A small package surprise on a blind date

Winter had come early to Adelaide in South Australia this year. It was still only mid May and yet the temperature had dropped and there was a definite chill in the air. The Autumn leaves had left the trees, leaving bare branches, always a rather depressing look. Of course the gum trees which Jack loved so much didn't usually drop their leaves until around August but even they were going against the grain splattering their leaves wherever they could.

All in all as Jack opened his blinds of the small apartment he lived in, right on the edge of the city, it was not a day conducive to getting out of bed and to top it all, it was his birthday. When he had looked at the calendar to see what day of the week his birthday was on, he remembered feeling pleased that his birthday was on a weekend! Not a day when he would have to be at school trying to drill mathematics into bored, recalcitrant high school students.

He returned to his bed, reaching underneath to bring out the envelopes that had arrived during the week. It was rare these days to receive cards, most people took the easy way out by messaging their good wishes on Facebook or Messenger. However Jack had two older unmarried sisters who lived in Melbourne, were not involved in social media, in fact they despised it, so they always sent him cards.

Opening the first one which was from his elder sister, Harriet, it said the same as it always said, “Dear Jack, Happy Birthday, Love Harriet. The front of the card was plain with just a picture of a birthday cake. He expected more from the younger of the two sisters, Margaret. He was not disappointed. She had written quite an essay, giving him news, also asking lots of questions, especially about the state of his love life.

Reading her letter brought Jack up with a jolt. Now he knew why he was feeling even more depressed and cross with the world than usual. Tonight was the night he had been set up for a blind date. How on earth had he let himself be talked into this?

Jack was not a social character, he much preferred his own company. Yet he was a good looking young man in his mid twenties, thick blond hair, over 6ft tall, athletic, intelligent but very shy, especially with women. He had dated a couple of women during his university days but not very enthusiastically, meaning that the relationships, if one could call them that, had fizzled out. Since starting his teaching career, he hadn't had the time or the inclination to start dating again.

One of Jack's girlfriends, of whom he had been quite fond, broke it off with him after an argument that had started over some triviality which he couldn't now remember, but had ended with her saying to him, “ I don't want to go out with a man whose glass is always, and I mean always, half empty.”

That had been the end of that! On thinking this over now Jack realised that in actual fact she had been right. He had always been a pessimistic type of chap, always inclined to see the bad in a situation, in fact even to expect the bad, and if things didn't turn out as badly as expected, he seemed to have to find some fault.

However, his friend Ron, perhaps one might say his only real friend, was a very vivacious character, full of bonhomie, certainly the glass half full type plus always trying to match make for Jack. Up until now Jack had avoided Ron's persistent match making ideas. Ron had been dating a very pretty, lively girl, Pat, who he had met through other friends. Jack had met Pat several times, had found her very friendly but a bit too over the top for him. He did concede to himself that she suited Ron down to the ground.

When Ron and Jack had been having a beer together in a local watering hole Ron had told Jack that there was to be a dance on at the Adelaide Town Hall. It was celebrating History month which was always May in Adelaide, so there was going to be some old fashioned dancing as well as modern. “I am taking Pat, but..” “Here it comes”, thought Jack to himself, “Pat has a friend who loves dancing and history and he is going to set me up with her so we can be a foursome. She will be as ugly as sin, I wont know what to say to her, and she will expect me to pay for all her drinks. I know it”. Ron continued, in just the vein Jack knew he would. “Pat has this friend, she's really cute”. “How do you know, have you met her?”,Ron interrupted. “Well not exactly” Ron hesitated. “What do you mean not exactly?”, Jack blurted out. “Either you have met her or you haven't met her. Its a black and white fact”. “I have seen a photo of her”, Ron countered back, “and she looks very pretty. Pat says she is very jolly and smart so will you please make a foursome and it just happens to be your birthday, so we can have a great night”. On saying that he finished his beer and went to the bar to get two more.

