Date with Tom
It happened when I was 23.
We met at 7.30 at my local curry house ‘The Mangala’ after swapping numbers via an online dating site. Through the course of the text messaging I got to know a bit about Tom. He sent me some pics – I was impressed. He was very attractive, with his short, dark brown hair and chiselled features, and when he turned up to meet me I was surprised to find he was even more attractive in the flesh, although maybe a bit shorter than I would have liked.
I’m 5’7”, blonde and curvaceous. Job wise, I look after animals – i’m a vet nurse.
We walked into the restaurant and took a window seat. I like window seats because you can sit and stare out of the window watching people go past if the conversation enters a lull.
Tom ordered some poppadoms and a tap water (!!!?) for himself, whilst I ordered a glass of Rose wine. We looked at the menu and talked through the things we liked and disliked. For example I told Tom that I liked anything that was medium hot, but not too hot. Tom liked mild curries like Korma and such like. Each to their own I thought, but I was a bit disappointed because I like men to be men. Oh well, I thought – you can’t have it all.
Tom started talking about his job. He told me he was an actor. An actor? Really? In what? Pantomime? Tom looked offended when I suggested this and told me that he was indeed a proper actor “Thank you very much!”.
The meal came and we ate in silence. I just couldn’t bring myself to ask Tom any more about his ‘acting career’. I talked a little about my job at the vets, but he didn’t seem that interested. I could tell he wanted to talk about himself but was too polite and modest to start the conversation. I asked Tom what he thought about religion and whether or not science had replaced it when a bullet whizzed past my head and shattered the window behind me.
Tom suddenly leapt into action, doing a backflip out of his chair and ran across the restaurant via three table tops to where the gunman was and before any more shots were fired he wrangled the gun off the gunman and then batted him round the head with the butt of the gun, sending him to the floor unconscious. Tom had saved us all from being shot and applause rang out amongst the diners.
Everyone started to file out of the restaurant, following Tom and pestering him for an autograph! I mean, yeah he had saved us all, but surely that didn’t warrant an autograph?
I checked quickly to see how the gunman was. The staff had tied him up with rope and had rung the police, so that was sorted for now.
Outside was a real palaver. I couldn’t get to Tom. He was being smothered. Eventually the crowd gave him space and he started posing for pictures with people. It was sickening. He was really lapping things up, so I left him to it.
That’s the last I ever saw of Tom. He texted me a few times to see if I wanted to come to some opening of a film or something, but I don’t like films, so I passed on that offer, kind as it was.
Adam Crosland 