12:41 p.m. - 2023-11-30
Marion

I went on what could be described as my first ever FB date yesterday. I travelled south to the market town of Peebles to meet a girl called Marion. We met up over breakfast in a little cafe she recommended just off the high street and we seemed to get on well. I asked her what she thought of my profile and she said it was probably more reserved than most other profiles she had looked at. It was my photo that caught her interest. She said big blue eyes that looked like they could do with some company always got her attention.

She had a theory about men with blue eyes, they were always apparently more open and honest mainly because it was harder to hide how they were feeling. Blue eyes were a window to the soul so she said. Marion had the most piercing green eyes I ever remember seeing and coupled with her delicate freckles and auburn hair she really was lovely.

We talked about many things and she was particularly interested in my views on bringing up my kids. She had a daughter of her own in the final year of high school. She told me that was the main reason for trying to meet someone. Her daughter's ever increasing social life meant she was on her own more and more and she didn't like the idea of spending many years that way. I understood completely.

We both agreed daughters were more secretive and experimental when in their teens and I told her that sons in their teens were more likely to show off a girlfriend and do a meet the parents, even on a first date. She laughed at that and said it would have been nice to have had a son. She was lost in thought for a moment.

We did some shopping in the various curio and gallery shops on Peebles High Street and I bought her a 'Tree Of Life' hanging pendant as a gift. She seemed thrilled and as we left the shop she grabbed my hand and said 'come with me'. We ended up in her home and between the two of us, we hammered in a small hook above her bedroom window frame and hung the pendant so that the coloured crystal garnets in the pendant caught the sunshine streaming in to her room.

We both lay for while on her bed watching the coloured shards of light move around the room as the pendant slowly twirled from side to side. It was the first time I'd truly lost track of time in someone's company for so long, maybe even as far back as the Lilac Room times. The only thing that reminded me of how long I'd been with Marion was the sound of church bells ringing in the distance.

Sometime between 2pm and 3pm she asked what I had planned for Christmas and I said I would be making an effort to spend some time with family this year. Just as she asked that, it began to snow heavily outside. We both laughed at that but the reality was a forecast of heavy snowfall and I had a long journey and drive back home. She looked at me and then kissed me gently on the lips. You could stay if the roads were too bad to travel she said smiling. Maybe in the past I would have taken her up on her offer but it was too soon for me. 

I had to go, it was getting dark, her daughter would be home from school soon and I had made a promise to see someone in the evening who was celebrating a birthday.

The drive home in heavy snow and on dark borders roads was difficult but I made it home safely. I didn’t quite make it at the right time to get a slice of birthday cake or a glass of prosecco for my efforts but I was promised some cake soon. I kept thinking of Marion, and I couldn't shake the memory of her lying in my arms, the two of us hanging onto each other like life preservers for fear of drowning in a sea of loneliness. There are so many lonely people out there, all trying to live their lives and get by without someone to love. So many.