Paul: Sunday 20th January 10am

I was pretty subdued when I got in the car with John to drive home last night. I could have kicked myself. I'd just met the most wonderful young woman and now I'd probably never see her again. I mean, what were the odds of me running into her in the street?

John noticed how quiet I was and said “That young woman you danced with, Tina wasn't it? She was quite something. Are you going to see her again?”

How can I?” I replied, miserably. “I don't know where she lives and I don't have her phone number, more's the pity.”

“Ah,” said John “I might be able to help you there.” and fishing in his top pocket he pulled out a little slip of paper and handed it over.

I stared at it “How did you get this?”

John grinned “I ju,st went over and asked her for it while you were in the bathroom. You were obviously so struck with her and when I saw they were making moves to leave I had to try and get it for you.” He actually looked a bit embarrassed. “I did feel a bit responsible. If I hadn't laughed at you, you might have danced with her again and got it yourself, so I'm helping you, just this once. If I were you, I wouldn't leave it too long to call her.”

That was John all over. Even when we were in our teens, he was always the confident one with girls, so unlike me. I didn't know whether to hit him or kiss him. In fact, I did neither. I felt ashamed that I hadn't had the guts to ask Tina for her number myself. Perhaps I would have if she and the others had stayed a bit longer and I'd had the chance to ask her to dance again.

I've just looked again at the scrap of paper with the number and her name written in a neat feminine hand. I don't need to, I've memorised it already and it's entered in my phone's contact list, but the fact that Tina wrote it means it's very precious. Now, what to do? Should I ring or text her, and how soon should I do it? Too soon will look like I'm desperate to make contact with her. Well, I am but there's no need to make it too obvious. Perhaps I'll leave it another hour. Heck, no. Leave it too long and she'll think I'm not interested at all. Perhaps a text initially is the best thing as it will give her time to think about what to reply.

OK, now what do I write? 'I really enjoyed meeting you last night, can we have dinner?' No, that's too 'full-on'. Perhaps 'Thank you for the dance last night, I really enjoyed it.' Maybe 'It was nice meeting you last night. Thank you for the dance.' Hang on, should I even mention the dance at all, it might bring back embarrassing memories? Perhaps make it 'It was very nice meeting you last night.' leave it at that and see what if anything she replies?

I've picked out the letters slowly as I'm not a fast texter. Now I've selected 'Tina' on my contacts list and seen her number appear. I hesitate and then press 'Send'. There, for better or worse it's done. Now how long will it take for her to reply?

It's been fifteen minutes. I'm still looking at my phone. I'd better start tidying up my apartment, while still making sure I'm within earshot of the phone.

It's been an hour and still nothing.

Yet another hour. Oh well, she's not going to reply, so that's that. I should have realised, a girl like that probably has a steady boyfriend already.

Suddenly the screen's lit up and the phone's started playing its little 'message received' tune. I leap across the room (thank goodness there was no-one here to see me) and grab it.

'Sorry I was shopping and left phone @ home. Nice to meet you too.'

There's been a sudden change in the weather and the world is a sunny place. Is now the right time to ask her out? Only one way to find out.

'Would you like to have dinner sometime?'

Silence for a few minutes, and then her reply. 'Can we talk instead of texting?'

I feel such a clod. Why does meeting a beautiful woman make a reasonably intelligent man act like an idiot? Only teenagers carry on whole conversations by text. I quickly dial her number.

Tina: Sunday 20th January 1 pm

I don't usually shop on Sunday, but the girls told me last night about a weekend sale at my favourite dress shop and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I was in such a hurry I left my mobile phone at home. When I got back, having bought two gorgeous summer skirts at a very reduced price, I checked my phone. I didn't recognise the number, but the message 'It was very nice meeting you last night.' made it obvious it was from Paul. I checked when it was sent — over two hours earlier. Poor guy, he probably thought I was ignoring him, so I replied immediately, and it was only a minute later that I got his reply. I had already discussed with Pam and Jenny the possibility of him asking me out on a date and what I should do about it.

“Well, if you like him, as I think you do, go for it,” said Pam.

“But supposing he.....?”

“Kisses you? Well, I should hope he does,” laughed Jenny. That wasn't what I was thinking of course, but I couldn't say anything.

“Don't worry, he won't try anything else, at least not on a first date,” said Pam as though she was reading my thoughts.

All the advice Pan and Jenny have given me to date was spot on, so I decided I would follow it again, but this conversation by text wasn't getting us anywhere too fast, so I suggested we talk instead, and a few moments later my phone rang.

“Tina? This is Paul.” He sounded nervous. So was I, but I was determined not to show it, so I tried to sound nonchalant.

“Hi Paul, sorry about me not replying before, I hope you didn't think I was rude?”

“No, of course not,” he replied. He hesitated. “I really enjoyed meeting you last night and I was hoping that perhaps we could meet again, maybe for dinner?”

“Yes, I'd like that very much,” I replied, and the relief in his voice when he spoke again almost made me laugh. Oh, the power we women have over men!

