Ham and Cheese Omelette

I want Kim to think of me as someone she can talk to. Someone who is interested in her. Interested in what she thinks and feels. Especially what she feels. Usually, this would take a much longer period than I have available. But there is no point in making excuses. It is simply a greater challenge. If, however, I have not made sufficient progress by the end of tomorrow, I will draw back and slow down rather than jeopardise the whole project. I do bore easily but John and Kim aren't the only toys in my box.

So, this morning, I asked Kim to recommend what she thought was the best breakfast on the menu. She suggested a ham and cheese omelette. Done. I ate slowly, aiming to finish when things were quiet. When Kim came to collect my plate, I asked her some deliberately dumb questions about the Lessing book. I sought her opinion and showed my delight at the way her answers enlightened me. My preparatory work for this was to read more of the book and this, frankly, made my hair hurt.

Time for the next step. Getting personal. Would she withdraw through offence or embarrassment? No risk, no gain.

"I hope you will not find me terribly rude but you seem a bit too, err, good to be working in a cafe." I had agonised a lot about the choice of words. "Good" was sufficiently ambiguous.

For moment, I thought she was going to shut down. But after a thoughtful pause she began to talk. As she did so, I stood up and eased a chair out from under the table. She took the invitation and sat down; as did I. She explained that her "real job" is as a District Nurse. She first worked at the cafe to help out when her friend, the owner, was sick. Her usual day was spent visiting infirmed, mostly old, people. She found that she enjoyed the hustle and bustle and since then has helped out a couple of times per week, or sometimes longer if her friend asked her. Also, boarding school is not cheap and it helps.

"Well, I'm glad you do work here," I said, "otherwise I would never have gotten to the bottom of Doris Lessing,"...theatrical pause..."or seen your lovely smile."

This further risk was rewarded with a smile that she struggled to hide and a lot of accompanying blushing. Job done. Big day tomorrow.