Opinions by Adults

Hal looked across the room. Dozens of tables with dozens of men facing dozens of women. Some were laughing. Some looked like they couldn't wait to get away. Some looked like tonight might just be the night.

He'd never thought too much about speed dating. It seemed like a lot of pressure. Facing someone he'd never met before and having to sell the best of himself in five minutes. A brief encounter on which the rest of his life might turn. A brief encounter which, at least, might inspire a night where he wasn't sitting alone in his flat watching "Casualty" and "Coronation Street" as if he had no life of his own.

The first couple of women he met didn't strike him as people he'd want to know any more about. One of them was a vet and the other worked as a teller in the bank on the High Street. They both talked about themselves and all the things they liked and how they felt about men.

The third woman, however, was a different story. Her name was Monica and she had a sweet smile that produced cute dimples in her cheeks. She was much more interested in him than the other women. She asked him about his life and it seemed like they had a lot in common. Speed dating suddenly didn't seem so stupid.

They arranged to meet later on at the pub around the corner. Hal suggested they go somewhere a little further away as he didn't want to run into anyone else from the speed dating group.

He found himself in a bar not far from his flat. He hadn't arranged it that way. It just seemed to happen naturally. She nuzzled up against him at one point claiming that it was cold and he was warm. "hold me," she said, so he held her and the smell of her perfume seemed to wrap around him. "I don't usually find it this easy to meet a good man."

"What makes you think I'm a good man?"

Monica laughed. "Because I've met a lot of men who weren't and you're nothing like any of them."

She told him about her past. She'd had a difficult childhood with an often absent and sometimes abusive father. She told him things she said she didn't usually feel comfortable telling anyone about. Towards the end of the evening she mentioned how difficult it would be to find a taxi. He mentioned that she really didn't have to if she didn't want to. His place was close by.

Sitting by his fire drinking hot chocolate with rum she said: "How did you find the whole speed dating thing?"

Hal said: "Well I found you so it was pretty cool."