Until You Met Me

“You’ve been quiet”

Molly glanced up from the screen of her phone, looking across the back seat of their taxi towards Ava who was watching her, a slight crease between her eyebrows. She knew that she had been quiet. As much as she had prepared herself for another night of awkward small talk, she hadn’t quite been able to eradicate the nervousness she felt entirely, and with Ava being surprisingly secretive about the man she was setting her up with, Molly had decided that there was little point in asking about him. She knew that no matter how many times she asked, Ava wouldn’t tell her anything.

“I’m nervous, I guess” Molly said “I normally am, and I normally know a lot more about who I am going to have dinner with” she added, offering Ava a pointed look.

Ava smiled. “You’re going to like him” she quipped.

“You’ve said that a lot in the last eight months” Molly countered with a small smirk “You’ve been wrong a lot. What makes you think this time is different?” she added, the tone of her voice shifting from playful to something that caused Ava’s smile to fade slightly.

“Molly...” Ava trailed off when Molly shook her head, forcing a smile back onto her features.

“I’m sorry” Molly said “I know that you’re just trying to help, and I am grateful for it. It’s just nerves” she added.

Ava offered her a slightly uncertain look, but she didn’t say anything, allowing Molly to turn her attention out of the car window. Pressing her forehead against the glass, she drew in a deep breath before she blew it out as a soft sigh. “Can you tell me anything about him?” she asked, not turning back to look at Ava.

“He’s someone that you’ve met before” Ava replied.

Molly’s forehead creased as she turned to glance over her shoulder at her friend. “Have you set us up before?” she asked.

“No” Ava replied, trying, and failing, to hide the little grin that played at the corner of her lips “But you have met him before and I have always kind of thought that you’d be good together. It’s a long shot, but I think it could work out” she added.

Molly stared at her for a moment longer, a small frown on her face, before Ava reached out towards her, squeezing the hand that sat in her lap reassuringly. Letting out a slightly sheepish laugh, Molly shook her head and relaxed into her seat. “Is it Jack’s brother?” she prodded.

Ava let out a laugh before she shook her head. “It’s not” she answered “And you can run through every name you can think of, but I won’t tell you who it is. You’re just going to have to wait and see” she added impishly.

Molly let out a playful huff, something which caused Ava to laugh before the car started to slow. Quirking an amused grin, she looked over at Molly. “You ready?” she asked.

“As ready as I will ever be” Molly replied.

~#~
Placing his empty glass down onto the bar, Gerard slid his coat off of the back of the stool he sat on, wrapping it around his shoulders as his eyes surveyed the restaurant around him. It hadn’t been his choice. When a business contact had suggested that they have a meeting over dinner, Gerard had been quick to suggest that they choose the restaurant, and whilst it wouldn’t have been Gerard’s first choice, it had been a pleasant evening. Making sure that he left a tip in the jar on the counter, he moved to walk away from the bar.

“You said you would be here”

Gerard’s footsteps stopped at the sound of Ava’s voice, his eyes quickly falling on where she was sat, agitatedly talking into the phone she held against her ear.

“It’s too late to postpone it now” Ava hissed “She’s waiting for you to show up” she added.

Gerard blinked a couple of times before he turned to glance out over the restaurant, his stare almost instantly zeroing in on Molly who was sat at a table by herself. He knew that she had another date. After she had allowed Ava to set her up again, she had sent him a series of texts, playfully asking him why she was still friends with Ava, but underneath it, she had been genuinely excited and nervous about the prospect of another date, something which made Gerard’s stomach sink as he listened to Ava. He didn’t need to hear the other side of the conversation to know that whoever she had tried to set Molly up with wasn’t going to show up.

“What am I supposed to tell her, Dani?” Ava asked.

Gerard padded towards the bar, settling down in the empty seat next to Ava.

Ava’s eyes flashed up to meet Gerard’s before she sighed, mumbling a quiet goodbye into her phone. “What are you doing here?” she asked, slipping the phone back into her bag.

“I had a business dinner” Gerard replied “Was that the guy that you were setting Molly up with?” he prodded, nodding towards her bag.

Ava hesitated for a split second before she reluctantly nodded her head, blowing out a soft sigh. “I work with him” she said “And Molly met him when she came to a work event with me a few months ago. He had asked about her a couple of times, and so I thought I would set them up. He said he would be here. I checked that he was still coming when I saw him this afternoon, but he’s just called and said that something has come up, so now I have to over there and tell her that he’s not coming. She’s going to be really upset. I know that she was nervous about tonight, but I think she was looking forwards to it” she added.

“Did she know it was him?” Gerard asked, sparing a subtle look back towards the table Molly was sat it.

Ava shook her head. “I didn’t tell her anything other than that she had met him before” she mused “I don’t even know if she remembers him” she added.

Gerard watched Molly for a moment, watching as she glanced nervously around the restaurant, before he turned back to Ava. “If she asks, play along” he announced before he pushed himself up to his feet.

“Gerard...”

“It’s just dinner, right?” Gerard quipped with a grin, interrupting Ava’s objections “You said she’d met him before. She’s definitely met me before” he added.

Ava opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but didn’t say anything quickly enough to stop Gerard from striding across the restaurant and stopping next to Molly’s table. Clearing his throat, he waited for her to look up before he stuck his hand out and grinned. “Hi” he quipped “I’m Gerard. You must be Molly” he added.