This is more of a test to get my writiing going, so I don't expect it to be good.  But am placing it here just for interest sake and see if anyone comments.

She felt her heart thumping in her chest and hoped that it would calm down before he arrived.  She had planned, in a way, for this to happen, but never dreamed it would.  At least not like this.  Maybe if Jenna hadn’t backed out at the last minute she wouldn’t have felt so nervous.

Calm down, she told herself.  But it was hard enough to breathe let alone calm down.  Remembering all those times where her clown act took centre stage didn’t help.  Oh, why did it have to be this way? 

Why couldn’t she just be natural, sophisticated like Jenna, instead of a fumbling fool?  She should have cancelled too.  But that’s the funny thing because she did.  So why did things suddenly change?  It’s not like she wanted to be here.  She wasn’t feeling well after her fight with Ben and her mother didn’t exactly help.  Mothers were mothers but hers was a mother too late.  Patching things up with Ben’s bruised ego eased the tension a little.  Men could be impossible.

It was nearly time as she looked at her watch.  She had waited for this moment for so long but now she wished it would never come.  She had really thought he didn’t get her message.  Why he had to play the around she didn’t know.  Mistakingly thinking he was already there, she told him she would meet him outside The Dot.  And now he was really coming here when he wasn’t going to.  What a mess.

5 minutes and countdown.  Enough time to go to the ladies room and gain some composure.  How she was going to hold that composure she didn’t know.  When you’re faced with the man you only dreamed of having you can’t even think straight.  Still, she hadn’t seen him for almost 5 years so maybe just maybe her face wouldn’t give away everything this time.

Right, it was show-time.  She made her way towards the escalator, put her foot on the moving stair and slowly made her way to the lower level.  She pretended not to look around for him but it was a half attempt as she saw him come out of the shop.  If the people behind her hadn’t started moving off the escalator she might have stayed there forever, staring at him.  Her heart hit rock bottom when she came out of her haze and saw his expression. 

He wasn’t too happy about being here, that was obvious.  She started to feel a little angry.  Why the hell rock up if he didn’t want to be here?  Her face changed into a polite mask, which quickly slipped when he gave a slight smile.  I’m such a weakling, she thought.

“You know, I’m going to hit you,” she playfully said.

“Why?”

She didn’t know what to say.  Too many thoughts were playing catch in her head.

“Well, because.  Anyway, what do you want to do now?”

He looked at her, a strange look.  Almost pleasant but hiding something not so pleasant.  It gave her a shiver.  She didn’t know why but the distant feel about him, that type of black aura that beckoned but warned, it’s what had always drawn her to him.  He wasn’t something to look at.  A little taller, not very well built.  But those eyes.  When he looked at her, she felt as if she couldn’t hide anything from him, even if she tried.

As if he knew what she was thinking he smiled a slow, enticing smile.

“How about something to eat.”

She took the lifeline immediately and replied, “Sure, why not.”

They walked towards the restaurant, which of course had to be placed on the other side of the world.  She didn’t speak hoping that he would.  It would have helped to break the ice.  But he didn’t say anything.  He seemed to be in another world, indifferent, as if she wasn’t there.  The anger she had felt earlier returned but it was more hurt than anything else.  So many times she had imagined how he would turn and look at her, talk to her, notice her.  Ok, so she knew deep down it was only her fantasy but he had his little ways of deterring that nagging thought.  Sometimes she had thought that she was over him.  Sometimes she thought it wouldn’t get any worse.  Then he would say something, do something or just look at her in such a way that her heart would ache with longing.  He must have known.  He must have been able to read her face and see what he was doing.  Or maybe it was just a game to him. 

So deep in thought she didn’t realise they were outside the restaurant until he tapped her on the cheek.  It was enough to give her a start.

“What’s the matter?  Nervous?”

His tone was condescending tinged with a bite.  The anger in his eyes confused her so much that she couldn’t answer him.  Is that anger directed at me?  What on earth did I do to make him so angry?

He was waiting.

“Um, no.  Just in deep thought,” she tried to smile, “Well, let’s go in.  I’m feeling pretty hungry.”

Idiot.  Now he’ll think you’re a pig who does nothing but stuff herself.  Why couldn’t she get one thing right?  Just one little thing.  Was it too much to ask for?  In truth, she wasn’t very hungry.  When she knew she would be seeing him after all her appetite went on strike.  And now she would have to eat something.  It churned her already unsteady constitution.

He stood aside while she walked through the door.  A waiter escorted them to a table near the window.  The table was covered with moulted colours of blue and green and sat nicely with the pale blue washed walls.  It was a serene looking restaurant but given the right lighting it could have been a restaurant made for lovers.  Too bad they weren’t lovers.  Images peeked through the ciaos and tempted her with delicious ideas.  Imagining what she could do to him made her smile.

“What naughty ideas are prancing in your head?”

How the hell did he know?  Damn it, her face.  Her face always gave her away.  The blush spreading up her neck and into her cheeks was a real curse.  Tell-tale signs of a virgin.