Twenty minutes later Bianca led Kendra into the hotel bathroom to look in the mirror. “Oh my god! Is that me?” Kendra looked at the face in the mirror and couldn’t believe it. Suddenly her tiny eyes were sparkling, her lashes long and lush. And what happened to her mouth? It looked so …sexy. Kendra turned to Bianca. “Hey! You’re good at this!”

“It’s not difficult, you’re beautiful. I only used a bit of eye make-up and lipstick. Your skin is lovely, you don’t even need foundation. You look really hot. He’s going to die.”

Kendra wasn’t sure she wanted him to die. She realised after they spoke about meeting, she’d never even asked him his name. A nameless dead person at the start of a date didn’t bode well.

She was very rusty in the dating department. After seven years of being with Will she thought her dating days were over, now here she was. Back to dating when she thought she’d soon be married, soon be planning a family with Will. Will who had tossed her aside like so much rubbish. Will who told her she was “stuck in her ways”. Was she? Was she stuck in her ways?

Dating a stranger in Egypt was not being stuck in her ways. (So there, Will!) Wearing make-up was not being stuck in her ways. (Take that, Will!) Leaving her hair down was really not being stuck in her ways. (See, Will?) Maybe this was a new leaf. Maybe this was the beginning of a new exciting Kendra. A Kendra who dated international men- exciting, well-mannered, international men, in exotic places. Men who she forgot to ask the name of. Damn! She was already off on the wrong foot.

“What time is it?” Kendra asked.

“7:15, when do you meet him?”

“In the lobby at 7:30. I have 15 minutes.” Her nerves were beginning to take over. She needed a little something to get herself calm. She headed for the mini-bar. She just needed a small nip to take the edge off so she could easily slip into her new exciting Kendra role. She grabbed two mini bottles of vodka and two of whisky, dumped all of them in a glass and drank the lot down in three big gulps.

“Slow down there girlie! You don’t want to give him the wrong impression,” Bianca said.

“Wrong impression?”

“I mean drunken slut kind of wrong impression.”

“Shit! You’re right.”

Kendra panicked. Of course Bianca was right. What was she thinking? This new Kendra was behaving suspiciously like the old Kendra. She rushed to the bathroom, brushed her teeth quickly and swished a gulp of mouthwash around her mouth. She grabbed her purse and stood close to Bianca, breathing hard in her face. “Can you smell it?”

“No,” Bianca said taking a step back which gave Kendra the feeling she wasn’t telling the truth.

There was nothing she could do now. It would have to do, it was 7:25. Already she could feel the alcohol warming up her tight muscles, calming her jittery nerves and she started feeling better. Everything would be fine. She grabbed up her handbag. “Okay I’m out of here.”

Bianca put her hands on her shoulders and looked Kendra straight in the eyes. “Now, this is a big step for you, your first date post-Will.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“I’m only going to give you one piece of advice. No talk about the Wanker. None. I mean it. Not a single word. The best way to chase off a perfectly good man is to blabber on about your ex. So nothing. Okay? ”

Kendra rolled her eyes. Did Bianca think she was that stupid? “Of course, why would I waste a date with a fantastic man like…like…like this one, talking about stupid old Will. Will is history. Will is the past. Will is the old Kendra. Tonight is all about the new Kendra. Hears to the future!”

“Yes, okay, good.” Bianca stood at the hotel door and watched her friend walk down the hallway. “Have fun with… what’s his name anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Kendra shouted back over her shoulder feeling very carefree all of a sudden. Bianca tried to ignore the slight slur in her friend’s words. She was sure she hadn’t heard it. She’d be fine. She was almost positively sure about that.

***

Tell us what you think: Do you think Kendra will be fine?