After a few more beers, a lot of negative arguments from Jack against the dance, it would be boring and what sort of dances would they be doing, he could only waltz , hated modern dancing, being set up once again with some girl he had never met, of whom Ron had only seen a photo. The fact that it was his birthday and he wanted to spend it the way he wanted to not with some crackpot idea from Ron..Ron finally help up his hand as a stop sign, when Jack paused to sip his beer. “We are going, I already have the tickets, my birthday present to you. We will have a great night and you never have to see this girl again after the dance.” Somewhat mollified Jack grudgingly agreed and they parted having made arrangements for Saturday 14th.

So, here he was on the morning of the 14th May looking out at a damp grey miserable day, unusual for Adelaide, but definitely matching his state of mind. He was due to have lunch with a couple of cousins and then of course there was tonight. Is there any way he could get out of it he debated with himself. He could say he was ill but he was damn sure that Ron would not believe him. Could he just not turn up, no he wasn't that kind of guy. Perhaps he could turn up for the drinks that they had arranged to have at The Treasury Bar right next to the Town Hall and then say he wasn't feeling well but Ron would certainly see through that and Pat would never forgive him. “ Ok” he said to himself, “Lets face it, I have to go” and he threw his bath towel angrily into the wash basket.

Lunch with his cousins was at a local Italian Pizzeria that always produced good authentic Italian food and offered a good choice of South Australian wine. After some excellent pizza and a couple of good glasses of Barossa Valley Merlot, Jack was feeling in a better humour. Also the sun had just started to peek through the clouds. His cousins Paul and Mary were in good form retelling stories of their childhood which took them all back down memory lane. Also they insisted on paying for lunch as it was his birthday. After their goodbyes he decided to take a stroll in the south park lands, always good for the soul. As it was a Saturday there were quite a few people, walking their dogs, teaching their kids to ride bikes, throwing balls on the big green areas of grasslands, a pleasant Saturday afternoon. He ended up in the Japanese Garden constructed in conjunction with Adelaide's sister city Himeji. Having bought an icecream from a local icecream truck he sat down on one of the wooden benches overlooking the running water into the stream. Fortuitously there was no one else in the garden. It was incredibly peaceful. A soporific feeling came over him, probably the effect of the good red wine and he dozed off. He awoke with a start when a couple of children with their mother came running into the garden chattering nineteen to the dozen. Quickly looking at his watch he saw that it was half past four. “Crikey”, he said to himself, “I have to get moving”. They were meeting at The Treasury at 6pm for drinks and snacks.

Jack was not what you would call a sartorial dresser, but he thought he ought to wear his 'Sunday best' for this occasion. So donning his black trousers, good white shirt and black cord jacket, he felt he looked presentable. One last brush of his hair and he was ready to leave the building. Just as he was putting the key in the lock, he suddenly thought, “Oh heavens, what if I need a tie”. Rushing back in he grabbed his Adelaide Oval cricket club tie, stuffed it in his pocket and set out to catch the tram to the Treasury, only a 20 minute ride.

On entering the building , he turned left into the bar. “Jack, over here”, he heard Ron yell out. Looking to where the sound came from, he saw Jack with the two girls ensconced in a booth. He made his way over to them, giving both Jack and Pat a hug, he then turned to the other girl who had remained seated while Pat was saying, “Jack I'd like to introduce you to my friend Bev. Bev this is Ron's best friend Jack”. Bev said her hellos and Jack sat down next to her, indeed it was the only place to sit. “Well here's to the birthday boy”, boomed out Ron, while pouring Jack a glass of very good champagne. “Sante my friend and long life to you”. The girls concurred and the toast was drunk. “Good” thought Jack to himself, “that's got that out of the way”. Ron started chattering on about what Pat and he had been doing recently and Jack took this time to surreptitiously look at Bev. She was laughing at what Ron was saying, showing some beautiful white teeth and a lovely smile. Her hair was light brown, curly, framing a pretty oval face. Suddenly Jack realised that she was addressing him, “Ron says you are a teacher Jack, my father was a teacher and loved it. Is that how you feel?” “Well”, answered Jack, “Most days I do, but there is always the occasional day when things don't go according to plan, especially when teaching year nines”. Bev nodded, saying, “My father felt the same way about year nines”. After that it seemed to Jack that the conversation flowed freely until Ron was saying, “Come on guys, time to walk next door and get into the dancing”.

