Perception

XVIII

They had wound up sitting down on the same bench she'd sat on with Sarah and chatted, the conversation still flowing easily. So easily in fact that when she had seen her watch she had startled.
"Shit! We're late!"
Eli had opened his mouth in mock horror and grinned.
"I know I said I don't do cheesy, but time really does fly when you're having fun."
She had grinned too as she got up and threw her backpack on in a hurry. Somewhere deep inside it she had heard the faint rattle of the beads in their wooden box.

She knew now that she was taking an inordinately long time to get dressed for this date, and she'd already berated herself silently several times.
Seriously, Anna, just get yourself together! He's already seen you in what you always wear several times and liked you fine, it doesn't matter what you wear now one bit.
And to be honest, if it did matter to him what she wore that much, she'd have a few things to say about that.
So why was she still stood in front of her wardrobe, discarded clothes strewn over the bed, her cell phone open on the little chest of drawers with the latest picture awaiting Sarah's reply?
She was an idiot, that's why.
All of her adult life she had made her own choices and she had not let any man sway her in any way. Not in the way she lived her life, not in her choices, her looks, not in anything. Her life was hers now, and hers alone.

And yet, here she was. Caring about how Eli would perceive her. She shook her head with some pique and then she pulled the same pair of jeans and soft blue shirt she had been wearing all day back on.
He could think of that whatever he wanted.
She picked up her things and took one last look at the mess she'd left. There was no time to clean it up now or she'd be late.

Eli had offered to pick her up, of course, but like a good post-feminist girl she'd told him she would meet him at the restaurant. She somewhat regretted that decision though, as she made her way over to the restaurant alone on public transport, and she was regretting it even more now that she had to actually find the place.
Unfortunately, sense of direction wasn't very high up on her list of qualities.
She was just looking up at yet another one of Amsterdam's beautiful old facades, hoping to find a street sign on it, when she felt it. It was only the very faintest of pulls, but it was undeniably there, like a beacon somewhere very far out to sea.
She didn't think, she didn't check Google maps any more, she just automatically started following that beacon. She walked through one strange street and another, before she turned right without thinking and found herself in front of a small Italian restaurant with a big reddish brown awning above the entrance. It was a small, homely looking place, named with great originality after the tower of Pisa.
The pull was stronger now, and she didn't have to look to know where Eli was. So she made her way into the small restaurant with its Italian flag on the window, walked up to him and gave him a kiss on each cheek. Two, unlike the Dutch all around her, who always threw an extra one in for luck.
"Hi Anna." he said happily, and gestured for her to sit on the free wooden chair . "Did you find the place okay?"
She almost giggled and for a second she pictured what his face would look like if she told him the truth.
Yeah, found it fine, I just followed the very scent of you like some weird two-legged Saint Bernard.
"Yes, but I'll have to admit to a little bit of getting lost, though." she told him out loud and quite honestly, and sat down opposite him. "This seems like a lovely place!"
"You should try the pizza quattro formaggio. Never tasted anything better in my life."
"Wow, that's high praise indeed!" she said. "Unless of course you've grown up in Glasgow eating Little Chef, in which case it doesn't mean very much."
He burst out laughing.
"You've got me! I just hide the accent really well."
The waiter appeared at their table before she could say something else to make him laugh again.
"Hi!" she said to him, with a slight wink that was only for Eli to see. "I'll have the pizza quattro formaggi, please."
"The same for me please," Eli said, "and can you bring a bottle of the house red?"