I stayed at work and closed up at five fortyfive.
Christine had left earlier to meet with Andrew. She hadn’t said anything about it since her little ’opener’ earlier but she was looking cheery and it felt good to have someone cheery around, rather than how she usually acted. I thought I might just have burst into tears if she’d had a bad day and had giving me one of her lectures, but today she was the loveliest I’d ever seen her.
It was dark outside and had been since just after five.
Street lights and lights from the restaurants lit up the streets. The chill in the air gave the whole city an early Christmas feel. People in scarves and jackets were walking the streets. I saw a couple of people sitting by a window in a restaurant, they looked warm and cosy being indoors enjoying what looked like a warm meal.
Dave had texted me earlier and we’d decided to meet at The Bank Bar on the Royal Mile, which only took me five minutes to walk to.
I wrapped my arms around me as I walked, trying to keep the cold from creeping in.
I arrived at a building with big letters above the doors that read ’Bank Hotel’. It was a charming old looking building made of stone, as most of the buildings in Edinburgh seemed to be. I walked into the ’Bank Bar’ and saw Dave at the bar. He looked like he’d just arrived as he was taking off his coat. I walked over and smiled a little. It wasn’t a genuine smile, more of a polite one.
“Alex.” He said as he noticed me. He gave me a hug and a very quick barely noticeable kiss on the cheek. “How are you?”
“Fine, thanks. A bit tired, having trouble sleeping these days. But nothing I can’t handle.”
He looked at me with a little smile. He was being very