It was Lou's second and most disconcerting date this week. The girl came in looking like she had walked out of the forest or the middle ages, darting her eyes around bird-like. Her hair was long and sand-coloured and knotted and she had mud on the side of her neck. When her eyes found Lou it was as though she had found driftwood in a sea she was floundering in. Her face softened with relief.
As this creature picked her way between the tables, Lou thought that her face and the way she glanced around furtively seemed familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. Before she had time to wonder, two greenish eyes were looking directly into hers.
A silence immediately settled between them.
"Um... hi", said Lou after a while. She was embarassed, she was never normally made hesitant like this.
"Hi", said the creature.
They both stared at each other for a while. Before Lou could introduce herself -
"So", said the creature, "Um... I guess I should get this out of the way. I'm not completely certain about this. I don't even know if I want to be going on dates right now. I don't know if I'm... ready... if I can cope with going on dates right now". She paused. "I'm sorry, I am aware that I'm doing it anyway. And I don't want to overshare. I just wanted to tell you".
"Um, it's ok", said Lou, slightly taken aback, "I mean, I'm also not..."
Not what? Ready? Dating? Not... The creature looked at her with anxious eyes the colour of ponds.
"I mean, it's ok. This doesn't have to be a date".
Lou recovered some composure. Being reassuring was something she was good at. She could take charge again. Also, she thought, this person wasn't called 'the creature'. And they knew each others' names because they had been talking before, but that meant that it would seem strange if she were to say 'Hi, I'm Lou'. But then what could she say?
"I'm Erin, by the way", said the creature. "But, I mean, you know that, haha".
Lou laughed too.
Erin said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mislead you or anything. I did sort of want to talk to you."
"You did sort of want to talk to me?", Lou smiled.
"...I also think you're pretty hot. But I also don't... I don't know."
"It's really ok", said Lou, "we can just chat, right? Two hot people, chatting." She picked up the menu, "So what do you want? Coffee?"
"Tea, actually", said Erin, "If you don't mind."
They ordered tea.