They all stood up, as Jack stood aside to let Bev out of the booth, he did an inward double take as she was very petite. If he had had to do an immediate guess he would have said five foot four, whereas Jack was six foot two! Inwardly panicking, he was thinking to myself, “How is this going to work when we are dancing, I will have to double myself in two. Great!” Being tall he had always experienced back problems and bending over all night was not going to augur well for a good night's sleep. Cursing Ron and also Pat, he politely answered Bev's question as they walked to the town hall. Jack thought she could sense that something was wrong for she gave him a few strange looks. Ron and Pat had been a bit quicker entering the hall before them, smartly bagging a table near the pop up bar at which Ron was already in line as Bev and Jack sat down. The band hadn't started playing yet but the hall was abuzz with people. Some were in ordinary attire like them but quite a few had gone all out, being dressed in rock and roll gear , twenties outfits and even some in really fancy old fashioned ball gowns. In fact the whole atmosphere was tremendous, so in that respect Jack was glad he had come but he was still dreading the dancing.

Ron reappeared with a bottle of Pinot Gris and four glasses. He immediately began pouring them each a glass. On the table were platters of antipasto, cheese, biscuits, nuts and dried fruit. It was a round table, Pat was seated next to Bev with Ron on her other side. Jack was seated next to Bev with Ron on his other side. Pat and Bev were chatting away to each other. Jack turned to Ron as he had given him a dig in the ribs, whispering in his ear, “Well what do you think?” “Yes, she is fine, pretty, smart, pleasant, but she is so short”! He raised his eyebrows, saying, “Oh for heaven's sake Jack, that's no argument against her”. Just then the band started up, terminating our conversation as the music was quite loud. It was a rock and roll number which got all the rockers up. They did look spectacular in their outfits, jiving away to Bill Haley. After that it was a much more sedate waltz. Ron took Pat onto the dance floor,so Jack felt obliged to ask Bev. She quickly acceded and took his arm as they wended their way in between couples to find a spot. His stomach was doing roller coaster rides inside him as it was a long time since he had waltzed. Jack had gone to ballroom dancing lessons with his sisters on insistence from their parents. He hadn't wanted to go at all but not going was not an option. Surprisingly, He had quite enjoyed it, mastering the steps quite easily. Bev and Jack placed themselves in the right position. Wishing himself good luck, they took the first few rather faltering steps. Bev leaned up to whisper in his ear, “Relax Jack, we are not on Dancing with the Stars”. This statement made him laugh, indeed relaxing him.

After that everything just seemed to fall into place. Even though Bev was a lot shorter than him, it didn't matter. She was a great dancer and they melded together well. They danced the whole of the first set, returning to the table to find Ron and Pat were at the bar chatting to another couple. Bev started talking to him, telling him about her dancing lessons as a child. They compared notes and all his negative thoughts seemed to disappear by the minute. She was so easy to talk to plus being a very good listener.

Towards the end of the night, at one point she put her hand on his leg saying, “This has been such a super evening Jack. Thank you for agreeing to be my partner for tonight”.

He could hardly respond as his nerve endings started to tingle and he felt like his leg was on fire. Managing to put a few words together he said,”Yes it has been great, perhaps we could do it again?”

She looked up at him smiling, “Yes I would really like that” and she planted a kiss on his cheek.

A blind date that he had been dreading turned out to be the most unexpected treat and in two years time Jack had the great pleasure and privilege of leading Bev down the aisle after they had tied the knot.