Tyrion sat outside Café Leela where he had agreed to meet her. He rubbed his hands together & blew on them & watched people pass him, observing them, judging them, making stories about them in his head to calm himself.

He should never have agreed to meet her. Talking on the internet with the anonymity of a screen was one thing, meeting someone in real life quite another, especially someone who over the months had become sort of special. Jaime had laughed his head off when he had told him that he had finally decided to meet this very interesting girl he had met in an online forum months ago.

"This is ridiculous. Online dating is for college kids. Real men don't do cyber dating Tyrion",

He had replied in almost a whisper that this wasn't a date & she was just a friend whom he had decided to meet in person after talking with her via emails for many months. But he knew that wasn't strictly true. She was a friend, but she was special. He had no idea how she looked. Hell he didn't even know her name. They had agreed to keep all personal details a secret. Till today!

Bronn had registered his name on an online forum where people of all ages gathered in the hopes of finding a friend, a mate or a partner for life. He had given him a detailed tour of the forum telling Tyrion with some pride of the number of girls he had fooled into believing all his tall claims. On Bronn's insistence he had created his profile & then forgotten all about it till one day, many months later he had received a personal mail from a member of the forum. As the emails had gone back & forth his interest in this girl was roused.

In that Café she would be sitting at a table for two with a single book on the table. That was how he would identify her. There would also be a rose on that book, a detail which he had avoided mentioning to Jaime or he would never have heard the end of it.

Plucking up his courage he jumped down from the bench. He had decided to keep it casual & had exchanged his trousers for a pair of washed jeans which he had teamed up with a hooded black T shirt. As he climbed the five steps which would lead him to the front door he stopped for a taller man to pass. He watched as the man studied his reflection in the door glass before combing his hair with his fingers & rushing in to envelope a stunning blonde in a tight hug.

Tyrion smiled & tried to study his reflection in the glass but could come up only to the wooden panel at its bottom. The glass was way above his head. Grimacing & cursing the café owner mentally he hand brushed his hair, his only best feature in his opinion. There was no need for him to be so very conscious about his dwarfism he reassured himself. He was lucky to be born in the 21st century where dwarfs were considered humans & not a curse of the Gods no matter what his medievalist father & sister thought. He had not told her about his condition. He had wanted to see her reaction first hand. He didn't know if he was right or wrong but he often judged people by their first reactions. Would she feel awkward as most did & try to over compensate for it by being over friendly & over smiling? Or would she treat him as an equal? With many thoughts rushing through his mind Tyrion Lannister pushed open the café door.

The cool air coming from the air conditioner did nothing to lessen his anxiety. He stood at the door for a second studying the place & the people. The first time he scanned the crowds he missed her but then the waiter moved & there she was. At a corner table dressed in black adjusting a book in front of her. Beside the book was a rose. It could only be her. A ginger with long, silky hair reaching up to her waist she sat there pretending to read. But she wasn't really reading. Anyone could see that. She kept darting furtive glances towards the door obviously waiting for someone. Him he realized with some pleasure.

Taking a deep breath he slowly walked up to her. As he stood by the chair in front of her to introduce himself he heard the door open. He watched as hope flared in the girl's eyes. He saw a man as handsome as his brother walk in. She held her breath & a warm colour seeped into her cheeks before she turned her face away quickly. The man joined his friends at a table on the other side. The girl's face fell a little & her eyes lost some of their previous shine before she began pretending to read again. Pride & Prejudice he noted.

Tyrion turned to watch the guy who had entered once again. Tall, blonde, thick curly hair & well muscled he was the point of interest of every woman in the café. This is the sort of man she is looking forward to meet he realized. The hope that had flared in her eyes when he had entered had spoken volumes. Did she dream of her own Mr. Darcy? He had stood there silently for sometime but the girl had never looked in his direction.

Hours spent in building up the courage to go & meet her dissolved as doubts which had plagued him since his birth overtook him. He turned & his shoulder hit the chair. He pushed the chair aside & rubbing his shoulder left as quietly as he had come. It would be kinder to let her assume that he had never turned up at the Café rather than making her sit through an entire cup of coffee with him.

Tyrion heard the ping on his smartphone. New mail! He felt the same excitement he always did when there was a new mail. Would it be from her? Was she angry? Hurt? Disappointed? Jaime had called him all sorts of fools & he was correct. He should have at least said a hello. Curling up under the duvet he smiled as he opened her mail. She had waited an hour for him. She was disappointed & a little angry but as polite as ever. He read & re – read her mail for most of the night but come morning he deleted it without replying back. Forgetting the man she had never met shouldn't be all that difficult!

A month had passed since they had planned to meet at Café Leela. A month which she had spent checking her email at every given opportunity, waiting for an apology, waiting for a plan to meet again, just waiting for his email. She was so sure she had seen him at the Café. He had stood near the chair opposite hers & she was certain he was going to talk with her when Loras Tyrell from her office had come into the Café. She had quickly hid her face before he could spot her. No way was she telling that jerk that she was meeting a complete stranger here whom she had met on the internet. But by the time Loras had sat down with his friends the man near her chair had begun to walk away. Instinct demanded she follow him but what if she was wrong & he hadn't been here to meet her? What if she missed her friend while following this man? She had seen him the moment he had entered the Café. He was hard to miss. Despite his height he was handsome in his own way & his hair was his best feature. Had he been her friend? She would never know. If only she had followed him that night…

Sansa checked her phone one last time before switching it off & studying her hair & eye makeup on the phone screen. This was no time to dwell on men who had no manners & who didn't give a shit about her. She was here for an interview & if she cleared it she would be able to throw her resignation in Mr. Baelish's face. She shuddered as she remembered her boss Petyr Baelish with his smiles & touches which lasted longer than necessary studying her at every given opportunity.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear she stood up as she heard her name being called out by the secretary.

"Sansa Stark?"

"Yes. That is me."

"Last door on the left. Mr. Tyrion Lannister is waiting for you."