A Second Chance

Lily sat at the small table in the café, checking the time again. “Where is he?” she thought. “He’s late. Is he going to come?” It was her first date with James and she felt worried.

The door opened, and she looked up. James walked in, looking around the room. When he saw her, he smiled.

“Lily?” he said.

She smiled back. “Yes. Hi, James.”

He sat down opposite her. “It’s great to finally meet you.”

“You too,” she said.

James was taller than she expected, with short brown hair and a kind smile. He looked friendly and seemed really confident.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Work was really busy today.”

“No problem,” Lily replied. “What do you do again?”

“I work in marketing,” James said.

“That sounds interesting.”

“Some of the time!” he said. “What about you?”

“I work in a bookshop,” she said.

“Ah, so you like reading?”

Lily laughed. “Of course!”

James was easy to talk to. They chatted about their favourite places to visit, funny work stories, and what they liked to do at the weekend.

Then, the waitress came to take their order.

“I’ll have the chicken salad, please,” James said, then he looked at Lily. “What about you?”

“The same,” she said.

Suddenly, the waitress put her hand on James’s arm and smiled. “What is she doing?” thought Lily, surprised.

“James, it’s you!” said the waitress. “I haven’t seen you in months. How are you?”

“Oh, hi, Sophie!” said James. “I’m great, thanks. How are things with you?”

James and the waitress talked for a minute, while Lily just sat and listened. She was beginning to feel uneasy. James was on a date with her – why was he talking to this really pretty waitress?

Finally, the waitress walked away and James turned back to Lily. “Sorry about that,” he said. “So, you like going to the theatre, you said?”

“Erm, yes,” said Lily. “I usually go with my mum.”

Their food came. While they ate, Lily started to relax again. James was funny and easy to talk to.

Then, from the next table, a woman in a beautiful red suit turned to James with a big smile.

“James! It is you!” she said. She looked like an important business woman.

“Oh, hey, Olivia!” James said in his friendly voice. “I didn’t know that you came here! How’s your new business going?”

“Better than ever,” Olivia said. “We have eight staff now.”

“That’s amazing,” James said. “I’m really pleased for you.”

The woman thanked him, then turned back to her food.

Lily took a quick drink, trying not to show that she felt uneasy. First the waitress, now this woman? Did James know every woman in this café?

James looked at her. “Sorry about that. Olivia is an old friend.”

Lily tried to smile. “That’s nice.”

They finished their meal, and James paid the bill. As they left the café, a woman – older than Lily – walked past and suddenly stopped. She had stylish blonde hair and an expensive handbag.

“James?” she said, surprised.

James smiled. “Hi, Hannah!”

They chatted for a few minutes. Then, Hannah smiled at Lily. “And who is this?”

“This is Lily,” James said.

“Lovely to meet you,” Hannah said. “I must go. I’m late already. Bye!”

Hannah walked away.

Lily was angry now. Three different women in one evening? And they were all so happy to see James. “I shouldn’t feel like this – he hasn’t done anything wrong,” she thought. But she couldn’t stop worrying.

Her last boyfriend was also friendly – too friendly. And Lily already knew the sad ending to that love story.

She went home, feeling sad. She wasn’t as beautiful as Sophie, she wasn’t a confident business woman like Olivia, and she wasn’t stylish like Hannah. She was just quiet and shy.

During the next few days, Lily didn’t reply to James’s messages. Each time she picked up her phone to send him a message, she put it down again.

She thought about him all the time and she really liked him, but could she trust him? He was so friendly with other women. What if he was like her ex? After him, Lily expected every man to cheat on her. She knew that she shouldn’t but she did.

James was worried that Lily wasn’t replying. “Did I say or do something wrong on the date?” he thought.

He decided to send her another message. “Hi again, Lily. I hope you’re doing well. Can we have a second date? Let me know. I really enjoyed our first one. “

A few hours later, he sent another message.

“I know you’re busy, but I’d love to see you again … if you want to.”

Lily stared at the messages. She still didn’t feel sure about him, but finally she replied.

