Hi again! Day 21! I never imagined I'd get this far tbh! Hope you're all enjoying it as much as I am writing it! Sorry I've been slow at updating but I've been away and got a fair amount written then so the next few weeks will have around 2-3 updates a week (I hope, I'm gonna try to stick to this)! Thanks for your continued support and hope you enjoy this! Part 2 to follow! XxX

13. "Sorry I'm late.

Rita rubbed her gloved hands together, a feeble attempt to keep her warm whilst she waited. Waited for the man who had decided ice-skating was the perfect idea for a blind date.

It wasn't her idea, she wasn't a fan of the cold and strapping a blade to the bottom of her feet seemed the most ridiculous idea of sport. Still, here she was.

He, Iain, was over 20 minutes late, she wasn't hopeful for the date; it was only out of curiosity she was here. Her best friend and colleague, Dixie, had set the pair up after she had met this paramedic whilst on a shift from St. James. Dixie had giving him Rita's number without warning Rita herself.

She sighed, looking down at her watch, 25 minutes. He was a no show. Rita decided enough was enough and she wasn't going to wait any more, she started undoing the laces on the bladed boots, sighing as she did so.

Her phone started ringing, pausing what she was doing she looked at the number. Iain. Probably calling to apologise, she turned the screen over and ignored the phone as she resumed her focus on the laces.

"Rita?" A northern voice asked, it came from above her, Rita slowly lifted her head, her dark eyes meeting the most amazing shades of green and brown with what seemed to be an orange tone.

"Sorry I'm late, my shift overran and then my car broke down so I got a lift in my mates ambo and I still didn't make it on time. I got here and realised I didn't know what you looked like so called you-" The man tried to explain, he was slightly out of breath and Rita wondered if he'd run from the car park or was just unfit, she thought the former more likely given his profession. He cut himself short realising he was rambling. "Sorry, I'm Iain, if you hadn't guessed." He said with a smile, holding his hand out to her.

Rita smiled, "Rita." She finally said, taking his hand and using it to pull herself up. She was shorter than him even with her added height the blades gave her, but her eyes couldn't move, she felt captured by his gaze and couldn't stop staring.

Iain let out a small cough and Rita was brought back to earth, breaking eye contact as she looked back down towards her feet.

"I'll go grab some skates if you're still up for this?" Iain asked her.

Rita nodded, "I'll finish tying these up." She replied, letting go of Iain's hand, having forgotten she hadn't let go before.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." He told her, helping her sit back down on the bench.

Rita felt somewhat frozen, she knew she should tie her laces up but she couldn't. Her mind kept falling back into a trace of sorts, thinking of his amazing eyes. Rita shrugged the thoughts away, she had to focus, there was no point dreaming about Iain's eyes if he turned out to be a jerk, though, from what she'd seen so far she was almost certain he wasn't.

She looked down at her boots, her hands had been moving without instruction, her brain somewhat occupied, and had managed to tie her laces together. Rita quickly undid them and was halfway through doing them back up when she felt someone sit down next to her and place their hand on the small of her back.

Her head shot up immediately, eyes once again meeting those of her dates and her cheeks flushing an embarrassingly deep shade of red.

"Alright?" He asked, removing his hand to tie his own skates.

Rita nodded, not trusting herself to speak she quickly tied the remaining lace and waited for her date to finish.

"Ready?" He asked when he tied the final loop.

"I'll warn you, I'm not a natural on the ice." Rita told her companion, trying to stand and maintain her balance, trying and failing.

"It's ok, I'll help you." Iain reassured her, putting his arm around her waist to help her stay upright.

Rita smiled, she could feel the blush on her cheeks already and hoped she could pass it off as the cold air of the rink.

Hope you liked it! Their date will be continued next update! XxX