Here and Now Continued

Did you read the 100 word challenge – Here and Now?

Well,  thought I would explore this further and so here goes…

But what day was it? How long had she been here? And where was here?

Sarah had a usual busy Friday in the office and on the way home she popped into a local bar for a quiet drink. She often did this as a break between the hectic life at the office and her dogs clamouring for attention in her apartment.

There was a quiet bar close by into which she went most Fridays. She was known to nobody there and apart from the cheery greetings from the bartender, was left alone to unwind. This Friday she had taken a file home with her to work on over the weekend. She had been reading the file when the man approached her table to ask if he could sit there.

They passed some pleasantries and she went back to reading her file.

After a time, he said, “That looks like heavy reading for a Friday night. Aren’t you supposed to relax over the weekend?”

“Oh weekends are often given up to catching up with work things, and tying up loose ends.”

“Well, why not take some time off now. Put down that file and talk to me,” he said.

Sarah hadn’t taken much notice of him when he sat at the table. But now she did. She saw a well-dressed, middle aged man sitting opposite her. He wore his dark hair slightly longer than was the fashion, curling around his ears somewhat. His eyes were a deep, dark brown and for a fleeting moment Sarah thought ‘just the sort of eyes to drown in”. He was wearing a dark suit with a blue buttoned down shirt and a darker blue striped tie.

He didn’t appear to offer a threat and although it was not something Sarah usually did, she put aside the file and turned towards him with a smile.

“That’s better” he said and “I’m Alec Wishart. I’m 50 years old, unattached, recently divorced” this with a rue smile “and I have twin boys of 15. Now it’s your turn”.

“Oh I’m Sarah Holliday” she offered “Single, unattached. No children but a couple of very demanding dogs waiting for me at home.”

“Well they can wait a little longer I’m sure. Let’s have another drink and spend a little time getting to know one another.”

This was so unlike Sarah and she surprised herself with her ready agreement to both anther drink and some time spent in the company of this man.   What harm could come, she thought to herself. And those dogs could manage for an extra hour without her.

They sat in companionable quiet while the waiter took their order and returned with their drinks.

“So what do you do Sarah Holliday, that you have to take work home at the weekends?” he asked.

“I’m a very junior paralegal in a very large legal firm. I’ve only been there a short time and find it difficult to get through the mound of work that appears on my desk each day. I think it reproduces itself overnight.” She laughed.

“And what about you Alec Wishart. What do you do when you’re not meeting strange women in bars?”

“I’m a property developer” he responded “But in a very small way. I’m working on a project in the dock area, quite near here. And I was on my way home from a meeting when I saw this bar and decided a quiet drink would be in order. Then I saw a space at your table and came over to sit with you.

So you might say it was fate that we both happened to be at a loose end and happened to chance on the same bar.”

At that they both laughed.

The hour Sarah had given herself stretched into another as they  decided that food was in order. So once they had ordered their food,  they got back to discussing themselves and their lives, and to Sarah it seemed perfectly normal to be sitting here with this stranger sharing details that usually she kept to herself.

To be continued…

 

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