“Sorry, I’m not sure about a second date. I don’t know if I’m ready for a new boyfriend.”

James felt sad when he read her message. He replied, “Alright. But I’d really like to see you again. Can I ask, why are you not sure?”

Lily stared at his message. She wanted to explain, but it was difficult. She thought and thought. Then, she messaged him back.

“I’m scared. My ex… he cheated on me. And now I can’t really trust men.”

James read her message carefully. He didn’t reply immediately. He thought about her words, then he sent her a message that was different from his usual ones.

“I’m really sorry about your ex. It’s terrible that he cheated on you! But I want you to know, I’m not like that.”

The rest of the message surprised Lily. “I’ve got four sisters – I forgot to tell you that, didn’t I? I grew up with women all around me so chatting to them is really easy for me. And I know most of the women in this town through my sisters! Those women at the café – they’re all my sisters’ friends.”

Lily was quiet for a long time. His message about his sisters helped her to understand him better. But she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to give him another chance. Then, the next day, she got a new message.

“I know it’s hard to trust again when someone has cheated on you. But I just want you to know, I’m a very honest person. And I think you’re great! Maybe I talked to my sisters’ friends too much – I’m sorry. Will you please give me a second chance?”

Lily felt better when she read this kind message. Maybe James was honest. She started to believe that he wasn’t the same as her ex.

She messaged back. “Thanks for telling me about your sisters. Of course it’s easy for you to talk to women and you knew them all because of your sisters – I see that now.”

James answered quickly. “I’m so glad to get your message. Does this mean that we can see each other again?”

On their second date, Lily felt a little less uneasy. She still wasn’t 100% sure, but she was beginning to feel more confident.

When they met, James smiled at her. “Hi, Lily!”

“Hi, James,” she answered with a shy smile.

“It’s really great to see you again,” James said. “You look lovely.”

What was Lily thinking in this moment? She was thinking, “Why did I come? He’s so friendly, like last time, but I have to be careful because it’s easy to say the right things. My ex was good with words too.”

In the café, they sat at the same table as before. Then, the same waitress came to take their order.

“Oh, it’s you again!” Sophie, the waitress, said, smiling.

James laughed and said, “Yeah, we really like it here!”

Lily waited. Would he say anything else?

“By the way,” James said, “this is Lily – my girlfriend.”

This surprised Lily. “Did he just call me his girlfriend?” she thought happily.

“Oh, amazing! Does Jess know?”

“Jess?” Lily asked before James could answer.

“My younger sister,” James explained.

Sophie grinned. “She’ll be so pleased, James. You know that she was worried about you after…” She stopped, looking at Lily.

“What happened before?” Lily asked.

Sophie looked at James, then back at Lily. “James’s ex wasn’t at all good to him,” she explained. “But I won’t say more – it’s his story, not mine.” She smiled kindly. “I’ll tell Jess about you. She’ll be really happy that her sweet, thoughtful brother has found someone nice.”

“Alright, alright!” James said, smiling. “Thanks for that, Sophie.”

The waitress just laughed. “Well, it’s true!” Then she left to serve other customers.

James turned to Lily and said, “She’s right. Things with my ex didn’t end well. She wanted to travel but I wanted to stay here, close to my family. Then one day, she just left without telling me! She didn’t even send me a message. She just left!”

“That sounds difficult,” said Lily.

“Yeah, it was.”

They started chatting about other things. Before long, Lily stopped feeling uneasy and started to really enjoy talking to him. She was still scared to trust the wrong person again. But

she started to believe that James was different. Not all men were like her ex. Sophie was right – James seemed really sweet and thoughtful.

She knew now that James wasn’t just good at talking to women. His sister also loved him, and even his sister’s friend wanted him to be happy. And his family was important to him.

As they walked to the café door later, James turned to her.

“I’m really glad that you gave me a second chance.”

Lily looked into his eyes and answered, “Me too.”

She couldn’t guess the future, but for the first time in a long time, she felt good. She walked away from their second date with a big smile, thinking, “You can never be sure in life. But sometimes, you’ve just got to trust.”