Canteen Chicken Curry

This story is a follow to a story from exactly one year ago. 
To help you I have included the archive story first (with a few tweaks and new audio) the new story for today is down the page. 

The Man Commandments.
For audio click here 

I was willing to break the man commandments for Hannah. I was willing to risk the wrath of man; well of one man in particular - my good friend Lloyd. The man commandments state, in no uncertain terms, that thou shall not date an ex of a friend. There are no ifs or buts, no time period after which it is fine – it’s a blanket ban.

 It had always struck me as a harsh, draconian law that needed more flexibility; if not repealing all together. But it was cast in stone, and woe betide anyone who broke it. The punishments were undefined, but no doubt they would fit the heinous crime.

Hannah wasn’t my usual cup of tea. She was not even my occasional cup of coffee, but I was falling for her big time. Short and blonde, she wore her skinny jeans a fraction too low and her shirt a fraction too tight - showing off her egg timer figure perfectly. Her eyes sparkled and her smile could have been the dictionary entry for wickedness.

It’d been two years since Lloyd had dumped her. Surely the man commandments should have a statute of limitations; two year was surely enough. It’s not like I was chasing her while she was with Lloyd. In fact I’d barely noticed her and when Lloyd and Hannah split up I thought I’d never see her again. But then six months ago she started working in my office. To start with she was asexual; she was a friend's ex, so she was off my radar completely. But gradually she became a colleague, then a friend and then an object of desire. Was it me just wanting something that I couldn't have? Was it the little looks she gave me? Was it just the obvious chemistry between us? I tried to keep my distance, knowing that I couldn't, no shouldn't, break one of the man commandments. But it was no use; I got drawn to her like a child's hand to hot wax.

This was daft. Why shouldn't I date her? I was cutting off my nose to serve someone else's face. Surely the man commandments were sexist, out-dated mumbo-jumbo. Modern men, modern world, we could cope with this couldn't we? And anyway Lloyd had a new girlfriend, in fact a fiancé. It should make no difference to him who I dated.

 I made up my mind; I'd ask her out.

Hannah looked at me like I'd accused her of voting for UKIP; a look of utter contempt on her face.


‘Marcus we can’t,’ she said. ‘I like you, and I’d like to, don't get me wrong, but what about Lloyd? He's your friend.’
My mouth moved like a goldfish but no words came out. I'd broken the man commandments with someone who was hell bent on upholding them. 

Check out the original of this story here. 

Canteen Chicken Curry 

For audio click here. 

It had been exactly a year since I’d tried to break the man commandments with Hannah. A year since she'd look at me like I was a dog owner who didn't clean up after his hound. A year since she’d turned down my advances because I was a friend of her ex. For those twelve months I'd had to stand by and watch Mark from tech support break Hannah’s heart and some stranger take her home for one night of passion at the end of a works do. Meanwhile I'd half-heartedly gone out with Josie from my reading group; knowing that she was just a placebo. It was no coincidence that Josie was short and blonde and wore her jeans too tight over an egg-timer figure. The problem was Josie’s eyes only occasionally glinted and her smile defined slightly naughty, not wickedness. She had none of the joie de vivre of the true object of my desires. A year, twelve months, three hundred and sixty-five days, eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours; a year might be a long time in politics, but it was a mere blink of an eye in the affairs of my heart.
I barely spoke to Hannah now. I’d been embarrassed after the proposal and so avoided her for a week or so, which became a month or so, which turned out to be twelve months. It was too late to do anything about it. She still attracted my eyes as she swished by. Her scent could still chip away at my heart. Her laugh could still flip my stomach, but I'd let her drift away and didn’t know how to reel her back.
I scanned the staff canteen for her blonde hair. I'd found myself doing this every day; checking where she was and then heading to the furthest corner. Unusually I couldn't see her, but decided to head to the further corner anyway. It was Wednesday, chicken curry day. A luminous yellow chip shop type curry that wouldn't be recognised by any Indians or Thais. I moved it around my plate enjoying it in spite of myself.
Despite the spicy fumes, I smelt her before I saw her.
“Is this seat taken?” She said. I shook my head.
“Does that mean no it isn't or no I can't sit here?”
“It's not taken,” I said.
“Good,” she said. “Because I've been thinking and you know. I think the man commandments are daft.”
Canteen chicken curry had never tasted so good.