No Reservations (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 2

2016

What a waste of a night that was.

The food, admittedly, was amazing . . . But my enjoyment of it had been severely marred by John's disapproving eyes on me the whole time I was eating.

I need something sweet now.

By all rights, having had a starter, main, and two sides to myself, I should be full to bursting point . . . However, everyone knows you have a secret dessert stomach, and that's currently running on empty and craving sugar. So I ask the taxi driver to pull up at an ice cream shop and wait while I go in to order.

There's so many of those shops these days, aren't there? They've just sprung out of nowhere; it feels like there's at least one on every street in Glasgow now. I'm not complaining, though - my sweet tooth loves it.

I opt for a portion of churros filled with white chocolate and some salted caramel to dip them in. I briefly consider buying some ice cream too, but that seems a bridge too far. If only John could see how strong my willpower really is, I think sarcastically, as I slip back into the taxi for the last few minutes of the ride.

Reflecting again on the disaster of this evening, I decide that it will probably be a while before I attempt dating again. Maybe I'll just give up on it completely; it's not for me. Perhaps I really am, as the Alice Deejay lyrics once proclaimed, better off alone?

I think, not for the first time, of escaping. I've been feeling . . . trapped for a while now. Even before I lost my job and gave up my flat. Just almost claustrophobic with the need to break out of the walls of my current life.

I'm desperate for a change.

The taxi pulls up outside my parent's house, and I trudge up my drive, a memory striking me as I do so of the last time I got out of a taxi here. Nearly seventeen years ago now.

Prom night 1999.

I stop and turn, my eyes drifting to the house across the road. There's an unfamiliar car in the driveway, but the building itself is in darkness.

I take a deep breath, my eyes fluttering closed as I remember how betrayed and heartbroken I had felt that night. It's weird how some memories, even years later, still feel crystal clear. I can take myself back to that moment easily, and I'm in it all over again, with high definition and surround sound.

The enticing smell of my churros snaps me back to the present, and I stuff one in my mouth as I stick my key in the lock. I can hear chatting coming from the living room, and I remember that my mum had said our neighbour - and her best friend - was coming over for a couple of drinks tonight.

My heart sinks a bit. I'm not in the mood for small talk; I've socialised more than enough for today. But seeing Lena Thorne is never easy for me anyway . . . It just brings back painful memories and makes me think about her son.

My thoughts that maybe I can sneak upstairs without being detected are quickly squashed when my mum shouts, "Is that you, Iona? Can you come through?"

Stifling a sigh, I slip another churro into my mouth and walk towards the living room door. "I've just been on the date from hell," I announce as I enter. I'm thinking if my mum and Lena see how knackering my day has been, they won't expect me to hang around.

Instead, the first thing I see is a pair of bright blue eyes burning into mine.

Ryan Thorne.

Oh dear god, what is Ryan doing in my living room?