Now it was Thursday and Harry was suddenly nervous. He had spent hours studying Time Out magazine, and he was none the wiser, all the events were too loud, too high brow, too grungy, too stuffy or too expensive. It was a Thursday night, he just wanted to spend time with his friend, he wanted to talk to her without having his ears assaulted and he wanted above all to avoid the two of them doing anything that involved large quantities of alcohol. He really did have a hearing tomorrow, but that wasn't the only reason he didn't want to wake up with the hangover from hell in the morning. HIs mother hadn't come up with any other suggestions either.

He was glad now he hadn't chosen any outside activities, the scorching sun of the previous week had gone and it had rained continuously for the last two days. There was still the inevitable talk of hose pipe bans for most of the south of England for August, but June had had one of the highest recorded rainfalls since records began.

So instead he had planned an evening at his flat, boring, predictable maybe but he hadn't spoken to Nikki properly for months, he didn't want to sit next to her through some film unable to talk to her for another ninety minutes, or be trapped into social conformity at some fancy restaurant. He just wanted everything to be perfect; being at his flat meant he had far more control over events and it would hopefully be more relaxing, so he had tried to banish the nagging feeling that he was playing it safe and that he really should have made more of an effort.

He had told her to come over after work.

"Do I need to change?" she had asked.

"No, come as you are," he had assured her but he was certain he saw her face fall with disappointment; he had got it wrong with her so many times before. He knew it was only a matter of time before she gave up on him altogether; he had to make this evening work.

He'd tidied up the debris of work, files and post that always seemed to gather on his dining table, and set out the things for dinner. He wasn't cooking, but she didn't need to know that, although she would probably guess. He had stared at the candlesticks in his cupboard for a while, wondering whether to add them. He didn't want it to look too much like a romantic dinner, and besides staring into a candle flame no longer evoked calming and pleasant memories for him. He closed the cupboard leaving the candlesticks inside.

However lined up on his dining table instead were four wrapped parcels, it would be up to Nikki which one she chose to open as to what they ended up doing, or at least what order they did things. He couldn't beat Drew at making up imaginative dates, and if he had managed it this once, he wouldn't be able to keep it up, and so he decided to stick to being himself. If this was some kind of attempt on her part to review their relationship, he wanted her firmly in the driving seat. He had messed things up last, he just had to apologise, she had to show him whether he was forgiven or not.

Harry was slightly worried by his present theme, but he decided it wasn't presents that Nikki didn't like, it was the reason behind Drew's presents that had made her so sad. His parcels weren't hard to guess one was definitely a DVD, one a pack of cards, one was a book of photographs, that was harder to guess and harder to come by. He knew she had loads of photos, Christmas parties, their trips to Africa, the day Leo had collected his MBE and he had gone through her desk one day when she was out and found a whole stash, he'd hacked her computer too and found some more, Leo had a few and he had even fewer, but by the time he had finished he was quite pleased with what he had accomplished. It showed most of the highlights and would be he thought something she would enjoy looking through with him.

Then there was the fourth package. Shoshana had listened carefully to all the details Harry could remember about Nikki's necklace and had created an absolutely stunning piece of jewellery. It wasn't identical to the one she had before, but in a way he was glad, it made it something new; not just a substitute. He didn't want to replace what the old one symbolised but she did really need to get rid of those chains. Harry didn't usually like buying expensive items, not frivolous ones anyway, but this was so much more satisfying than the camera he had bought for her; he hoped she would like it.

He looked at the gifts lined up on the table and wondered what she would choose, they represented all the aspects of their complicated relationship in some way; the DVD companion, the game playing intellectual partner, the shared memories of a long term family friend. He wondered if the necklace was a step too far. Was it too bold? Did it look like the gift of a lover? Or the consent to let her fly away and make her own choices? Did she want this to be an evening to be a way of saying thank you; grateful for all Harry's help in helping to get Moorcroft behind bars or was it to show that he, Harry was finally forgiven for his stupidity and that the once extinguished possibility of something more, could be reignited? Or would that just make him Mr Rebound?

He couldn't ponder any longer as the buzzer sounded.

"I bought wine!" she said enthusiastically as she bounded into his apartment. "I've not been here for ages," she said as she twirled round to notice the changes. "Something smells nice, did you cook?" she asked.

Harry laughed, "fortunately for you no! But it is probably ready if you are. Would you like to take a seat?" He pointed towards the table in a mock bow.

"I might be safer supervising in the kitchen," she claimed but made her way towards the table as she was asked and began to open her wine.

Harry reappeared moments later carrying two plates, and put them on the table.

Nikki peered in unceremoniously and sniffed.

"This looks like Mr Li's special fried rice, Szechuan chicken, stir fry vegetables and pork balls," she said.

"Ah yes, but it is served on a plate," Harry said proudly.

Nikki burst out laughing, "I've missed this!" she said and held out her glass of wine.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"I'm really sorry," Harry said quickly before he lost his nerve.

"What for?" Nikki asked, but she could sense he wasn't apologising for getting take out and not taking her out somewhere special. "Oh," she said as she realised what was still troubling him. "Harry, it was a mistake, I'd forgotten all about it, you have more than made up for it with all the help you've given me, I'm not entirely blameless you know."

"Thank you," he replied with a sigh of relief, and noticed her eyes smiling at him across the table.

They ate in comfortable silence for a while.

"What's with the Daily Telegraph?" she asked.

"Hunh?"

"The Daily Telegraph? Because if you want me to finish the last three clues in that crossword for you, the questions are wrapped under the other side," she explained.

"You said you wanted to celebrate," Harry said. "So I got you gifts. Celebrations always involve gifts."

He saw her eyes light up at that, her curiosity piqued and a challenge and puzzle presented for her to solve.

"That one looks like a DVD," she said picking up the DVD and assessing its weight and shaking it a little.

Harry just raised an eyebrow but didn't reply.

"That one," she said putting down her chopsticks and feeling the pack of cards, "that one feels like a pack of cards," she claimed and even Harry could see some of her initial exuberance dissolve. For the first time he dared to believe that she had made this 'date' because somehow they were finally ready to move beyond the card games and DVD's.

"You didn't spare any expense on the wrapping did you?" she laughed.

"It's the thought that counts," Harry retorted.

She picked up the book next, and felt along the edges. "It's a book of some kind, but it's not a novel, it's the wrong shape, I'm not sure about that one."

Harry smiled, her inquisitiveness was back.

She picked up Shoshana's small package last. He had wrapped her beautiful gold and cream gift wrap with newspaper too. It had seemed a shame to cover it up, even the wrapping was a work of art but it had to fit in with the others: 'all that glitters is not gold,' and all that, and he had promised himself no Shakespeare, he thought wryly.

"There are extra sweet and sour pork balls," Harry said as she was still investigating the little present.

"Do I have to wait to finish my meal before I can start unwrapping them?" she asked.

"Of course," insisted Harry and then began to worry that this whole present thing was too controlling and he was doing exactly what he had decided he wouldn't do and that he had wanted her to take the lead.

"Are you having any?" she asked.

"Do you need to ask?" Harry replied.

"And you would want me to wait until you'd finished?"

"Naturally," Harry insisted.

"Bring them here then, it'll be quicker if we share them!"

Harry laughed as he headed back to the kitchen.

"Am I allowed to play twenty questions to guess?" Nikki called after him.

"Eat your pork balls, and choose one to open," he smiled.

So which one will she choose? Let me know if you think I've totally gone off the rails here, please?