Page 142 of A Night with Damien Spur

‘Ah, then possessive already.’

‘That’s right. I just want your undivided attention.’ He took her arm and moved her in the direction of the door.

***

He’d booked a table at the Chelsea Arts Club. Damien liked the retro feel. The place was full of sixties hangovers, still in the same gear. Old roses and craggy faces, cocooned by past glories. Especially in the bar, which he skipped nowadays, for obvious reasons.

People, places and things, the Voice reminded him.

They went straight through to the dining room.

‘This is great.’ Frances scanned the dark wood furniture and paintings on the green baize walls. ‘I really like the low buzz. You British definitely move at a slower pace.’

‘Well, here they do,’ Damien said. ‘And no mobiles allowed!’

‘Oh, that’s a shame. It’s really beautiful here. I was going to take a pic for my Instagram.’

‘Absolutely not! Would you like some wine?’

They sat at a corner table.

‘Yes, please. Don’t mind if it’s red or white. What are you having?’

Come on, Damien, tell her the truth. You might as well start now, the Voice said.

‘I’m on the wagon,’ he replied, ‘but, please, don’t mind me.’

‘Thanks, I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay.’

***

They ate and Damien talked.

When the bill came, he held her wrist as she dipped into her bag.

‘No way,’ he said.

‘Thank you so much,’ she replied.

Frances seemed to enjoy Damien’s gentleman’s finesse.

‘I’m not used to this. In New York it’s always Dutch on the first date. I think it’s mainly because the guys are shit-scared to be chivalrous. They’ve been drilled by human resources to treat women on an equal footing. Like I have a friend who called the females in his office “girls”. He really had his fingers rapped.’

‘In what context?’ Damien asked.

‘He actually said that it would be good if there were more “girls” on the team, as there were only two and there were eight guys. So the head of HR, who was female, told him that he must call them “women”, and that “girls” is patronising andchauvinistic and doesn’t reflect well on the team.’

‘That’s a bit extreme.’

‘Funny thing is that after her lecture she hit on him.’

‘And how did he respond?’

‘Absolutely no way was he going down that road. Her husband was the CEO of the company. Very awkward for my pal. Told her that she was an extremely attractive woman, but he had a girlfriend and was very much in love.’

‘And how did she react?’

‘Apparently, she took it quite well and just said that it wasn’t politically correct to say girlfriend either and instead he should use the word “partner”.

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