A Beginning
“What would you say to a glass of wine, lonely lady?” I sighed as I looked up from my book to see a stereotypical salesman standing in front of my table, a smug smile on his face. I’d had a few approaches, but none quite as sleazy as this one, and I couldn’t help the sarcasm rising in my answer. “Erm… feck off, glass?” The man looked astonished and beat a hasty retreat, not understanding the humour in my flippant response, as once again I reflected on how I’d ended up sitting at that bar. My work as a consultant involves travel to client sites, but ordinarily I would only spend one or two nights in a hotel. I’d been seconded onto a project that I really didn’t want to be a part of, and it meant living away for over a month. I was staying in a bland chain hotel, feeling bored and frustrated, and I realised the salesman, while sleazy, may have had a point: maybe I was lonely. I am normally very sociable, out with friends all the time, and had been living in that hotel, e