The Ticking Watch

She sat awkwardly ankles crossed, glancing frequently at her left hand. Was she early or was he late? Her immaculately manicured fingernails strummed edgily on the half empty lipstick stained chardonnay glass.

"Another glass of wine ma'am?" said the waiter, nodding his head condescendingly.

With a fake smile and the shake of a head she brushed him away and returned to her job of actively waiting for her date to arrive. Surrounding her table the restaurant hummed with the gentle sounds of chatter and laughter accompanied by the mellow tunes of the jazz quartet playing in the corner. But all she heard was the persistent beat of her ticking watch. Feeling somewhat nervous she took another sip of her chardonnay and re-adjusted the clip in her hair, which in fact made no difference what so ever to her appearance but somehow protruded a sense of satisfaction on her face.

Couples were all around the restaurant, encircling her table. She sunk a little in her chair so as not to draw attention to herself and the empty seat opposite her. The only thing that brought comfort was the exciting possibility of rekindling a past love. It had been quite some time since her last date but the fact that she was seeing her ex-husband this night made it a little less scary. She was over the moon when he called her up to arrange the date, truth be told, she longed for the security of a relationship again. It's not that she loved to clean and serve or even cook for the man, but she loved to be needed. She needed to be needed. For this very reason, the separation had been very tough to deal with and to temporarily fill this void during her separation she had become increasingly dependent on others in her life.

She'd often confide in her close friends over these relationship blues, or she'd confide in her not so close friends. In fact pretty much anyone who'd listen she'd confide in. Her therapist narrowed it down to:

"Depression-- you're moving into a difficult stage of your life, it's only natural you're feeling so needy." He'd say

Her Chinese acupuncturist concluded: "your yin and yang need balance! No balance mean great upset."

And her accountant said based on her financial situation he wasn't surprised she wanted a husband again. Oddly enough none of these answers seemed to be right.

Suddenly the shrill familiar laugh of an over enthusiastic woman cut through the peaceful air. She turned around and spotted Samantha Brown. She quickly turned away and buried her face in a menu hoping not to have been seen by Sammy.

"You who-- well if it isn't Rita Jones" Sammy yodeled across the restaurant as she scurried over to say hello.

Due to her extravagant nature many saw Sammy as the most entertaining person to be around. Rita on the other hand thought she had the personality of a wet mop, and the looks to go with it.

" Well, well aren't we all glammed up tonight! What's the big occasion?" Sammy inquired

" Oh nothing big, just enjoying a nice dinner with a friend." Rita feigned politeness.

Sammy looked down at the empty table, clearly lacking any food, then suggestively looked over at the empty seat.

"You must introduce me to your friend, I do not believe we've met!" Sammy said crudely.

Rita wished to roll her eyes but knew that would only generate a bad vibe. So she faked a laugh and an, 'oh-please-stop-cracking-jokes-your-killing-me' type of hand gesture then explained she was still waiting for her friend to arrive. After a painfully polite conversation regarding butterscotch pudding recipes and stories of the kids, Sammy left to join her party at a table nearby leaving Rita alone once more with her loud ticking watch. The noise was beginning to actually bother her now.

Hours seemed to have passed and her hopes were beginning to waiver. She no longer sat awkwardly in her chair. Instead she lay back comfortably resting her third glass of wine in her right hand.

"Ma'am--," the waiter approached, " I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to order something or leave, I'm sorry. We're just extremely busy." Rita looked up appearing confused. "Ma'am would you like us to call someone for you?" the waiter asked out of concern, placing his hand on her back. Rita hesitated for a moment.

"Oh no, of course not." She replied fumbling for words and looking down at her watch "I'll um--I'm just on my way now actually, busy, busy. Places to go, people to meet." Her words trailed off fading into an awkward laugh. Raising her glass to the waiter she polished off the last drop of wine and grabbed her purse. Slowly she edged her way through the restaurant wary not to be seen by the prying eyes of those she knew. She slipped into the foyer and sat in the lobby chairs clutching her purse looking rather bemused.

"Mum!" a voice from behind called out. Rita turned her head and spotted an attractive young woman; rich chocolate brown hair and a body any mother would be envious of, rushing towards her.

"Lissy what a coincidence. What are you doing here?" Rita's eyes lit up.

"Mum, what are