Chapter 1 - Minor Skirmishes part 2.

She took a deep breath and walked through the door. The very pretty hostess, turned to face Aurora. She had short spiky bleached blonde hair and a friendly smile. 'Good evening, Madam. Have you got a reservation?'

'No, I'm meeting Mr Sam Jones, I believe he reserved the table. I'm a little late,' she smiled.

The hostess pointed towards the far side of the restaurant, 'Mr Jones is sitting at the bar.'

'Thank you.'

Aurora walked towards the bar, hoping the mysterious Sam Jones wouldn't turn around and watch her, she hated it when they did that. She looked around the restaurant, which was decorated in whites and creams, the back wall by the bar was painted red which gave the place a warm glow. It had wooden floors so she click-clacked self-consciously across the restaurant.

All the waiters and waitresses looked Italian, and she felt like she really was in their beautiful country. That was until she looked out of the window and was brought back to reality with a wallop when she didn't see a cobbled square highlighted by the golden sun but dark, dreary London.

The things she'd do for a holiday.

Sam Jones was very handsome - she was not expecting that. She almost gasped when he turned to face her which she just managed to cover by saying 'hi' too loudly. A few diners turned to see who had shouted.

'HI.' she could feel the blush washing over her, that's all she needed. Now he probably thought she was drunk. She had very pale skin so it was obvious when she blushed - she couldn't hide it, unlike Tasha who was tanned all year round. She couldn't imagine Tasha ever blushing anyway.

'Hi, you must be Aurora, I'm Sam.'

'Yes,' that's all she could get out. It felt like her throat was closing up, she needed some water.

'Shall we…' Sam led the way to their table.

Aurora was looking through the menu, trying to decide what to order. She didn't want to get anything that was messy like spaghetti bolognese, she didn't want to end up with pasta sauce splattered all over her face. She decided on chicken breast wrapped in parma ham. Not messy, she hoped. Sam ordered steak. Why was it, men always ordered steak? She wondered if it made them feel big and strong.

'So Aurora, what do you like to do in your spare time?' Sam asked, while pouring her a glass of wine.

'A lot of stuff, I don't know. I like to read, watch films, your normal kind of thing I suppose. What about you?' Aurora tried to give him a cute but sexy smile, which she instantly regretted, she gulped down some wine.

'I collect cars.'

Now wishing she'd learnt to drive, 'what kind of cars?'

'All sorts, I won't bore you by naming any though,' he gave her a cheeky smile.

No, she thought. That's for the best. She'd probably end up falling asleep in her dinner.

'Do you drive many of these cars? Must be an expensive collection to keep.'

He started laughing, which Aurora thought a bizarre reaction and was beginning to annoy her until he stopped guffawing and explained.

'I collect matchbox cars. I don't imagine I'd be able to fit.'

'Oh, well that was silly of me.' She laughed along with him although inside she was dying of embarrassment. She wondered if her face was as red as it felt. Why was it so hot in here? She wouldn't be surprised if she started to melt right there in her chair.

After they had eaten their main courses the waiter came over to take away their plates. 'Would you like to order some dessert?'

'No, thank you.' After the car incident, Aurora couldn't wait to to leave. They hadn't spoken much after that. He was very nice, and friendly but they didn't have much in common. Sam collects matchbox cars and she likes to watch reality TV while painting her nails. He did tell her more about the cars during the meal, but Aurora kept feeling like she was going to yawn.

'I love going out hunting for the cars, they can be quite difficult to come by, so when I find one, even if it's one I've already got I get this great warm feeling in my stomach. Only collectors could understand. I'm sure you feel like that when you've found something you love. Right?' Hunting for matchbox cars, it sounded like he was hunting for some exotic near-extinct animal in the dark.

Aurora looked down at her strappy heels 'Actually, I do know exactly what you mean.' When she found the heels in the sale, she wished she could break into a song and dance number and that everyone else in the shop would join in and automatically know the words and moves like they do in musicals.

'Any coffee, or something a little stronger?' Said the waiter with what Aurora thought looked suspiciously like a wink.

