‘Wow. Sounds like a good friend.’

‘He is, yeah. I’d be lost without him. He’s kept me on my feet.’

‘What about your family? Do you still have them?’

‘No,’ Tom says, his face dropping slightly. ‘My parents died.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘Was it recent?’

‘Fairly. A couple of years back. Car accident. Sorry, you must think I’m some sort of mental case.’

‘No, not at all,’ I say, reaching across the table and putting my hand on his forearm. ‘We’ve all been through things. It doesn’t make you a worse person. It just makes you human.’

We chat for another two hours, mostly about nothing but enough to let me find out more about him. I come to admire his positive outlook. Even after everything he’s been through, after almost losing everything, he still manages to hold a smile and look to the future. There were one or two negative comments, of course, but on the whole he seemed to be determined to make his life better in every way he could. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I always find that to be attractive in a man.

With the time past ten o’clock, we make our way out into the car park, where my taxi’s waiting. Tom offered me a lift, but I insisted he didn’t need to go out of his way. In any case, I wasn’t quite comfortable with him knowing where I live just yet — not that I told him that. A true gentleman, he didn’t push the point and insisted instead that he pay for the taxi.

As we say our goodbyes, I lean in and kiss him.

Later that night, while I’m getting ready for bed, I see another message pop up on my phone. It’s him.

I hope I’m not jumping the gun here, but I really like you. I think you might be the ying to my yang x

I smile, and tap out a reply.

4

Sunday 24 November

Today was much more bearable than yesterday, largely because I had Tom’s messages to keep me going — as well as memories of our second date from last night.

We met up for a bite to eat, then went bowling in town. It’s not my usual cup of tea, but Tom suggested it and I thought at least we’d be able to chat and get to know each other, rather than sitting in silence in a cinema somewhere.

It’s not like me to be out two nights in a row, but I’d already arranged to go round to Cath’s this evening to help her with her wedding plans.

Cath and Ben have been together for almost five years, and announced last year that they’d got engaged. I don’t think they quite realised how much work would go into planning a wedding, though, and I’ve ended up being appointed their unofficial wedding organiser. I don’t mind that one bit, though. I’m quite enjoying it, and looking forward to making sure they both have their best day of their lives. Cath being Cath, she decided they’d get married on Valentine’s Day, because she thought it would be romantic.