12

as you change your focus of attention, from the chocolates to flowers, he instinctively sees your attempt at sugar-coating the fact that he has made the wrong choice of confectionery.

'ah, not a fan of dark choc, i see? i'll make it up to you, later, okay?' his offer is true enough, and you blush again, as you trivialise the chocolate flavour,

'no, no, that's fine,' you quickly think up a redeeming point in his opening gestures 'the roses are more than enough' as you pick one out of the bouquet and give it a smell. they're not plastic, and surprisingly they smell sickly sweet - just the way you like it. it is beyond any doubt that this man is, although slightly cliched, a frequenter of fauna and has demonstrated a surprising amount of aptitude in selecting only the best roses for the bouquet. (add one romance point to your total. if you have not encountered a note such as this before, you start out with 0 points, and now have +1).


as you usher him towards the doorway, you cannot help but think - what other surprises does this man offer? your thoughts are broken by him questioning, 'so, where would you like to be whisked off to, now?'

1. 'hmmm, what say we hit the cinema? there's a feature showing that i've been hearing about'
2. 'i think we'll head to the restaurant. i'm quite famished as it is'