Monday 7 July 2014

You Shall go to the Ball


Else didn't know what to do, her phone buzzed for the umpteenth time that day, another message from Jose asking her about her plans for the work ball. She brushed her thick, wavy hair back from her face and looked at the screen.
'Made up your mind yet?'
She shook her head, Jose was sweet as you like, but she didn't want to be his date for the ball. She knew that if she said yes he would read far too much into that, think that it was the start of something special, start of a relationship, so she had to turn him down. There were two problems, one was that she didn't have anyone else to go with and the other was that he just wouldn't take no for an answer. Not that she'd actually said no, she'd said, maybe, we'll see, I'm not sure if I am going yet and countless other ways of letting him down gently but he just didn't get it. He didn't read the signs. Now she was on the brink of not going at all just so that she didn't have to go with Jose. She wanted to go, it would be fun, she didn't even mind going alone but how could she turn up on her own after all his offers? She sighed the sigh that only someone who'd had 18 unsolicited text messages from the same guy could sigh.
Jackie sat-opposite her smiling, amused by the turmoil in her friend’s life, amused by the pained look in her eye.
‘Just say yes,’ she said in a teasing voice.
‘I can't’ Else replied ‘I can't’ she moaned again.
‘So find someone else to go with, you've got male friends.’
‘It’s not that simple, there’s no one I can ask to do this, the single ones well it would look like I was coming on to them, to the non-single ones their other halves would never let them.’ Jackie nodded, Else was an older, sexy woman there was no way anyone would allow their man to go on a date with her no matter if it was a date of convenience.
‘What am I going to do?’ Else whined.
‘Excuse me,’ Jackie had lent over to the man on the next table.
‘Yes?’ the man said taking one earphone out of his ear.
He was about their age, tall, dark skin, dark hair,  he looked a bit like Mourinho, a Jose Mourinho lite.
‘Um my friend has a bit of a problem, are you free on Wednesday night?’
Else tried to kick Jackie under the table but missed, while the man looked confused.
‘She needs a date for a works ball, would you like to take her?’ Jackie asked as brassy as you like.
Mourinho lite looked at Else, who was blushing so hard it looked like she was trying to spontaneously combust and going up in a puff of smoke was exactly what she wanted to do.
‘Wednesday?’ he said, smiling.
‘Yes,’ said Jackie.
‘And this is not a wind up?’
‘No, it's for real?’
He smiled at Else who despite her best effort still hadn't burst into flames.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Why not?’
‘Great,’ said Jackie and set about exchanging the necessary details.
After the man had put his earphone back in, Jackie grinned at Else and said

‘There now you can tell Jose you have a date, problem solved. Just call me your fairy godmother. You shall go to the ball.’ 

1 comment:

  1. that's all about reading signs again... guys like Jose over-interpret, and some others under-interpret sending no messages at all although they are the ones you would like to go to the ball with:)

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