“How about next Saturday or is that too soon?”

“Oh I'm sorry, I can't make Saturday. I'm a bridesmaid at my friend Pam's wedding. That was her 'hen party' we were at last night.”

“Oh, of course,” he sounded disappointed and hesitant, “Perhaps the following one?”

“Yes, that would be fine.”

“Great!” He hesitated, “I'll call again midweek to find out where to pick you up and what time. Is that OK?”

I agreed that it was, and we hung up. 'Well girl, you've done it now'. I said to myself and decided I must ring Pam and Jenny and let them know what had happened. Before I could do that, my phone rang again. It was Jenny this time.

“Hi Tina, I'm glad I caught you. There's been a major disaster. That stupid brother of mine has come off his motorbike and broken his leg.”

Mike, Jenny's brother was going to be the groomsman at Pam's wedding and also my partner as I'm the bridesmaid. Well he wouldn't be doing that now.

“We'll have to find someone else and we haven't much time,” Jenny carried on. “I'm at my wits' end.”

I had a sudden inspiration. “I was just about to ring and tell you that Paul's asked me out. He actually suggested next Saturday, so he's obviously free. How about I ask him to step in if he'll do it?”

Jenny laughed. “Tina, you're a genius, and he'll do it, nothing surer.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm positive,” she replied, “Anyway it's much better that you have your first date where there's a group of us to keep our eye on you. Not that I think there's anything wrong with Paul, but you do have to be careful. In fact,” she went on, “if you had been going on a date alone with him, I was going to suggest the 'bail out' plan where I ring you thirty minutes after you meet, and if you need to, you use my call as a fictitious family emergency to get away. Oh, and another thing, you always meet the guy at the venue on a first date. You don't let him know where you live.”

“Wow,” I said, “I'd never have thought of that.” I was starting to think that this dating business was a bit scary.

“You've still got a lot to learn about men, Tina,” she replied, and she's right of course. I'm trying to catch up in a couple of years, the knowledge women build up over a lifetime. I didn't really think there'd be a problem with Paul, but like Jenny said, I still have a lot to learn about men.

So, I rang Paul back, and of course he agreed to be my partner at the wedding, in fact he sounded very enthusiastic. I gave him the number of Jack, Pam's fiance, so that they could meet up and arrange to change the hire suit size if necessary and tell him anything else he needed to know. I also told him I would see him at the rehearsal on Thursday. He said he would look forward to that. I'm looking forward to it as well, but I didn't say so.

Paul: Wednesday 23rd January 3pm

What a night last night was. Last Sunday I was quite amazed when after arranging a dinner date with Tina for Saturday week, she rang back and told me her groomsman partner for the wedding had broken his leg, and she asked me if I'd like to step in to replace him. Of course I said 'yes'. It means I will get to spend the afternoon as well as the evening with her, and even though there would be a lot of other people present, perhaps that's not such a bad thing.

I rang Jack the groom on the number she gave me, and arranged to meet him and Eddie the Best Man. He's the husband of Jenny who was at the jazz club with Tina, and she's the Matron of Honour at the wedding. I met them both at lunchtime in a bar a few minutes' walk from the office where I work. When I arrived there and ordered a beer, a man came over and identified himself as Jack the groom and introduced me to Eddie. Eddie looked vaguely familiar, and it turned out he works in the building next door to mine, so I have seen him before but not to speak to. Jack explained that he was hiring suits for the three of us and gave me the name of the company so I could be measured for the right size.

“So, what exactly does a groomsman do?” I inquired as this would be a first time for me, and I couldn't really recall the groomsman at my wedding doing anything at all apart from getting very drunk.

“Not much really,” replied Eddie, “Make sure the groom gets paralytic on the buck's night on Tuesday, but still gets home alright. Then on the day itself, you make sure I've got the rings, accompany the bridesmaid after the ceremony for the photos, have a couple of dances and maybe even have it off with her if you're lucky.”

I felt this latter suggestion was a bit crude but said nothing, my 'inner wimp' coming to the fore again, I guess.

Last night was the buck's night and to say it was forgettable would be an understatement. Since Eddie was doing the arranging, I suppose I could have guessed the theme. Beside the three of us, some of Jack's and Eddie's friends came along too. We started off in a pub and the beer certainly flowed. I'm never a big drinker and kept my consumption down to one beer an hour, but the others had no such inhibitions and were soon very merry indeed.

After an hour or so Eddie announced that we were going to a club, so we walked or staggered out and hailed some taxis. My worst fears were realised when we entered the club which was very dark except for the stage area where several women in various states of undress were dancing, if you could call it that, around some poles. I sincerely hoped that Tina was not going to hear about this as the very fact I was there would cause her opinion of me to nose-dive. Things just got worse as some of the women came over to the tables where we were sitting and sat on the laps of several of the men, including myself, and started to move in what apparently was meant to be a sensuous manner, although it had zero effect on me. I said to the woman in as polite a way as possible “Sorry, I'm married and I'd rather you didn't do that.”

