Dull.  Dreary.  Boring.  Rachael looked at her watch.  11.30. Lunch was an hour away. A meeting with her clients was scheduled for all afternoon.  Then she would return home, watch the evening news and maybe a soap or two while having dinner before going to bed, resting so that she could return to her monotony the next day. 

 

Rachael sighed and continued on with her work.  She was bored.  Ever so slowly the hour trickled away.  Relieved to be free of the workload for a half hour Rachael went outside.  The sky was overcast, reflecting her mood.  She sat down, opened the wrapper on her salad sandwiches and decided that having a cigarette was her best option.  She pulled out her packet of cigs and fumbled with her lighter.  As she placed the cigarette in her mouth and tried to light it, she realised that her lighter was empty.

 

"Here," said the man sitting next to her as he flicked open his lighter and brought it up to the end of her cigarette.

 

"Thanks," Rachael replied.

 

"You know those things will kill you," the stranger said calmly as he lit up himself.  Mouth slightly agape, Rachael just looked at him in amazement, not knowing whether he was being truly serious or just kidding with her.  He looked up, straight into her eyes.  "Take a picture, it'll last longer," he said after a few seconds of Rachaels stare.  She laughed, having used that line herself more than once.  Keeping a straight face he asked her "So do you have a name?"

 

"Rachael," she laughed.  "What about you?"

 

"Ian," he replied.

 

The two chatted over lunch, Ian finally ending the conversation when he had to go back to work.

 

"See you tomorrow," Rachael said.

 

"If you're lucky," Ian said with a sly look on his face.  They parted ways.

 

To be continued...