Intermission - Because those two were late.

It was bowling. Of course it was bowling, Diana should’ve seen it coming. Maria was a huge advocate of bowling as a group activity.

Diana parked her car in the mall’s underground parking lot and… stayed there for a bit. They were supposed to get together at 7:00 pm, but she was five minutes early and Maria never was the most punctual of people. Usually it was a mild annoyance, but now… What if she wasn’t here yet and Oliver arrived before her?

Her heart pounded hard, and a voice in the back of her mind urged her to cancel everything. It said that it would all be for nothing, that she was wasting her time, that there was no way a young man who had women throwing themselves at him would care about a cold, stoic woman like her.

…

But there was a chance he did care, and telling herself that it didn’t matter if things didn’t go well, she got out of her car and took the elevator to the top floor. The bowling alley was there, at the opposite end of the food court.

Diana stepped out of the elevator and headed to the meeting spot, right in front of a candy shop.

…

…

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

He was already there, waiting, alone! Oliver stood there, dressed in a dark peacoat and blue jeans. He was punctual, which already said something good about him, and he looked so good in that coat, but…!

Diana saw him even from a distance, but thankfully he hadn’t seen her yet. No, he was looking somewhere else, towards the bowling alley. No… No, not the bowling alley. The arcade right next to it. Was he… into games like that?

Diana swallowed hard, feeling the knot that formed in her throat. Maria and her boyfriend were nowhere to be seen. Her legs now felt twice as heavy. She considered hiding in another store, but feigning tardiness would be awful.

…

She gripped the strap of her purse on her shoulder and took the first step. The ones after that one felt every bit as heavy, but came easier.

“Oliver, right?” she said as she got close.

Dammit, she startled him! Oliver flinched and turned to look at her with wide eyes. No doubt her cold, distant tone was the cause. Her heart froze, her fingers gripped her purse tighter and she felt her brow furrow. Already she was screwing everything up! But then…

Oliver smiled. His eyes shone, and his lips curled up into a soft, beautiful smile before he let out a chuckle. “I’m sorry, I was… distracted. You’re Diana, Maria’s friend, right? I’m… very glad I got to see you again.”

Diana blinked. He sounded mostly sheepish, but there was a softness and kindness in his voice that took her off guard. And… he was glad to see her again? Even though the last time they saw each other… she glared coldly at him?

Diana nodded, but she couldn’t think of what to say in return. In hindsight, she could’ve just said she was also glad to see him again. It would’ve made everything so much easier. But at that moment, Diana felt it was too… forward, too pushy. It wasn’t that she was trying to play hard-to-get, but more that she didn’t know how to… appropriately interact with a younger man. She worried she might creep him out.

Oliver looked at his phone and let out a sigh. “It’s seven already, but they’re still not here. Thomas is always five minutes late at a minimum.”

“...And Maria’s just the same,” Diana said. “I always tell her it’s bad manners, but she still arrives late.”

Oliver chuckled again. It didn’t feel **** to her, which made her feel better already. “I wonder how it works between them. Do they agree to meet at a certain hour but get there 10 minutes later but at the same time?”

A small smile crept to Diana’s lips at the mental image. “Or they both think the other will be late anyway, so they end up meeting 30 minutes later than agreed.”

Oliver snickered. “Yes, I can see that happening. Still, I don’t mind waiting. Five minutes is nothing. The problem is…”

“...When those five minutes turn to ten, then to twenty,” Diana finished for him. She watched his expression and saw him smirk.

“Exactly.”

…Was this really the guy Maria claimed couldn’t speak a word before? He seemed exactly the type of social butterfly she believed him to be.

Oliver looked back at the bowling alley. “Have you ever played before?” he asked her.

“Yes. Maria used to bring us here a lot back when we were in university,” she answered. It took her a solid 10 seconds before she realized she should ask him the same. “You?”

He shook his head. “Never.” There was, for a short moment, a small, sad smile on his face before he looked back at her again. “So I’m looking forward to this. I hope I don’t slip.”

“Don’t worry. That’s what the shoes are for,” Diana told him.

She wanted to slap herself. She continued to have this disinterested tone to her voice, despite not wanting to sound like that. Her heart kept pounding painfully and the tips of her fingers felt cold.

It got quiet for a moment. Oliver likely got frustrated that his efforts to talk to her got that kind of response from her. But then he spoke again, this time more… unsure of himself.

“Um… I’m v-very sorry to bring this up, but it’s something Maria told me. Is it true that… you work as a receptionist in a hotel called intimacy?”

It was like her whole body felt cold and hot at the same time. Her face, however, was immutable. Or rather, the shock of his question made it immutable.

“It’s true,” she answered.

His face went red. Then he groaned and rubbed it with both hands. “That’s… really embarrassing. For me, I mean,” he said, laughing. “You must think I’m a philanderer, huh?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I did, don’t you think?” Diana answered. “Or are you?” She almost winced at her own question.

“...” Oliver put his hands inside the pockets of his coat, his expression neutral, or thoughtful, rather. “Sometimes I think I am, but when I tell them that, I get scolded.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you thought that, but thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt.”

Diana swallowed. Her hands began to feel numb, her head began to spin, and she pushed the words out of her lips before the silence between them got too long.

“By the way, you look very nice.” God, she wanted to throw herself down to the first floor.

Oliver smiled. “Thank you. So do you.”

Or maybe not.

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