Page 18 of Be More Octopus

This momentous news warranted a phone conversation. Lucy had been flirting with 'The Hunk', who frequented the same sandwich shop as she did, for several weeks, but he'd resisted her charms until now. Em called Lucy's number.

'What clinched it?' Em asked.

'My sandwich order. Apparently, a woman who likes “smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye, no spread” is date material.'

'That's where I've been going wrong all these years - granary's obviously not a turn-on.'

'It will be those seeds getting stuck in your teeth. No man wants to see that.'

'So where's he taking you?'

'Ice skating.'

'You hate ice skating. Last time we tried it, you wouldn't let go of the bloody penguin support thing, even when that mother demanded it for her poor four-year-old.'

'He's going to teach me. He used to be a semi-professional ice hockey player. How much fun will it be falling into the arms of a 6ft 2 blonde Canadian? And if I get cold and shivery, he'll have to hug me close to his broad, muscular torso. Hmmm.'

'So long as you don't end up in the sin bin,' Em laughed. 'When are you going?'

'Friday night.' That meant Em would have to cope with nearly three whole days of texts from Lucy mulling over the pros and cons of what to wear, whether she should drink or not, and whether she should kiss him on the first date. Despite being a confident extrovert, Lucy was a chronic overthinker when it came to first dates.

'There you go,' Jack sat beside Em and handed her a polystyrene take-out box. The smell of the warm fish and chips made her stomach rumble.

'Who's that?' Lucy whispered down the phone.

'Jack. He's just bought me lunch. Gotta go.' Em thought she heard a 'What??' as she mischievously clicked the end call button.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

'I nearly had a stroke today with all the stress worrying about Friday's date and wondering what you've been getting up to with Jack.' Lucy had texted Em several times after their phone call earlier, and now Em had finally given in and phoned her back.

'We went for a walk.'

'How did you manage that with your dodgy ankle?'

'He drove me down into Dashford, and we had a short walk on the beach.'

'So it wasn't just a walk. You went for a drive as well. Sounds like a date to me.’

'A date is when you spend time flirting with someone, working out whether you want to form a more meaningful and physical relationship with them.'

'Is that the official dictionary definition?'

'No, it's the Emily Gillespie definition. And by my rules, it wasn't a date.'

'You went out for a meal as well.'

'I'd hardly call eating fish and chips on a bench while fending off a hungry seagull going out for a meal.'

'Well?'

'Well, what?'

'Is he still married?'

'I've no idea.'

'You must've spent at least a couple of hours alone with him, and you still don't know his marital status. You're hopeless without me.'