*big group hug for the lovely reviews* :) Thank you guys! I'm glad you've enjoyed their first "date", but let's see how things go from there, shall we?

Chapter 11

"Shit," Clara cursed quietly as she closed the bathroom door behind her. To her great relief, the room was empty and as she took a deep breath, she tried not to think about what an idiot she was. The attempt was all there was because Clara couldn't ban the thoughts from her fuzzy mind. "Shit, shit, shit, shit."

All of it had started out so nicely. John. The restaurant. The food. The wine. Especially the wine because it had turned her from a nervous wreck into a nervous, bumbling idiot. Clara smacked her hand on her forehead as she remembered the stupid things that had come out of her mouth, but the wine had loosened her tongue and suddenly, there had been no holding them back.

"Sex silver fox," Clara muttered to herself as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Clara, you moron!"

She had to hand it to John that he had taken it really well and with a sense of humour, but no amount of that could cover up everything else that she had said and done after and right now, Clara wished that she could just turn back time and start the evening all over again. This time, she wouldn't drink the wine, she wouldn't call him a silver fox, she wouldn't stare at his face or his hair or at his unbuttoned collar, she wouldn't do any of these things and above all, there was one thing she would take back if only she could.

"You know, I kind of wish this was a real date," she had said with a giggle and once more, Clara felt the urge to slap herself for her own stupidity.

When she opened her eyes again, Clara found herself still in the restaurant's bathroom and the floral tiles were dancing around her in front of her eyes. She really shouldn't have had so much wine. Slowly, Clara started to approach the washbasins, turned on the water and splashed the cool liquid right across her flushed face. She briefly considered her make-up, but decided that it didn't matter. John was only a fake date, after all, there was no point in impressing him at all and she didn't take him for a man who would mind a little smudged eyeliner either way.

The cool water felt amazing on her burning skin and just like that, her muddled head felt a little clearer. It wasn't so bad, was it? Clara had just let herself get carried away.

Then, she uttered a groan. It was exactly that bad. John would think she had actual feelings for him or she was confused or stupid or just drunk and stupid. None of that was a good scenario.

A knock on the bathroom door startled her and at first, it didn't make a lot of sense. It was a public bathroom - whoever wanted to enter could just walk in. Then, she heard his voice and Clara felt her heart sink.

"Clara?" John's voice came from the other side of the door. He sounded a little worried. "Are you alright in there?"

Knowing that there was no way out of this restaurant but through John, knowing that she would have to face him sooner or later, she dried off her face with a paper towel and walked up to the door, cursing herself for wearing heels and drinking wine. A combination of the two never went well. Clara opened the door just a crack and looked up at him, meeting his worried gaze immediately. This would be a perfect moment to be swallowed by a hole in the ground.

"Are you okay?" John asked to her surprise.

In response, Clara uttered a sigh and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm so sorry," she muttered. "I've been an idiot."

Clara averted her gaze and closed her eyes again. She couldn't look at him. Not now. Not ever. This was even worse than her first date with Danny and a lot more embarrassing.

John surprised her once again by chuckling. "Why would you say that?"

She groaned again. "Because I've had too much wine and I've said stupid things that I didn't mean and now I'm hiding in the bathroom, waiting for you to tell me that the whole thing is off because you don't want to introduce a nutter to your parents. This couldn't have gone any worse. I'm a catastrophe when it comes to dates, real or fake. It's a disaster!"

"Really?" he asked her and when Clara dared to open her eyes again, she noticed that he looked a little confused. "Because I think it was going well. Up until the point you decided to hide from me."

"You do?" Clara asked back, now feeling a little confused herself.

John granted her another one of his sweet smiles. "How about we call it a night and head home, hm?" he asked. "You look tired."

Clara breathed in deeply. Was it possible that he would give her another chance? Knowing that there was no way to determine that right now, knowing that the wine was still making it hard for her to think clearly, Clara decided to postpone the question, so she merely nodded. "I am tired," she admitted.

"Alright," John said and extended his arm to her once more. This time, Clara was even more grateful for the gesture.

Their taxi was already waiting for them when they stepped outside and Clara breathed in the cool spring air which lifted some of her drowsiness, but she knew that the worst was yet to come. Tomorrow morning, she would pay for every single glass of wine she had had - but that was after she had slept for as long as possible.

The car took her straight to her flat and when it came to a halt, Clara was surprised when John told the driver to wait for him while he stepped out of the car as well. She frowned at him in response, not really knowing what it meant.

John merely shrugged. "Told you. I'm playing this by the book," he explained. "That means walking you to your door."

"It's twelve flights of stairs," Clara argued.

"All the more reason to make sure you don't break your neck in those shoes," John said while she took his arm once again. When they moved towards her building, he started to laugh. "Were you trying to match my height? It's flattering but unnecessary."

"Shut up," she said, giggling. Even after she had made such a mess of the evening, John still hadn't lost his sense of humour.

They remained silent for most of the way up, mainly because Clara was busy enough trying to coordinate her feet and fighting the urge to close her eyes and fall asleep standing up. When she had finally reached and opened her door, the first thing she did was taking off those painful heels, sighing in relief once her feet were aligned with the floor. However, she soon noticed that she now barely reached John's shoulder and he had obviously come to the same conclusion because he started to laugh.

"Okay, I see the point of the shoes now," he remarked.

Scowling playfully at him, Clara prodded his chest with her index finger. "Mean," she growled and then realised with a sigh that it was time for John to say goodnight. He had behaved like a true gentleman all evening, something Clara hadn't experienced in a very long time and once again, she felt a sense of sadness that none of it was actually real. "Thank you for the evening. It was lovely."

"You're welcome. And I'm sorry," he muttered sheepishly.

"You're sorry?"

"I should have warned you about the wine," John said, biting down on his own lip and giving her an apologetic look.

Clara made a dismissive gesture. "I don't think I would have listened anyway," she admitted with a smile.

"Well, see you soon?" John asked hopefully and Clara felt her heart skip a beat. He wanted to see her again. Their devious plan was still on. Just thinking about repeating this evening made her incredibly happy and the possibility was enough to lift her spirits.

If even she had wanted to hide it, Clara couldn't stop herself from smiling as she leaned against her doorframe and looked at John. "See you soon," she confirmed happily.

Clara watched as John turned around to leave, but just as he had reached the stairs, he turned around one last time and looked straight at her. She had no idea why, but then he started to speak. "You know, under different circumstances, this really would have been a perfect first date," he told her in a voice that was so sincere, Clara didn't doubt for a second that he truly meant it. She had admitted it, John had admitted it. They were even now.

Clara's smile widened. "Good night, John."

"Sleep well," he told her and then vanished down the stairs, leaving Clara with a warm and fuzzy feeling. She shrugged it off and closed her door. It was only the wine that was making her feel like that.