“You shouldn’t think that about yourself. From what I can tell you’re pretty special in your own right.”

“You don’t know me well enough to know that.” said Tina, blushing slightly.

“I have a gift. I know a special woman when I meet one.” smiled Shane, wondering whether her charm was having the desired affect.

“Are you single?” asked Tina, wanting to move the conversation along to something she felt more comfortable with.

“Always single.” replied Shane, smirking slightly.

“You seem pleased about that. Don’t you want to meet someone special?” asked Tina, confused by Shane’s reaction.

“It’s not that simple though is it? Wanting to meet someone special is one thing, but actually meeting them and then working it out so that you stay with them is something else. It‘s probably just easier to stay out of it all together.”

“Don’t you think that’s kind of pessimistic?”

“More realistic.” smiled Shane, not expecting Tina to understand.

“But what if someone comes along and sweeps you off your feet?” asked Tina, persisting with some positively.

“What? Like you?” asked Shane, knowing that she was pushing her luck.

It was then that Tina’s cell phone burst into life. Both Tina and Shane jumped slightly in their seats. It was like the noise had burst their bubble and the real world had intruded. Tina flipped open her phone and read her message. She smiled slightly at the words on the screen. Shane watched her intently, trying to read what was going on in Tina’s mind from the expression on her face.

“The girlfriend?” asked Shane, once Tina looked up from her phone.

“Yes. Now I really should think about going.”

“That’s a shame.” replied Shane, knowing that it really was goodbye, at least for a while.

Shane watched as Tina put her laptop back into her bag. She racked her brain of a way to ask Tina for her phone number. She felt an attraction to this woman, which she already knew was wrong, but she wanted to she if she could make it go somewhere.

“Is this the first time you’ve been to The Planet?” asked Tina, looking up from her task.

“Yeah, it seems like a nice place though. It’s busy so it must be good.”

“My friends and I hang out here a lot. Hopefully you’ll come back and I’ll see you again.” said Tina, also aware that something that she couldn’t quite identify was happening between her and Shane.

“I know this is kind of forward, but would it be OK if we swapped phone numbers. It would be good to have at least one friend in the city.”

“Yeah, of course. I should have offered. We should definitely swap numbers, then I can call you if I’m here later in the week.”

“I would like to see you again.” replied Shane, turning away slightly so that Tina couldn’t see the colour gracing her cheeks.

“You’ll definitely see me again.” said Tina, scribbling her phone number on a scrap piece of paper and then handing Shane a pen so that she could reciprocate.

“Thanks, I’ll look forward to it.” said Shane, looking into Tina’s eyes again, wondering what was hidden behind them.

As Tina walked away she looked back at Shane, it was then that a thought hit her. Sometimes the choices that we make are unthinkable. Why did she think that she was heading towards one of those moments.