A heartwarming short story
Leanne called into the department store on her way to her date. It was just before six and her father was fiddling with a screwdriver at one of the automatic doors.
“I’ll be popping in later,” she told him.
Her father raised his eyebrows.
“Another one?”
“I need to see if he passes muster, don’t I?”
He sighed.
“Well, let me know when you’re on your way.”
Leanne arrived early at the coffee shop and her date walked in the door two minutes after that. She watched him scan the crowd for a moment before spotting her, his face breaking into a smile. “Leanne?” he asked.
She smiled back. “Hi,anthony.”
He glanced at her full coffee cup. “Do you want another? Or something to eat?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
Hmm, she thought, optimism rising in her chest. Prompt, generous and caring. But she’d been fooled like that before.
She watched Anthony as he queued. Most of her dates hadn’t looked like their picture on the dating site, but Anthony looked exactly like his image, down to his easy, cheery smile and tousled hair.
Once again she warned herself about getting too excited. It only led to disappointment.
“Had a good day?” she asked as Anthony sat down with his coffee. “Great, thanks,” he replied, smiling. “What is it you do?” “Plumber,” he said.“i work for myself.”
Leanne nodded approvingly. She didn’t care what he did if he was happy with his life. It was amazing how many people weren’t.
She’d had too many dates resembling unpaid counselling sessions as she’d listened, a headache brewing in her temple, whilst the man in question detailed everything wrong with his life, his ex, and the world in general.
Quite how this was supposed to endear them to her she wasn’t sure, and it certainly didn’t work.
Anthony asked Leanne what she did, and she explained about the travel agency and this led them to the places in the world they had visited.when Leanne checked her watch, she started in surprise: an hour and a half had passed. She usually allowed an hour maximum.
Some guys didn’t make it past that first date. Others seemed so charming and wonderful that it was months before she’d discover she’d been wasting precious time.
If only there were a way of finding out what a person was really like. Leanne picked up her bag. “I should go,” she said. Anthony nodded.
“How are you getting home?” “Tram.”
“Would you like a lift?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks.”
“Then I’ll walk you to the tram stop,” he said firmly.
They wandered out on to Market Street. It was eight o’clock and the streets that had been packed with commuters had quietened, leaving only the midweek revellers, keen to enjoy the light summer evenings. Leanne liked the city when it felt like this; it seemed to hold so much promise.
“Oh!” Leanne exclaimed, gesturing to the store as they passed by the window display. “I need to give a message to my dad. He works as a caretaker here. Would you mind?” Anthony smiled.
“No problem,” he replied.“i’m in no hurry.”
Leanne tapped out a text message to her father, then she and Anthony threaded through the perfume counters towards the lift. Leanne pressed the button for the third floor. They stood smiling at each other, then the lift jerked and came to a stop. Anthony glanced at Leanne, his eyebrow raised.
“We’re between floors. It looks like we’re stuck!”
Leanne frowned.
“Oh, Dad did mention it had been doing that.”
Leanne knew what to do, but she stilled her itching hands. Instead she watched as her date scanned the buttons and pressed the one for the third floor. Nothing. He pressed button two. Still nothing. He pressed the emergency call button.
“Hello?”a scratchy voice came over the intercom.
“Hi,”anthony said.“the lift is stuck between floors two and three. Can you get it going?” The voice told them to sit tight. “Well,”anthony began, turning to Leanne.“can you believe it?” “Very unfortunate,” she agreed. Anthony leaned against the wall of the lift.“tell me more about that drive down the Pacific coast.”
It was half an hour before there was a faint humming sound and the lift finally began to ascend.
The doors opened on the third floor and Leanne and Anthony stepped out, laughing together at a shared joke.
“Just one second,” Leanne said, and walked over to her dad, who was standing by the escalator.
“How did this one do?” her father asked wearily.“i can only do this lift trick so many times before the bosses get suspicious.”
Leanne thought of her previous dates. One had screamed down the phone. One had cried.
One had simply sat in the corner, mute and morose, until she’d texted her dad to get them moving again.
You didn’t know a person, Leanne thought, until you got stuck in a lift with them. She glanced at Anthony, who was standing patiently, smiling over at them.
“Oh,” she said.“i think this one will do just fine.”
Some guys didn’t make it past that first date