been very happy so far with the prospective dates the agency had sent her, apart from the antiques dealer, she reminded herself. And she couldn’t fault their service.

  ‘So, tell me about Gary and Sean.’

  Gill gave her a potted history of the little she knew about them from their profiles.

  ‘I haven’t actually replied to Gary yet.’

  ‘Well, no time like the present,’ said Lisa.

  She waited whilst Gill extracted her mobile from her bag.

  ‘What should I say?’ she asked Lisa.

  ‘Tell him Tuesday’s fine and he should be prepared to take you somewhere fabulous.’

  ‘No, Lise, really, what should I say?’

  ‘I dunno – yes, Tuesday night’s good. Did you have anywhere in mind?’

  Gill dutifully typed out the message and pressed Send.

  ‘Done.’

  They soon moved on to Lisa’s plans for the weekend. She was working all day Saturday, of course, Saturday being another busy day for the salon. But she was heading out on Saturday night with her sister and one of her friends into Glasgow, clubbing, if Gill wanted to come. Knowing how much of her precious time would be taken up with the two dates she had lined up over the weekend, plus Tuesday’s rendezvous with Gary, she thanked Lisa, but declined saying she would have to work through most of Saturday morning, between e-mails and housework, just to stay on top of things. Gill told Lisa that she was hopefully close to finding an SRC and that that would not only take the pressure off her, but help her grow the business.