The Ten Year First Date

The Two Towers

'I don't think that waitress liked me.' Jeannie said, pulling on her gloves as we left the restaurant. I was admittedly banned from ever entering again after the debacle over the bill!

'She was just busy that's all.' I sighed. 'Like you keep saying, it's Christmas Eve.'

'A cold Christmas Eve.' Jeannie seemed slightly soberer now which, was a shame. She was so much more beautiful when she was pissed. Nevertheless, I was determined to soldier on. The next part of the date should not only jog her memory but make her a lot happier than she seemed now.

'Ok Tube or Bus?' I asked, rubbing my slightly frostbitten hands together.

'What?' she asked shocked that I had even suggested Public Transport.

'Well, we need to do something. We can't walk to where we need to get to.' I tried, explaining. But Jeannie's face said it all. I wasn't going to get out of this one.

'Get us a taxi.' She said, the Jeannie at the beginning of the night now wholly disappearing.

'Do you have any idea how expensive taxis are tonight?' I asked, in the vain hope that she would understand. Wrong!

'Get a taxi Harry, or I go home right now and wait for the solicitors to open after Christmas.' There was the threat, the threat that had been hovering over my head for weeks. Jeannie glared at me. There we were. Two thirty-something adults stood at a stalemate on the busiest streets in the country. It was only a question of which one of us would buckle first. Guess who that was!

'Taxi!' I shouted reluctantly, trying to ignore the smirk that appeared on Jeannie's face. Now it was one all. Bitch!

'The Tube would have been so much easier and cheaper.' I said, handing over a ten-pound note and overly generous tip.

'Got us here didn't it.' Jeannie said, adjusting her hat as the cab drove off, without so much as a thank you for robbing me of my cash. Jeannie then looked up at the building we were now stood outside of.

'What the Hell are we doing here?' she asked, looking as though she was going be sick.

'The Night Tour,' I answered, looking up at the famous white stone towers behind us. 'We always used to do The Tower Night Tour.'

'When we were younger.' Jeannie said, turning around to me. 'Why are you insisting on doing everything that we used to?'

'I thought it would be romantic.' I said, mentally smacking myself for coming up with the worst excuse I could think of.

'Romantic to walk around a centuries-old building where they used to cut people's heads off for the fun of it!' Jeannie exclaimed. 'Oh my God Harry, are you out of your mind?!'

'No. I defended once again. 'But like I said, I am trying my best here so come on. I've already bought the tickets.' I continued, pulling them out of my pocket. Jeannie folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

'Why did you buy them when you knew full well that I would probably wouldn't go inside?' she asked, voice full of sarcasm.

'Because I took a chance.' I answered, shoving the tickets back into my coat. 'Because I'm not predictable. Because I thought it was a nice thing to do.' God, I was secretly hoping that Henry VIII was still in there somewhere wielding his axe! The night that I thought was going to be beautiful was turning into a complete disaster. I wonder if I could leave Jeannie in The Tower. I could bribe the Beefeaters. It was worth a try anyway!