A date rearranged

~ beetleypete

***You will have to read the first two parts of this serial, for it to make any sense.***
1) https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/garys-hot-date/
2) https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/andrea-comes-clean/

This is a fictional short story, of 892 words. The third in a series.

Gary read the text, then scrolled down to look at the photos sent with it. So her name wasn’t Belle after all? And her hair was short, not long. Very short in fact. She is supposed to be three years younger than me, but looks at least the same age, if not older, he thought. But she did turn up, Gary believed that part. He decided to be kind, and perhaps not completely truthful. After all, he had never read a Harry Potter book, and had just binge-watched all the films, in case she talked about it. The tablets were taking the worst off, so he carefully composed a reply.

Hi Andrea. That was a surprise!!!!
Still, Andrea is a nice name, and I like it.
Your short hair suits you too. It’s probably easier that way, I guess.
Shame you didn’t let me know about being late, I would have waited. I thought you had changed your mind.
Maybe we can do something next Friday? Not that pasta place though, I didn’t like it.
How about the new Chinese in the Old Town, the one under the bridge?
I will wait outside for you at 7? Let me know if that’s OK. xxx

He pressed ‘Send’, and then wondered if she actually liked Chinese food. Too late now. He was sure he was right not to mention getting drunk in the pasta place, and disgracing himself. Best to have a fresh start next Friday, and put yesterday behind them. He also neglected to mention he was well under the six feet tall he had claimed to be. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be wearing high heels.

Andrea saw the text ping up, and excused herself into the staff toilet to read it. She felt the relief flood over her. Not only was she forgiven, he had asked her out again. And he liked her hair, as well as her real name. She liked the way he sent his texts in proper language too, never using abbreviations or emojis. In her book, that was classy. She would buy a new outfit for Friday. Something smart yet sexy, that would go with those nice new high heels. The rest of the day just flew by, and she decided to text Gary when she was at home, and relaxed.

After a shower, Gary decided to make the most of his day off, and go to bed for a proper sleep. He checked his phone, and noticed that Andrea hadn’t replied. Maybe Chinese wasn’t such a good idea, after all. It was almost dark when he woke up, but he felt a whole lot better. He was hungry though, and picked up his phone to order a pizza for delivery. Seeing the text icon, he opened it up, and it was from Belle. He hadn’t thought to change her contact name this morning. No more photos, but a rambling message, much in her style.

Oh wow gary i LOVE chinese!!!
No good with chopstix tho so hope you dont mind if i use a knife and fork
so pleased you dont mind about the name thing or the short hair even tho i feel silly for doing it and for not texting you i was gonna be l8 i was so happy to get your text and friday at 7 will be gr8
i waited to get home to text so no trouble at work so hope you didnt think i wasnt gonna reply
meeting outside is a good idea and i promise i won’t be l8 this time and i will be the one with short hair!!!!!LOL love from andrea xxxxxxxxxxx

He was pleased, but decided not to seem to be too keen. That wouldn’t do.

That’s great Andrea. See you on Friday at 7. Gary xxx

He reckoned he would have to watch those Harry Potter films again this week. He had already forgotten most of the names of the characters.

After work, Andrea rushed home, and changed into her pyjamas. She got the box sets out from under the TV, and loaded the first DVD into the machine. There were so many people in Game of Thrones, she was sure that she would never remember them all. Still, she had a few days to work through the box sets, and try to learn them again. By midnight, she had managed to watch six episodes, but still felt overwhelmed, confused by the different families and countries. She would just have to skim though some of the other discs, and pick out a few names. Tell Gary that they were her favourite characters.

After his afternoon sleep, Gary wasn’t tired. Just as well, as he had to start on the first Lord of The Rings film. But there were three films in the series, and he knew deep down he was never going to get through them all and remember most of the details. Halfway through the first one, he started to wonder why he had ever said he liked them in the first place. Or why he had said he liked Game of Thrones and the Harry Potter books either. He knew it was going to be a long four days.

To be continued…

 

55 thoughts on “A date rearranged”

  3. Oh no! All the pretending will surely catch up with both of them. Apologies that many workdays I cannot get to my reading, even favorite. So I’m late, and burning to now read the next episode.

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  4. Gosh! I don’t think I would be able to go through all that… (I’ve watched some of the Harry Potter movies and one of the Lord of the Rings ones). Perhaps that’s why I’m still single although not up to the task, to be honest. I’m so intrigued! Great work, Pete!

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  5. Haha, Pete, I am highly amused at both of them pretending to like things they don’t. I am glad I go over that nonsense before I met my husband and told him straight that I will never attend or watch a football or rugby match and he will have to watch them for the rest of his life with his own mates.

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    1. Not that I really know, but I suspect that things like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones are big talking points these days. When I was younger, it was mainly about liking the same kind of music. Julie considers herself lucky that I have never liked any sport, so never watch a single game or match of anything.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  15. I actually told my husband to be(number #2, not the addict) that I loved kayaking. Which was a total fabrication which he found out when I refused to go kayaking or white water rafting for our honeymoon. I feel their pain!

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  21. Ha ha! I love the way this story is going. I’m sure that online dating and such is definitely like this! Putting on faces and pretending to be liked and then struggling to keep up with your own lies. I love it! Can’t wait to read more!! (although, sad that I didn’t get to binge more!! Lol!)

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  23. Terrific, Pete! I love how each character is trying to please the other through movies and TV shows…and their chosen ones have committed them to hours and hours of viewing! Can’t wait to see this next chapter!

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