Continued...

"I'm sorry Sir, but your guest has not yet arrived, but we will direct them to your table when they do," the waiter said after his return.
"Thank-you," Kai replied. He looked into his drink and swigged the rest down in one gulp.
"Another please, "he told the waiter who quickly scurried off.
I'm gonna kill you Ray!

Chapter 3.

"OH WOW! It's Kai Hiwatari!"
The shrill voice cut through Kai like a knife. He looked up to see a young woman, with wavy blonde hair down to the middle of her back, wearing a full length pale pink dress with thin shoulder straps, standing next to a rather tired looking waiter.
"Your guest, Sir."
"About time!" Kai retorted quite impatiently. Now Kai was usually an incredibly patient man. You had to be when Tyson was first to the all you can eat buffet table, but being almost two hours late to a date was unacceptable.
Sarah sat down opposite Kai, carefully, so as to not crinkle her dress.
"Sorry about that. It was just seeing you sitting there. It was a bit...well... a bit exciting. Oh and I'm sorry for being late. It's just that I could not find the shoes that match this dress and I couldn't come out uncoordinated could I?"
Sarah gabbled this so quickly that Kai barely understood her, but he got the gist of it and nodded his head politely.
"Would you like a drink?" He asked, trying his hardest to sound... nice. He mentally cursed Ray again for making him do this.
"Oh. Yes please. I'll have umm... a glass of champagne please."
The waiter turned to Kai as if awaiting his approval to which Kai nodded. The waiter left to get the requested drink.

The pair looked at each other awkwardly for a while, before Sarah broke the silence.
"You're even more handsome in person then you are on the telly!"
Kai just looked at her.
"No really, you are. I mean I've seen all your matches, and I've seen you in magazines, but you're much better looking in person, not that I mean you're bad looking on the telly. You're fine on the telly too, but nicer in person...oh dear. Maybe I should stop talking."
Kai again looked at her. He didn't quite know how to react. He'd spoken to girls before of course, but he'd never dated one. He wasn't really sure what he had to do. He realised that Sarah was staring at him, waiting for a reply. He didn't know what to say so he settled for a small smile and a slight incline of the head. That seemed to be enough, as Sarah then relaxed back into her seat.
"Your drink, Ma'am."
"Thank you." The waiter left quite quickly sensing the uncomfortable tension between the two people in front of him.
"So. You work with Ray at the school don't you?" Kai asked desperately trying to break the silence. He liked the silence but having Sarah sitting staring at him was making him slightly uncomfortable and he didn't really want to show that.
"Yes. I do. Ray's a great guy, and a great teacher." And with that she began to reel off many amusing stories about what she did at the school, who her favourite students were, what Ray did at the school... Kai was beginning to wish he'd kept the silence!

An hour passed, the starters came and went, and the two potential friends were enjoying their main courses. Kai had opted for the roast duck in blackberry sauce, served with roasted vegetables, and Sarah had chosen the stuffed chicken breast, wrapped in smoked bacon with a tomato and herb sauce, also served with roasted vegetables.
Kai was quietly eating his meal, savouring each mouthful of the perfectly cooked food. Sarah on the other hand was eating her food and talking non stop about her, her family, her friends and even more about the school. Kai was beginning to wonder if Ray had set him up with Sarah as a joke because she did not seem his type at all, but he was pretty sure that Ray wouldn't do that to him.
"...and the kid never went into the toilets on his own again!" Sarah finished off, laughing loudly to herself.
Kai simply continued to eat his food, glancing at his watch every now and again.
"So, what do you do for a living now then Kai? I mean I know you've left beyblading so what do you do with your time now?"
Sarah watched Kai intently for a second, whilst Kai actually registered that he was being asked a question and was therefore expected to answer.
"I'm head of my Grandfather's business." He replied eventually.
"Oh. Nothing exciting then."
She looked rather dissappointed.
"No." Kai said. He didn't see the point in trying to discuss his job with her. She probably wouldn't really listen or understand, and Kai wasn't enough of a conversationalist to want to explain it anyway.
Sarah sighed and went back to the last mouthful of food she had left on her plate. Kai had also finished and was carefully dabbing around his mouth with his napkin. A waiter was just passing by as he did so and he called for the bill to be brought to him.
"Oh. Are we not having dessert then Kai?"
Please God no thought Kai.
"No. I've never been much of a dessert man myself."
"Oh. Ok then."
Sarah seemed happy enough with that, and Kai was glad she'd accepted his excuse.

The restaurant was beginning to empty onto the dance floor in the next room, making Kai quite worried although, of course, he didn't show it.
"Come on Kai. Let go and dance."
That was it, the phrase that Kai had been dreading. He'd never had to dance before. He'd always stood on the sidelines, looking moody. Dancing was not something he looked forward too. He had hoped that once he'd paid the bill, he and Sarah could leave, preferably separately. The night had certainly been no success in his eyes, and he just wanted to go home and go through the paperwork he knew was waiting for him, with a nice large drink and the silence of his study. However Sarah seemed to really want to dance.
"Come on Kai. It'll be fun."
"No thanks. I'm not really a dancer." Kai said as Sarah tried to get him up out of his seat.
"No. Really. You can dance, and I'll watch you." Kai had thought that this would be acceptable however the flash of annoyance that he saw in Sarah's eyes told him otherwise.
"I came here to dance with Kai Hiwatari, so come and dance with me." She said in rather a stiff tone.
However, this was like a red rag to a bull to Kai.
"I am not... going to dance with you." He said in his authorative tone again.
Sarah seemed a little put out by his tone but seemed to decide it was worth one last go to get Kai on the dance floor.
"Please Kai." She asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.
"No!" Kai repeated.
This appeared to be the final straw to Sarah.
"Fine. You've been bloody distant and dull all night. I'm leaving."
Kai inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank god. Now I can finally enjoy myself without having to listen to her waffling on all night.
"Fine." He replied casually. He believed it was customary to politely say goodbye and kind of... kiss... a date goodnight but seen as he was rather reluctant to do that, he grasped her hand and gently kissed it.
"Good night then Sarah. I had a good night. I hope to see you again sometime." He said extremely nicely and gentlemanly.
Sara seemed a bit taken aback but replied with the same courtesy.
"Yes. It has been a pleasant night. At least I got to have a date with Kai Hiwatari! Good bye." And with that, she left.
Kai breathed a heavy sigh of relief before deciding he needed another drink before going home. He headed over to the bar and ordered his fourth double vodka of the night..

To be continued...?