'I wouldn't mind some coffee, what about you, Aurora?' She looked over at Sam as he said this. Oh please, no, she thought.

'It's getting a little late.'

Sam looked up at the waiter, 'I think we'll leave it then, can we just have the bill, please? Thank you.'

Stay tuned for more.

Chapter 1 - Minor Skirmishes part 1.

'I can't do this,' moaned Aurora, 'the last one went terribly, I've got a gut feeling this one is going to be worse, ten times worse.'

Tasha stopped rooting through the wardrobe and turned to look at Aurora, 'No, you say that every time. It's all sorted. Table is booked, and your taxi will be here in exactly 13 mintues, so will you please put this on. That's an order.'

Throwing her a disgusted look, Aurora pulled the floral blouse on over her head. She liked her outfit this evening, she looked chic in her skinny jeans and favourite strappy heels, 'fine, but I swear this is the last time I go on a blind date.'

Aurora has been on 9 blind dates in the last 3 months. Her best friend and flatmate, Tasha, who has a constant flow of men believes she could find "The One". That's highly unlikely. She's never come across so many boring, pompous, smug men in her whole 23 years of life. Where does Tasha find them?

'Tash, will you do my eyeliner please?' Aurora has never been able to do a perfectly straight line, or a fancy little flick. It always ends up looking like her 7 year old Niece has done it for her.

'Yes, of course. But we've only got 5 minutes.' Tasha picked up the little black felt pen and drew a thin line across the top of Aurora's eyelid. 'Perfect.'

Buzz

'Oh, that'll be the taxi,' Tasha said, slighly out of breath running for the front door. 'Be right doooown.'

Aurora walked slowly to the front door. 'Right, wish me luck. See you later.'

'You'll be fine. I bet he's lovely.'

'If he's a banker, I swear…'

'I know, you'll have my guts for garters. Right, have you got spare panties?'

'I hate you, bye.'

In the taxi, Aurora was feeling nervous. Not that nice 'fluttering butterflies' feeling, this was more like wasps. Angry wasps flying around violently in her stomach, slowly buzzing their way up to her throat. She had to keep swallowing to keep them from spilling out of her mouth. That horrible feeling that she only ever got before a job interview, on the first day of school… or a blind date.

The taxi pulled into an alley way. Aurora looked out of the window 'I'm sorry, but I think you're going the wrong way.'

'Nah, love. I got my sat nav on, this is the right way. Don't worry, we're nearly there now.' said the taxi driver, without turning his head.

Splendid. Now she was feeling even worse, a date in a dark, stinky alley. They pulled up outside a big steel door. Shit, where the hell was she? Thought Aurora, now she felt certain she wouldn't be able to stop those angry wasps from spilling out of her mouth if they came up. She felt sick. She paid the taxi driver and got out.

She stood outside the door, wondering what could be behind it. Maybe it was one of those lap dancing clubs, but why on earth would a guy take his date to one of those? He could be a drug dealer, she thought, or worse. She would kill Tasha for this when she got home. If she got home.

'Oh God, what's that smell.' She turned her head and saw the culprit. Bins. Yuck.

She turned and started walking down the alley, thinking she couldn't take anymore of this, the door opened. Out stepped a large bald man, lighting a cigarette. He looked over at Aurora who was contemplating going over and asking what was behind the door.

'You lost?' the large man said, throwing her a suspicious look.

'Erm..I think so. I'm looking for Bordello's, it's an Italian restaurant' she was now looking around for a quick escape route. You can never be too careful. He could be an axe murderer after all.

'Well, you found it.' he was now laughing at her. Why was he laughing? How was she supposed to know the little Italian restaurant was hidden behind a big menacing steel door. 'You're just at the wrong side of it.' pointing down the far end of the dark alley. 'walk down there, and turn right. you'll find it.' He threw her a not so friendly smile.

'Oh, right. Thanks.'

She walked off down the alley, feeling very self conscious, cursing the know it all sat nav. She turned right at the end and there it was, why hadn't she thought of that? Of course that wasn't the restaurant. She checked her watch, 10 minutes late. Shoot.

Stay tuned for more.