Two days later, the girl and the taller young man went for a meal. They sat on a table for two next to another table for two, on which sat a much fresher couple, who held hands across the table.
       The food was slow to arrive. Once they got their starters, the girl watched as the young man ripped prawns apart with his short teeth. She sucked mushrooms off skewers and chewed them slowly.
       ‘Look,’ the girl said, ‘they do this every time.’ She turned her head to look at the conga of waiters and waitresses as they sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to a customer. The young man glanced over then carried on eating. The girl watched until it was finished. Twenty minutes later the same ritual was performed for someone else.
       ‘It’s a bit annoying,’ the young man said.
       ‘Must be annoying for them,’ the girl said.
       ‘They get paid to do it,’ he said.
The girl smirked, but the young man missed it. He was concentrating on savouring the taste of his last prawn.
       ‘I’m going to go for a cigarette,’ he said.
       ‘Alright,’ the girl said. While he was gone the girl eavesdropped on the conversation of the couple next to them.
       ‘The funny thing is,’ the man was saying, ‘I didn’t even know you liked me then.’ The girl looked over at the woman, who was looking shyly at the man and smiling.
       The girl finished what was left in her wine glass and poured herself another one. She drank half of it quickly before the young man came back, so that he wouldn’t know she’d had more than him.
       After the meal they went for cocktails. The bar was empty.
       ‘I came here for my 21st birthday,’ she said as the young man looked at the cocktail menu.
       ‘Oh yeah?’ he said, not looking up.
       ‘It was rammed,’ she said.
       ‘I’ll have a Tom Collins,’ he said. ‘What do you want?’
       ‘A Mojito,’ she said, looking at the barman.
       ‘You always get them.’
       ‘I like them,’ she said, and went to sit down in the middle one of the empty booths.
       ‘Well this has been nice,’ the young man said when they were on their second drink.
       ‘Yeah,’ the girl said.
       On their way back the young man stopped the girl while they walked under a bridge. They kissed. Then kissed for longer while waiting for someone to walk past. They walked along another canal and the girl remembered how she’d had sex there with a previous boyfriend two summers before.
       ‘I like walking along the canal,’ the young man said.
       ‘Yeah, it’s nice,’ the girl said.

3

  

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