The Project

She barely noticed when a man sat down beside her. "Hi there," said a deep voice with an English accent. Julia looked up in surprise. The owner of the voice a ruggedly handsome man with auburn hair and clear green eyes. "I couldn't help noticing you seem to be on your own. I was wondering if you'd like some company."

"Actually, I came with a friend," she informed him, pointing at Steven. "But he does seem to be otherwise occupied." Julia figured it couldn't hurt to pass the time with a bit of conversation. She had always been fond of English accents, after all. "Have you been in New Zealand long?" she asked.

Julia made small talk with her new companion for a while but her heart wasn't really in it. She kept looking over to see how Steven was doing. He seemed to be really hitting it off with blondie. Then, the next time she looked up, he was sitting at the bar alone. She looked around in surprise but the girl in the polka-dot dress was nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse me," she said to the English man. "But I need to go now." He looked disappointed. "Can I at least get your number?" he asked plaintively. Julia wasn't really that interested but just in case she changed her mind later, took his number instead. Then she wended her way through the growing crowd to get to Steven.

He looked up in surprise when she sat down beside him. "Oh, hi. I didn't want to interrupt your conversation over there," he explained.

"I wouldn't have minded. How did it go?" she asked. He seemed a bit disappointed and she suspected that meant it didn't go too well.

"I don't know," he said simply.

"You don't know?" she repeated.

"Well, she had to leave when her friend showed up. But I don't know whether she like me or not." He leaned on the bar and fidgeted with his glass.

Julia was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic from all the people pressed up around them so she took Steven by the hand and led him outside into a courtyard, where it was a cooler and quieter. They sat down on a wooden seat and she continued the conversation. "Tell me more," she insisted. "From what I could see of her body language she seemed to like you well enough."

He looked at her curiously. "You could read her body language? That sounds useful. But what do you look for?" he asked.