She looked at me curiously and her crimson lips broke into a slight smile as she got to her feet saying, “OK honey, suit yourself.”

I noticed that none of the others had such inhibitions, especially Eddie who was greatly enjoying the attention. I was glad in a way to see that by now Jack was so drunk that there was no chance he could get into trouble.

An hour or so dragged by and about 2am Eddie finally said, “OK guys, we've got work tomorrow so we'd better call it a night.” Jack was staying at Eddie's place for a couple of days before the wedding and I lived in the same direction, so we hailed a taxi and piled in. I felt highly embarrassed. What on earth would Eddie's wife Jenny think when she saw them?

As it happened, when Eddie and I helped Jack up to the house, Jenny opened to door and didn't seem particularly surprised at the state of them. As they staggered inside, I felt that an apology was in order.

“Jenny, I'm really sorry about this, it wasn't my idea.”

She gave me a faint smile “I know it's not your fault Paul.”

Something else was worrying me, “I was rather hoping that Tina doesn't get to hear about this. It's not the sort of thing I do regularly, in fact I don't ever do it.”

“Don't worry Paul, I don't know you well, but well enough to know that this isn't your scene. Well, I'd better see they are tucked up in bed so they can sleep it off. Thank you for making sure they got home more or less unscathed. Goodnight.” Then to my surprise she kissed me on the cheek.

“Thank you for being so understanding,” I said before walking back down the path to the waiting taxi. I felt that I had risen in her estimation and that was a good feeling.

Tina: Thursday 24th January 10pm

It was the wedding rehearsal this evening. I confess I felt quite excited at the prospect of seeing Paul again. I was working and my shift finished at 6pm which gave me only 90 minutes before the rehearsal started. If I had been an office worker I could have gone straight to the church, but it didn't seem appropriate to turn up in my nurse's uniform. Last night I prepared by deciding what I was going to wear so that I could lay my clothes out on the bed after I made it this morning, all ready for a quick-change act when I got home from work. I spent a ridiculous amount of time deciding what to wear. I wanted to look smart without being overdressed. In the end I settled on my light grey knee-length skirt, a white silk blouse, light tan pantyhose and black court shoes with three-inch heels.

As soon as I got home, I had a quick shower and got dressed, and just had time to do my makeup and fix my hair before it was time to go to the front gate and wait for Jenny who was picking up first me and then Pam. When I slipped into the front seat beside her, she glanced at me and murmured “Good choice.” I felt pleased to hear her approval.

The guys were already at the church when we arrived. Paul was wearing a charcoal grey suit, a white shirt, blue tie and black shoes. He looked very smart. I smiled at him and offered him my hand which I now understand is appropriate for a woman to do with a man she doesn't know well. Paul smiled and held it just a second or two longer than was strictly necessary. I liked that. He looked well, unlike Jack and Eddie who looked decidedly seedy. I wondered what had happened at the buck's night.

Pam stared at them critically. “What did you lot get up to last night?”

“Oh just a few drinks,” replied Eddie. “I think we must have eaten something that didn't agree with us.”

“And Paul didn't?” Pam continued suspiciously.

Eddie grinned sheepishly but didn't answer her. Just then the vicar appeared which let him off the hook. We went through the wedding ceremony, which was not particularly complicated, and afterwards we all went for coffee. Paul asked how my day had been and I inquired about his. I had already concluded that whatever the other two had been doing on the buck's night, he had conducted himself like a gentleman. This was confirmed on the way home when, after she had dropped Pam off, Jenny gave me a brief description of how the three of them had appeared on her doorstep last night.

“Paul was very apologetic about the state of Jack and Eddie, and I told him it wasn't his fault.” She sighed. “Eddie is a good man most of the time, but he does like a drink.” I didn't really know what to say in response to that.

Paul: Thursday 24th January 11pm

We had the wedding rehearsal this evening. I put on my good suit for work as I was going to the church afterwards. That drew a comment from the boss's secretary Marcia.

“My, someone's all dressed up. Got a date, have we?”

“Not at all, I'm going to church,” I answered, and that was strictly speaking true.

I was the first to arrive and the vicar was there. He said he'd come back in a while when the others arrived. Jack and Eddie arrived soon after, and I had to try to look nonchalant, when all the time I was desperate for Tina to arrive. When she did, together with Pam and Jenny she looked an absolute picture in a grey skirt and white blouse. 'Paul,' I said to myself 'You are falling hard for this girl.' We shook hands and it was like an electric shock when I touched her hand.

The rehearsal ended all too soon, but then we all went for coffee afterwards and not quite by chance I ended up sitting next to Tina. I wasn't touching her but just her very nearness was enough to excite me again. I asked her how things were at the hospital, and she said they were fine but she had to really rush to get home and change for this evening and hoped she didn't look a mess. I assured her, perhaps a shade too emphatically that she looked great. Anyway, my compliment seemed to go down well. I won't be seeing her now until the wedding day but that's only two days off. I can't wait to see how she will look dressed as a bridesmaid.

Next time: The Wedding