Page 25 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

Meadow sat back in her chair and surveyed the situation for a moment. There was absolutely nothing that could salvage this date right now. She had no desire to go out with Josh ever again, let alone get to know him any further. So what was she doing here?

‘Excuse me for a moment,’ Meadow said, picking up her bag and walking into the ladies. As soon as she was in there she looked around for a way to escape. There was a small open window over the sinks. It didn’t look like it would be big enough to be able to accommodate her but the only other option was to go back into the restaurant and tell Josh and Barbara that the date was over and she really didn’t want to do that.

She hoisted herself up onto the shelf surrounding the sink and then started pulling herself through the window. It was a tight squeeze but with a bit of wiggling around she thought she could get out.

Just as her arms and shoulders were hanging outside and her bum and legs were still dangling inside, the bathroom door opened. Judging by the shadow, it was a man coming in. Oh god, to have Josh find her like this was mortifying.

‘What are you doing?’

She sighed with relief to hear Bear’s voice behind her. This was still embarrassing but not quite as bad as if Josh had found her.

‘What does it look like I’m doing? I’m running away.’

‘You could just walk out the front door,’ Bear said, coming up behind her.

‘And face the wrath of Barbara? I don’t think so. Look, just give me a shove and get back to your date. No reason why both our evenings should be ruined.’

‘Mydateis Josh’s sister who also wanted to come along and make sure you were suitable for her big brother. She lives at home with her mum too and has a pet tarantula. I’m really not in any rush to get back there. Here, let me help.’

He climbed up onto the sink unit and then took her feet and slowly started feeding her through the window until she was dangling upside down, the dress she was wearing hanging over her head as she blindly groped around for the ground. She prayed that Bear wasn’t looking out the window as he’d get an eyeful of her bum and knickers.

With his hands round her ankles, she finally found the ground. ‘OK, I’m down,’ Meadow said and he released her. She fell in a heap on the floor, among the rubbish and squalor of a darkened alley. The night couldn’t get any worse.

She picked herself up and dusted herself off.

‘Bear, I’ll see you back at home,’ she called through the window but there was no reply.

‘Or we could go and get something to eat,’ Bear said, from behind her.

She turned round. ‘Where did you come from?’

‘I came through the fire exit,’ he gestured to a door that was a few metres from where they stood.

‘You could have told me there was a fire exit.’

Bear grinned, picking a dried-up bit of noodle gently from her hair, making her heart race in her chest. ‘But where’s the fun in that?’

She rolled her eyes.

He offered out his arm. ‘Fancy a McDonald’s?’

She grinned. ‘Yes I do.’

She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and he escorted her down the alley and out onto the street.

‘What a disaster. I’m not sure what was worse, that he brought his mum, that she was disapproving of me being a divorced mum, or that Josh clearly uses prostitutes. Oh, that and I was banned from ordering any meat.’

‘Claudia said the same thing when I told her I was hungry. I was just about to order a big steak when I saw you making a run for the toilets.’

‘As that was my first date in… well, forever, we can put that down as a spectacular disaster. Tell me it gets better than this?’

‘Oh, we can’t have your first ever date ending badly. Why don’t I take you on a date tonight, show you what it should be like?’

Her heart thundered against her chest and she tried to calm it down because this wasn’t real. ‘To McDonald’s?’

‘I think I can do better than that,’ Bear gestured to a little Spanish restaurant that was perched on the harbour wall, overlooking the sea. ‘Give me two minutes and then come on in.’

Before she could stop him, he’d left her side and run across the road, letting himself into the restaurant. She watched through the window as he spoke to the waitress and she nodded and gestured to a table that was facing the sea. Bear nodded and sat down, pointing to the middle of the table. The waitress nodded and hurried off. A few seconds later she returned with a small candle.

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