Page 47 of Fling

‘Oh well . . . we were thinking . . .’ Tara’s taxi pulled up outside and beeped. ‘That’s me! Gotta run,’ she said, gunning it out the door as fast as her heels would allow.

Colin raced upstairs the second Tara’s taxi drove off. For once, he was completely behind schedule. He had gone to get a quick trim that would impress Claire but the line in the barbers was practically out the door and it took him ninety minutes to get a nine-minute haircut. And it wasn’t even worth the wait. It was far too short and made Colin look more boyishly cute than ruggedly handsome. But, of course, when the hairdresser had asked him if he was happy, he had replied, ‘Oh yeah, that’s perfect, thanks.’

He jumped in the shower, shaved his face, brushed his teeth and picked out a pair of dark blue chinos and a bright blue shirt. The entire process took about fifteen minutes. Traffic had been bad on his drive home from town so he figured getting the Luas tram would be the fastest way to make the date on time, especially as it stopped on Dawson Street, right across from The Vine. He power-walked to the stop and, by some miracle, he got on the tram just as it was about to leave. For once, Murphy’s Law had cut him some slack.

On the journey into the city, Colin wondered where the night would go. The possibilities were endless. Claire had told him that she didn’t want to rush into a sexual affair and that tonight was really about getting to know each other in person. He respected her decision and hoped the date went well enough to warrant a second in-person rendezvous.

Still, if their textual chemistry became sexual, he wondered if he would cross that line. He had enjoyed the moral ambiguity of their digital infidelity but things were moving fast. He felt guilty for what he was doing but he was inexplicably drawn to Claire’s mystery, her sensual allure. It was as if she was a siren, calling his ship to shore. He knew her song might be his ruination but he had no control over the wheel. It was just a drink, he reminded himself, to ease his conscience. Two people meeting for a drink technically wasn’t an affair.

But regardless of what happened, Colin was just excited to see the woman he had spent all week getting to know. He only hoped she wasn’t expecting perfection. He had painted himself as a bodybuilder but he had literally been to the gym once. He straightened up his posture and widened his back in the reflection of the Luas glass window.

It wouldn’t be long now before all was revealed.

Chapter 17

Tara arrived at The Vine at 7.50 p.m. When she got out of the taxi, she saw a few men lingering around the street and she wondered if one of them was Jack. She made eye contact with each of them but they all gave her a confused look in return. She wished she hadn’t been the first one to arrive. She was always fashionably late and now she seemed like the more eager one. She was oscillating between feelings of incredible excitement and crippling nervousness. One moment she would feel liberated for going behind Colin’s back, the next she would feel overwhelming guilt. She felt like a pendulum swinging between pride and shame. She only hoped it would swing in the desired direction when the clock struck eight.

She looked across Dawson Street at the bookshop Hodges Figgis, a place she had spent many a college day in search of that elusive new-book smell. It was like catnip to her. She began to wonder if that was what she was seeking on this date with Jack. The satisfying scent of beginning a new story and escaping into a different world.

‘Can I help you?’ the hostess asked, seeing Tara daydreaming outside the doors to The Vine.

‘Oh, hi there. I’m meeting someone here for drinks but I think I’m the first to arrive,’ Tara said.

‘Do you know what name the reservation was made under?’

‘I think it was Jack. It’s kind of a blind date so I don’t have the last name,’ Tara admitted, half embarrassed.

‘That’s OK, there’s only one Jack on my list. Party of two. Your table is just here on the veranda, follow me.’ The hostess smiled.

Tara wondered if she should have waited at the door for Jack but it was quite chilly out. She hadn’t worn a coat in the hopes Jack would get the full impact of seeing her in the dress. Emily had told her that people decide if they’re attracted to someone in less than three seconds. A frumpy coat could have jeopardized her potential meet cute with Jack. She was freezing and the veranda looked wonderfully snug with multiple outdoor gas heaters.

‘This is you,’ the hostess said when they arrived at the table. ‘Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?’

‘Oh . . . yes, actually. I’ll have a glass of Malbec, please,’ Tara said.

‘Perfect,’ she said before walking away.

Tara sat down and relaxed into her chair. The veranda was so romantic, with candles lit everywhere and a warm, electric atmosphere. It was the type of place Colin would never take her. ‘A veranda in Ireland? Notions,’ he would probably say. There were about ten other couples around her and she felt a bit odd being the only person sitting by herself. But Jack would arrive any minute and that would change. The suspense was killing her. She didn’t know if she was about to meet a supermodel or a dungeon troll. She felt so nervous and excited at the same time. The pitter-patter of her heart was unbearable. That glass of wine couldn’t come quick enough.

That’s when Tara saw something that knocked the wind right out of her.

On the passing Luas, Tara could see Colin through the glass window, approaching the Dawson Street stop! The tram was stopped at a red light and she was in his direct line of sight.

This couldn’t be happening.

Colin began to turn his head towards The Vine and she quickly held her menu up to cover her face from him. If Colin saw her, she’d be caught in a lie. She was not out on some ladies’ night. She was quite clearly in a romantic candlelit restaurant on a date! She had thrown caution to the wind but now it was blowing right back in her face. Tara peeked over the menu to see the light had turned green and the tram was slowly passing the restaurant. It was possible that Colin wasn’t going to get off on Dawson Street, wasn’t it? But then again, that’s where a lot of the best bars in town were, and Rory did have expensive taste.

Only one person would know what to do. Tara pulled her phone out of her bag with lightning speed and immediately began to dial.

‘Tara, is everything OK?’ Emily answered. ‘You know phone calls aren’t good for my anxiety.’

‘Your anxiety? Try my anxiety! I’m at The Vine waiting to meet Jack and I just saw my husband passing by on the Luas!’ Tara whispered loudly into the phone.

‘Oh my God, what are you going to do?’

‘That’s why I called you! You’re always getting into crazy date scenarios. What would you do?’

‘OK, did he get off the Luas at Dawson? He might just be passing through to another part of the city,’ Emily said.

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