Tina continued running until she was well into the next block. She slowed down but couldn’t even lift her head up. Did that just happen? How humiliating! Hopefully that woman wouldn’t become a regular. She’d just pay for her take away coffee, stride off to the obviously well paying career that she has climbed painstakingly over the years, and never come back to this side of town. In a city of three million the chances of seeing her again are minimal, Tina. Chill out. The embarrassing moment has passed, now time to get back on with life. How come then she couldn’t seem to left her eyes off the concrete passing beneath her feet?

“Whoa Tina, careful!”

Looking up in surprise, she saw the young man who had taken the job along with Alice as one of the trainees. His glasses magnifying his blue eyes and his dark blonde fringe dangling over his forehead created a school boyish appearance. Tina knew through Jamie’s gossip that Eric had his twenty-first a month ago. Apparently his friends threw a party with strippers and, as a joke, planted a drag queen amongst them. Needless to say, Eric didn’t get what he expected. Tina was waiting to hear it from Eric rather than believing Jamie. However, the two didn’t get a chance to talk or work together much, due to Eric’s college studies and having to take the job part time.

“Oh hi Eric. Sorry about that.”

Eric grinned with a prince-like gaze. “I don’t want to sound like your mother but you should watch where you’re going. You might bump into someone.” His waggling finger accentuated his fake scolding.

“Too late.” Tina mumbled, almost smiling.

“What?”

“Oh, I already made an idiot out of myself back at the caf, bumping into some yuppie lady.” It wasn’t until after that Tina realised how unfriendly she was describing the woman in the incident to Eric. The blame was being transferred onto the innocent party. But she didn’t know where the hostility towards the tall, dark stranger was coming from.

“So you accidentally felt up a complete stranger. So what? It could’ve been worse.”

“Yeah, I could’ve been so embarrassed that I vomited all over that mini skirt of hers.”