Page 63 of All I Want for Christmas

At least they’ll mask any awkward silences, she thought, sinking into the chair and opening up the app to order a drink while she waited.

‘Darcy?’

She looked up in surprise. He must have been almost right behind her. ‘Aksel,’ she smiled, cross-referencing the man before her with his photos. Freja always told her that men on dating apps added two inches’ height to their bios and a zero to their incomes. She’d once turned up for dinner with a guy sporting beach blond surfer-boy hair in his photos, only to be met with a man fifteen years older and completely bald. She had walked out on the spot – not because she objected to the baldness, but to the lying about it.

But Aksel, if anything, was better than his pictures had suggested. He was olive-skinned, with dark, tousled hair, a slight underbite, ultra-white teeth and those soulful eyes that had first drawn her in. And he’s kind to animals, she thought, as he leaned in and kissed her cheek lightly.

‘I only just got here,’ she said as he took off his coat – flashing a strip of toned abs – and sat down opposite her. He was tall, too, she realized as he banged his knees on the table.

‘I know, I saw you ahead of me on the street. When youturned in here, I was hoping you would be...you.’ He gave an awkward smile. ‘Sorry – I really wanted to get here first, but I had a walk-in at the last minute.’

‘Do you get many of those?’

‘All the time. But never more frustrating than when you’re trying to get out the door.’

‘I can imagine. Was it anything worrisome?’

‘For the owner, yes. Her dog had swallowed her engagement ring she’d left on the side of the sink.’

‘Oh no!’

‘A two-carat diamond, apparently.’

She winced. ‘And so you treated it by...?’

‘Putting the dog on a high-fibre diet for the next three days.’

Darcy grinned. ‘Oh. Nice.’

‘It happens all the time,’ he smiled, shaking his head. He looked around the room. ‘It’s great here. I can’t believe I’ve never been.’

‘Yeah, good for rainy Sunday afternoons too.’

‘Noted,’ he nodded. He looked over at the bar. ‘Let me get us some drinks.’

‘Oh, it’s okay, I’ll order on the app. It means we don’t have to queue and they bring the food and drink over to us here. The nachos and chilli fries are to die for.’

‘Yeah? I’m starving. I ended up working through lunch. An epileptic cockatoo.’

She gave a small guffaw. He was amusing without realizing it. ‘Well, let’s order food at the same time then.’

‘You’re sure? I don’t want to rush us through this.’ He smiled at her. ‘Now I’m here I feel like I wasted too much time already.’

Darcy smiled at the unexpected compliment. ‘Well, I’m really glad we could make it happen.’

‘Yeah, I’m not that good with the whole online thing. It’s my first time on a dating app.’

‘Oh? How did you end up on Raya?’

‘My best mate works at Goldman Sachs. He sorted it out for me, although I don’t think I’m really what most of the girls on there are looking for. I think they want hedge fund managers, not a guy who spends his days with his fingers in a cat’s rectum.’

Darcy spluttered. ‘...But you’re a professional. Veterinary school’s how many years?’

‘Six years.’

‘There you go, then. You’re more qualified than any banker. Everyone knows they’re just winging it.’

He grinned. ‘How about you? Who put you on Raya?’

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