26

He was just finishing off his breakfast and about to order a coffee to follow the tea when she came to his table. Fred was initially unsure if she was approaching the counter, which he would have expected, so as she sat down he was doubly surprised.

“Do you mind if I join you?” She said, in English that was accented but perfectly clear.

“No, no of course not, feel free. In fact I was just about to order a coffee, is there anything you would like?” Said Fred, surprising himself with his seeming ease, when he actually felt quite intimidated by how forward this extremely attractive young lady was being.

“That’s very kind, but right now I want to talk rather than eat or drink” She informed him. Fred noticed that the woman’s friend was looking away, but gave the impression she disapproved of her friend for talking with him, which he found puzzling.

“You looked so sad, sitting here on your own, I wondered if I could ask why?” Lydia enquired. She had been impressed by the kindness of his offer to order for her.

“Well yes, in a manner of speaking I am here on account of the death of someone close to me. But it is not quite as you might think, so there is no need for your condolences.” Said Fred, feeling inspired by his impulsive and enigmatic admission.

Lydia was shocked by this news. She had been wondering how to reveal her identity, but now she wanted to find out more about this shocking news. “Oh how sad! Were you very close?”

“In a manner of speaking we were as close as it is possible to be, it is as though he were a part of myself. His name was Anton Fehrnzeit. And mine is Frederick Allsop, pleased to meet you.” Said Fred.

Lydia knew her manners. This was a cue for her to give him her name. But she knew when she did so then he would recognise her immediately. So she coloured a deep pink as she told him, “pleased to meet you Fred. I am Lydia Dypchyk, and I think we have some talking to do.”

Now it was Fred’s turn to be embarrassed. His jaw nearly dropped, for he hadn’t for a moment realised that the Lydia he had “known” could be anything like so attractive as this young lady. He was tongue tied now, not knowing how to continue.

“Please Fred, do feel you can talk to me. After all, we were always meant to be meeting here today and just because the circumstances of our meeting have changed so much does not mean we are not still meeting. I am sure you must have questions to ask me, because I know I have plenty for you.” She smiled and thought to herself how shocked Olga must be by her forward nature. She wondered how much of the conversation her friend could make out from where she was sitting.

Fred smiled nervously. “Have I made a complete fool of myself? You must surely wonder if you can ever trust a word I say to you now. I’m not sure if I can explain myself either. There’s no real excuse, it just felt a bit like I got carried away. Once I started I didn’t know where to stop. And now I see you here before my eyes, in reality, and it feels a thousand times worse! I had no idea you would be so beautiful.”

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Back at the hotel Steve had become bored. When he was bored he often turned to the internet, and this time he had used Fred’s laptop and it had soon put an end to any boredom. He sat before it now and typed;

Hey Fred! You’re a dark horse aren’t you! Bet you never thought your mate could track down what you get up to on the interwebz. But I’m not as dumb as I look and lookee here what I found. NOW I get why the long face yesterday and why you did not take that drop dead gorgeous babe back to your room last night… You got another love interest on the go, huh? Well, luckily for you your main man has found this blog thing just in time for me to head on out there to this Cafe and see what I can do to help my best mate score – you sure deserve to get laid after all this time. Saving yourself is over-rated and really only for the ladies. So ready or not, here I come to find you! STEVE ON NOVEMBER 28, 2008, AT 04:40 PM

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Lydia smiled, no matter how embarrassing it may or may not be, for most women such flattery would always soften the hardest heart. But there was not time for either of them to talk further or for anything else really, at that moment the tension was broken by the door to the café opening with a bang, and a loud voice calling across from the entrance,

“Hey Fred! Thought you could sneak off on your own when your best mate was around? Well think again, you ain’t keeping no sweet babes like this a secret from me!” Advancing towards the table where they sat came the figure of Steve, with a big grin plastered across his face. “Wow, and what a looker she is too Fred, now are you going to introduce us? And can we get a decent bite of breakfast in this place? I’m starved after last night”

Fred shrank inside. He had no idea how Steve had come to follow him here, but he already foresaw the ruination of his attempts to repair things with Lydia. And just when it had seemed to be going so well. He knew Steve though and he knew the best way to handle him was to play along a little bit. “Lydia, this is my friend Steve, Steve this is Lydia. If you want to order bacon and eggs they do that here.” Fred indicated the counter and much to his relief Steve went past the table to order there. Fred took advantage of this to lean closer to Lydia and whisper to her “Sorry about this… I have no idea how he came to follow me here… I didn’t invite him at all….” She seemed to accept this, he had the idea Steve was not a total stranger to her, though he could not see how this was possible.

“That’s alright Fred” She reassured him, “remember I work for the tourist industry, we are used to a certain sort of Englishman as a visitor to our country, also I have to introduce someone too.” Lydia turned and waved to Olga, indicating that she should join them at the table. Olga stood hesitantly and came over. At the same time Steve returned to sit with them, rubbing his hands together and generally blustering. “Fred, Steve, I want you to meet my good friend Olga Dagrova. Olga, meet Fred and Steve. Let’s all take a seat together since we are all here now, we may as well have coffee together I suppose.”