Reservations(Ian Lumley) Sandy knew the first meeting had to be on neutral ground and in public. So she chose a library. Her heart pounded as she climbed the steps into the foyer. Looking round, she saw the sign “Reference Section First Floor”.

It had started on the Internet seven months earlier. He said he was an airline pilot… had she really fallen for a line like that? At first it seemed far fetched, but when the post cards started arriving from different parts of the world she became convinced, and that photograph of him at the controls of a Jumbo Jet was very impressive.

The girls at the office didn’t believe her of course. They said it could be anyone, but she knew different. Why do some people resent another person’s happiness? Plain old fashioned jealousy, that’s why.

It had been a tiring drive. Distance would be a problem if things went well… maybe she would move closer. It would be unfair to ask him to move… he needed to be near the Airport. Her Mother would go mad if she knew, but there was no way she could tell her. Hang on though, wasn’t she getting just a little bit ahead of herself.

There was only one person in the reference section, an old lady, surrounded by cookery books, seated at a table. Sandy looked at her watch, she was twenty minutes early. Anticipation tightened the clamp round her stomach. She wandered round the shelves scanning the books and smiled as she came across “Airports of the World”. Removing it from the shelf, she carried it to a table and sat down. The old lady glanced up and nodded. Sandy whispered, “Hi” and began to turn the pages, staring at them, unfocussed.

They had spoke on the phone several times. He was very articulate and the gentle modulation of his voice always had a calming effect. It was strange how there was an air of authority about him. Unselfish, rarely talking about himself, he always asked about her work, hobbies, and her life-style. He was genuinely interested in her childhood and wanted to know about her future... where was she going with her life, what were her ambitions and hopes? It was good to have someone to talk to about these things. Still, as comfortable as she was with the phone calls and emails, it was a long way from meeting him in the flesh.

Suppose they didn’t hit it off. It would be silly to assume everything would go well. Suppose he was holding something back… a dark secret that could ruin everything. Suppose he found something in her… something he couldn’t cope with. Paranoia began to gnaw at her confidence. What’s the difference between confidence and bravado she asked herself? Not once in the past seven months had she suspected anything untoward, so why all these negative thoughts all of a sudden? The only doubts were the ones expressed by others, mainly the girls at work. Foolishly, she had told them about this meeting. “Make sure he wears his uniform”, taunted Rachel Smith. Stupid cow.

Her stomach was doing bungee jumps.

She raised her head from the book and he was there… standing in front of her, looking exactly like his photograph… handsome, tall and wearing an airline pilot’s uniform.

“Hello Sandy.” The calming voice worked its magic, her turmoil vanished and she looked up at him and smiled.

“Hello dad.”

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