Pacing nervously around his bedroom, John feels his heart beating a million miles per hour in his chest. Questions were running through his mind quicker than he could comprehend half of them.
"What am I doing?"
"Is this really worth it?"
"What if I make a fool out of myself?"
"What am I going to tell dad?"
He shook his head, at that last one. "Am I going to tell dad?" it soon became. He decided to stop thinking about it. He had been ready to go for at least 20 minutes now, but she session wouldn't start for another 30. He grabbed his jacket fussed over his appearance in the mirror one more time. He'd spent ages trying to get the look right. He didn't want to look underdressed, but it was hard to not look overdressed as well, considering that most of his clothes were gifts from his dad. Rich kid issues. He smoothed down the front of his shirt one more time and stepped confidently out of his bedroom. "I'll just stop by that nice café nearby for a while before I get there." He decided. It might help calm his nerves a little.
The house was relatively quiet apart from the din his dad was making in the kitchen.
"I'm going out tonight, okay, dad?" He called, getting his keys out of his pocket and swinging open the front door. He used the remote on his key chain to unlock his sleek, black car and hopped inside. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, but he refused to back out now. He slid his key into the ignition and started the engine, slowly backing out of his driveway. He turned his car around as the driveway got broader, and he continued down the lengthy road. Once he reached the tall iron gates at the front of his family's property, he punched in the pass code. The gates opened jerkily, and as soon as they were wide enough for his car to fit through, John drove forward.
He arrived at his favourite 24 hour café after a short drive into town and parked his car out front. Jacket slung over his forearm, he walked hastily up to the entrance, sweeping a few locks of dark brown hair out of his face. Bells chimed happily as he opened the door, and it made him smile a little. A young waitress came and escorted him to his seat.
Once seated by one of the side windows, a lovely secluded table hidden from the rest of the sizable café by a few decorative potplants and orange modern art sculptures. He ordered a hot chocolate, and the young waitress scuttled off to attend to his order. He sat there for a while, just taking in the atmosphere before he remembered his situation. Fidgeting slightly with a packet of sugar in the bowl in the centre of the table, John wondered what he was going to say. How did one impress people he'd never met before, in such a short time? And then there was the stuff Jade had told him. She was the only person he'd been able to tell about his plans, and she was extremely unsure about it. She had warned him about 'Stranger Danger' and about how untrustworthy people can be. He sighed and pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, deciding he would do well not to worry. Not long after, his ht chocolate arrived, and he accepted it with a small smile and 'thanks', taking the warm mug between his hands, sipping it slowly. He checked the time, and it was 6:40pm. He still had 20 minutes before the session started. He continued to take his time drinking his beverage, keeping his mind off of his misgivings, and just thinking about how nice the café looked. No wonder he liked this place so much.
Once he'd finished drinking, he collected his jacket and left, thanking the young waitress who served him, and paying the minute cost of the beverage. He nodded politely and headed for the door. Once outside, he slid his jacket on. It was really starting to get chilly out, and he was never one who liked the cold. He hurriedly hopped back into his car and made his way to the public hall/restaurant that was hosting the event. He located a parking space in the carpark behind the venue and found his way inside. He caught the elevator up to the 12th floor, and stepped out, surprised to be instantly greeted by a cheerful and curvatious lady with a flowy pink shirt and black skinny jeans on.
"Welcome to 3 Minutes In Heaven, your local speed-dating service! My name's Feferi." She announced happily, gesturing for John to come through. He nodded shyly and replied accordingly. "Please come in and sit down. You're a few minutes early, so if you'd like you can get a drink from the bar or take a seat in the lounge while we wait for our places to fill up!" John followed both suggestions, getting a glass of water and sitting in the lounge to drink it.
A few more people appeared before 7:00, but it wasn't until 7:10 that all of the places filled up and Feferi announced the session's beginning.
"Okay, I want everybody to come up here one by one and write your names on this sheet so we can arrange your first line-ups!"
It took a few minutes for everybody to get organised, but Feferi then called out the first 10 names and assigned them a table number, before assigning one of the aforementioned tables to the remaining 10 participants. John was the second person to be assigned to table 8, and he ambled over to his seat nervously. He soon sat opposite a very confident looking larger lady who boasted dazzling blue eyes and lipstick to match. She threw John a bright smile as he sat down. "Hey, I'm Vriska." She stated before the buzzer went off to signal the start of the first 3 minutes. "John." He offered, holding his hand out for a handshake. She shook firmly, hand lingering a little longer than it probably should have. After he regained his hand, he tucked it into his jacket pocket. "Cute." Was all she said in response. "I can tell you don't do this often." John flushed a little and nodded. "Yeah, it's my first time." He replied. She chucked heartily at this. "I'll be nice, then. What do you like, John?" She queried, leaning her chin on one hand. He glanced around nervously for a moment, before a response even formulated.
"I really like movies, I guess." Her face lit up.
"Cooooooool! I like movies too sometimes." John eased up a little, having found a common interest.
"Wow! What's your favourite?" He smiles a little, not being able to keep a serious face with all of the confident energy radiating from the larger woman.
"I don't have a favourite as such, but I like horror movies, and pirate movies, and I loooooooove anything with Nicolas Cage in it." He rolls her eyes to emphasise 'love' and smiles even more. John's heart speeds up. This was nowhere near as hard as he thought it would be.
"Oh, man, I love Nic Cage movies too! My favourite is Con Air." He pushes his glasses a little further up his nose, and glances around. It looks like everyone was having a good time. Jade was wrong. These people all look really friendly.
