The Date she once dreamed of...

Shirley sighed deeply as she gazed in the bathroom mirror. She would never have believed that her life was going to rocket by at the speed of light... and that she’d be trying and failing to deny the drooping brow and the turkey neck.

WHO WAS THIS WOMAN?

What she saw reflected in that mirror did not reflect how she felt on the inside... she still felt like a young girl, still wanted to sample new experiences and to indulge in the things she loved ...but more than that there were things that had loved she might never do again. That thought tore at her more than contemplating the rapidly diminishing time available to her. Time for her to do something new, or even just a little exciting.

COMFORTABLE HABITS

However the fact remained that Shirley was a creature of habit. She quite liked her own company... so another cosy night in in front of the TV mainlining back to back Netflix series was not an anathema to her.

OH.....!

What was alarming was the text she had received 20 minutes ago. She stared at it as if it was a malevolent spider ... It was a text from her friend Hazel, so that in itself wasn’t alarming... however it’s contents were definitely causing major anxiety.

“Do you remember Maxwell Pollock?”, it read.. ( oh God yes she did....) “well he has just come back to Melbourne and he is asking that all the old gang get back together....and meet for drinks”

Receiving this message was the last thing she ever expected and it wasn’t welcome.

Shirley was transported back to a time a decade earlier, before the end of the 20th century in fact... where the weight of unrequited feelings almost broke her. She remembered the desperation and the shame... Maxwell Pollock was a striking articulate and friendly man, but that was all he was ...friendly ..and Shirley had truly longed for more.

Maxwell, however, despite knowing her feelings, had chosen someone else.

All the discomfort flooded back. Even as she stared at her crows feet in the mirror, a tiny yet insistent voice told her ... Go. What’s the worst that can happen? The worst already did.

BITE THE BULLET

She poured herself a glass of Merlot. And texted Hazel back....

They were to meet in Young and Jackson an iconic Melbourne watering hole.

Shirley, who was punctual to a fault ... looked around desperately for Hazel... she didn’t see her or indeed anyone that she knew from the old “gang.” But rounding a corner.. she saw.. him.

HARD TO BELIEVE

Maxwell jumped up a broad smile in his face, which Shirley found a bit unnerving. He warmly ushered her to a seat... they were on their own, for now.

CHEERS!

Shirley could still feel an energy, just like she used to, emanating from Maxwell. Of course it was no longer so powerful, but there all the same. The years had been fairly kind to him... his hair was a steely grey now and his brown eyes were as deep and magnetic as they had always been , even though they glittered mischievously from a nest of creases now. She also felt calm, much calmer than she thought she would, and accepting. ... She knew the others would be here soon.. but for now she was going to make the most of finally having undivided attention of someone she used to love.

CALM

Shirley realised that she didn’t actually feel anxious... and that as they chatted so easily about their lives, aided and abetted by a glorious deep velvety Merlot, that this felt like something she hadn’t experienced in such a long time , and although she knew better ...there was no shaking the feeling ... this felt like a date.

The One she had dreamed of so long ago...