Toast

Chapter 4

Having had to put off meeting Peter for the night because I'd agreed to help Anne pick out her outfit after work, I found myself mooching along beside her on the way to her flat while she pranced along the pavement like a bloody pixie. I was not impressed.

We reached her flat quite swiftly (thank God) and she fumbled with the key, trying to get it in the lock. I couldn't believe it. Her hands were actually shaking. Then I realised, she hadn't been on a date in about three years... Well, that was her own bloody fault, wasn't it.

I shivered in the wind while I waited for Anne to sort herself out. She (finally) got the key into it's slot and turned it.

It was warm inside and quite cosy. I followed Anne up to her flat, which was also... cosy and warm. At least it wasn't as cold as outside. Slipping my jacket off my arms, I copied Anne and hung it up on the pegs near the door. I almost felt like I was in primary school, putting coats on pegs and so on.

Anne led me into her bedroom.

"So.. what do you think I should wear?" She stared expectantly at me, waiting for a response. To be honest, I didn't want to give out my 'dating advice' or advise her on what to wear because... well, I'm a selfish git, aren't I?

"Uhh.. well, it's a first date, so you probably want to impress him.." I said. "So that he remembers you, so to speak."

"We've been working in the same office for three years. He's known me for three years." She replied stubbornly. 'Yes, and look where that's got you.' I thought to myself. If she was going to reject all of my advice, I seriously was not going to bother.

"Alright, but you still want a second date, don't you?"

"Yes, of course!" Her voice sounded muffled. I looked around to see her groping around in her wardrobe, searching for something. She brought out an extremely short, bright red dress with a very low neck to show off cleavage (which she didn't have). Oh God, I'm so horrible...

"Yeah.. but I don't think you want to shock him by looking like a stripper." I laughed. Apparently, Anne didn't see the joke in it and stared back at me blankly. "Look, a dress would be good, but something that doesn't show off your knickers would be brilliant."

She fumbled around some more and found a black dress that fell just above the knee, a little bit cheeky, but not slutty.

"Perfect!" I remarked, not wanting to see the rest of her wardrobe and spend the whole night there.

"Okey-dokey." I hated when she talked like that.

Anne grinned at me and half-stumbled into the bathroom to change.

"So, err, what sort of things should I say to him?" Anne asked. "I mean, we already know each other pretty well, so what do I... say?"

I shrugged and made a very childish face at the door to the bathroom.

"Umm... just, talk about.. stuff. Like, answer his questions, talk about hobbies. Find out about each other. I'm sure there's something about you that he doesn't know." I replied. 'Even if you know every damn detail about him, anyway.' I continued in my head.

I hated myself for being so horrible to her, but I had had a very big crush on Magnus when I had first joined two years ago, and she'd forbidden me (yes, actually forbidden me) from going out with him. I mean, who the hell did she think she was? Since then, I'd grown up a bit and could hold my own against her. She'd gone the opposite way. Rather than being the 'ringleader' of the girls in the office, she'd become a soppy, sappy, weak kind of girl that followed Magnus around everywhere. I mean, she'd liked him for a year before then, Lisa had told me, but then when I joined, she seemed to want to start impressing him even more and slowly she fell into becoming this... sap, really.