Entering the restaurant, Kate stopped looking in to the little silver Mirror that was by the second internal door in to the main dining area. A blind Date was not something she would normally do, she had only agreed to this one to stop Nikki going on saying how she needed to move on and have some fun in her life.
She looked at the photo Nikki had given her, the only clue to who she was meeting, that and his name. Spotting him at a table which was by the window overlooking the water she closed her eyes taking a deep breath she pushed the door open walking in.
"Mike?" she said walking up to the table hoping she had got the right one.
"yes" he stood up. "you must be Kate" he smiled
"yeah" she smiled
They stood in an awkward silence for what felt like an eternity.
"so, shall we sit down" Mike smiled breaking the silence
"umm sure" Kate half smiled still feeling nervous
She watched as he pulled a chair from under the table
"thank you" she smiled sitting as he slid the chair back under the table for her.
Watching with interest as he walked round the table, she looked at him with interest. Maybe it was just her and the fact she had spent half her life in the Navy but you could tell he was a Navy man through and through, he had a straight back and square shoulders and he was actually quite good looking in a way. His hair was dark and going slightly grey in parts. He was wearing dark jeans and a blue shirt with a jacket that was resting on the back of the chair.
"I'm starting to think I am a little overdressed" she said looking down at her dress
"i think you look stunning" he said softly reaching over, his hand resting on hers.
Looking up she found herself getting lost in his steel blue eyes. It was easy to get lost in the slate blue grey shades of his irises. It was like looking at a storm out at sea with the waves crashing against the rocks
"um shall we order" she whispered pulling away from his gaze.
"sure" he smiled reaching across her arms picking up a menu.
After ordering they once again found themselves in an awkward silence until the drinks arrived. Taking a deep sip of her white wine Kate smiled she could feel herself begin to relax slightly as the wine entered her blood stream.
"so..." he began
"so wh.." she said over him at the same time. "sorry" she closed her eyes taking a second sip of her drink "you first"
"its fine" he said sipping his pint. "i was going to ask, how long have you known Nikki for" he smiled
"oh, about 15 years, we were roomies at ADFA and became best friends quite quickly" she smiled "she is your Navigator isn't she" she asked
"yeah. One of the best I have had" he smiled "so what made you move to Cairns" he asked
"i needed a change of scene. Sydney is a great place but it was getting too stuffy and..." she paused
"yes..." he probed
"and Nikki suggested I transfer up here get away from it all. I had no other ties in Sydney so I thought why not." she smiled.
Their food arrived fairly quickly, Mike having gone for the steak and Kate the buttermilk chicken burger.
Mike watched as Kate stuck her knife Stright in to the burger cutting it in to two halves. She looked up to see him smiling at her
"what?" she asked
"nothing" he smiled "its just I have never seen anyone eat a burger like that" he grinned
"its easier, stops it from falling apart" she said taking a bite from the one half.
Watching her, he smiled reaching over "you've got" he said softly brushing his thumb against the corner of her mouth wiping away a smear of mayonnaise.
"thanks" she said reaching for her napkin wiping her mouth.
Eating their meals Kate found herself quite enjoying the evening. He was easy to talk.
"do you want get a desert?" he asked as their plates were cleared
"umm there is nothing I fancy here" she said softly
"well we could go for a walk along the esplanade. Get a coffee" he smiled
"i'd like that" she said carefully easing her purse from her bag pinning Nikki's little surprise in place, it was the one thing she didn't want to fall out.
"no its on me" he smiled stopping her in her tracks
"are you sure?" she said
"of course, it's the right thing"
"fine Coffee is on me then" she smiled putting her purse back in the bag.
Paying up they walked out along the esplanade. They stopped outside a little ice cream coffee shop.
"this place does the best ice cream ever" Kate smiled
"how come you know that?" he asked
"i have two little girls who love their ice cream" she smiled hoping she hadn't blown it. Kids were not something she would mention on a first date
"you have children?" he said surprised
"yeah" she smiled "coffee?" she said standing on the step of the café
"yeah" he smiled sitting on one of the little tables out the front
She returned 10 minutes later holding two take out cups. "i thought we could continue walking" she smiled
"sounds like a plan" Mike smiled as they continued walking.
The sun was just beginning to set behind the city turning the sky a glorious red.
"so what happened with you and your Ex" he asked
"umm I came back from work and I found him with another woman practically half my age" she half smiled looking at him
"sorry" Mike said looking over
"it's fine, to be honest it had been over for a few years before that, it just took that incident to realise it" she forced a smile
"how did you meet" he asked
Looking behind her she was glad there was a bench. Sitting down she sipped her coffee.
"we met in Afghan. I slipped and twisted my Ankle badly on board after 3 days it was still really painful and swollen so they medevacked me to Bastian for x-rays. He was in the waiting room having dislocated his shoulder on a training exercise"
"he was forces?" Mike asked
"yeah SAS" she smiled "anyway I had to stay for a few days as they couldn't get me back to the ship as a sandstorm grounded the choppers. We had fun went to Pizza hut." she said. Seeing his grin she smiled "yeah, there was a pizza hut in the middle of Helmand. Must have been the yanks idea of a joke. Anyway, I went back to the ship and he went back to his unit. When we got back 9 months later, he found me in Sydney and the spark was still there. We were married 6 weeks later" she said softly "then just over a year later the twins arrived" she smiled standing carrying on walking along the path
"is that why you took the shore posting?" he asked
"sort of. I was already on shore by that point. After we were married Jim suggested I take a shore posting as we were both serving, he said it would be good if one of us stayed at home so we actually had a home and not just a house. And that It was easier for me to take a shore post than it was for him to take a teaching post" she said shivering slightly
Removing his jacket, he carefully draped it over her shoulders
"thanks" she said pulling it around her
"it's Fine" he said "do you miss being at sea?" he asked
"i did, but then if I had stayed at sea then I wouldn't have had the girls" she smiled. It was true she loved being at sea but then if she had stayed on the ships then she wouldn't have had the twins and she wouldn't change her life for anything. Sovay and Aimee were the best thing that had ever happened to her
so i am feeling a little better and my mind is a little less all over the place
the Pizza hut in camp Bastian is something i got from BBC our girl which was a fav of mine.
hope you enjoy x