Andy pulled up to the kerb and stopped his car. Gingerly he climbed out and walked the short distance to the red front door. He hesitated a second then rang the bell. As he waited he shuffled nervously; would she open the door or would it be her father coming to say she did not want to see him. He was so expecting to be told that she did not want him he was surprised when Helen opened the door. Andy smiled when he saw her in relief. Her smile back was a little cold. It took a bit of the wind out of his sails but not too much. After the cool reception he got at the end of their first date he was simply happy she was actually seeing him again.
The two of them had been set up by their mutual friend Rach. Andy had known her since uni; Helen worked in the same office as her. Rach had decided that the two of them would be perfect together, in spite of the age gap. He was twenty seven and she was just twenty one. So had set to work in order to get them together. Andy had tried to resist but knew from long experience that when Rach put her mind to something she usually accomplished it. So finally he had given in and had gone out on a date with Helen. It was not that he thought he would not like Helen, he fully expected her not to want him. After all she was small petite and very pretty. He was anything but small and handsome. He had always been large and no matter what exercise he ever did he kept a big belly and not a six pack. Her initial reaction on seeing him had not filled him with hope. She had tried to hide it but he had seen the flicker of disgust in her eyes. Not that he had expected anything else, every woman he had ever tried to date since uni had shown the same reaction to him. Helen had been polite during the date but always kept her distance from him. By the time he dropped her off at her home he had expected her to tell him she did not want to see him again. She had not done so, but he knew that was only because of her friendship with Rach. A pretty woman like Helen would not normally have been seen out with him. Then Rach had come up with the idea of them having a picnic she would be with Stephen her bloke and Andy could bring Helen. He was surprised when Helen said yes on the phone when he called her up. But again he heard the reserve in her voice and knew it was only because of Rach.
"Just wait a second while I go to get my coat." Helen said to him and disappeared back into the house. Andy watched her as she walked away liking what he saw. Helen was he had to admit, a pretty girl. She had a slender, petite figure with small almost tiny breasts and was not even five foot high. Her short legs were shapely and not too thin. Her small round face was haloed by shoulder length dark hair. She had bright blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled. In one thing Rach was correct she was just Andy's type of woman. Only problem was he seemed not to be her kind of man. He heard her saying goodbye to her parents then she came back pulling on a small black jacket over the thin white blouse she was wearing. Below that was a simple black short skirt. He smiled again and she smiled back this time with a little more warmth.
"Do you know where we're going, because I have no idea." She said. Andy nodded.
"Yeah it used to be a hang out during uni. Not too crowded which is good." He led her to the car and opened her door for her. She smiled in thanks. Quickly he got into his side and started the car. The journey to the park was a short one, and a quiet one. Andy tried to engage Helen in some sort of conversation but each time it faded out of reach. After three failed efforts he stopped trying and drove in silence. As they pulled onto the car park Andy saw Rach standing next to her car with Stephen. She waved to them and smiled broadly. Andy smiled back just happy to see her. She was tall, with a full figure and long blonde hair. Not that Andy had ever considered her as girlfriend material. The two were more like brother and sister; the idea would have freaked him out. And probably done the same to Rach. As soon as he had stopped Helen climbed out leaving her coat on the back seat and gave Rach a hug. Andy got out a little more slowly watching as Helen said more to Rach in the first minute than she had said to him in the whole journey. As Rach looked over Helen's shoulder at him he saw her reaction to the look on his face. He walked round to the boot of the car and pulled out a cool bag with food for the picnic. Rach walked over to him.
"What's up?" She whispered.
"She doesn't want to be with me." Andy told her. "The only reason she's here is because you're here. If it had only been the two of us I think she'd have said no."
"I thought the first date went well."
"Not really, she only went out with me 'cos you asked her to. A pretty woman like her would never want a guy like me." Rach glared at him.
"Stop saying that, you're funny, romantic, loyal..." She said.
"Fat, ugly, boring." Andy finished making Rach glare harder at him.
"If you keep thinking like that you'll never get a girlfriend."
"Ever thought I'm not meant to, maybe I'm supposed to stay single." Rach shook her head.
"I'll try to find out what's wrong and see if I can fix it. I know you two are perfect for each other." She said and headed towards Helen. Andy stared after her shaking his head slightly. There was no way he and Helen were perfect for each other. She was way too pretty for him.
The four of them set off along the footpath through the woodland. Rach was leading with Helen beside her. Andy and Stephen followed behind carrying the bags with the food and drink. The two women chatted as they walked their voices too soft for Andy to hear. From the couple of glances behind from both of them he guessed they were chatting about him and Stephen. Andy did not really know Stephen, he and Rach had only been going out for a couple of weeks. The two men had greeted each other when Andy arrived but now the walked along without talking. Rach led them down a path Andy did not recognise. It was a side path from the normal route through the park. The walk lasted about fifteen minutes then they reached a large clearing in the woods. Rach took her shoes off and bounded into the clearing.
"What do you guys think, isn't this the perfect picnic spot?" She said twirling around in the middle of the clearing. They all agreed that it was perfect. The four of them emptied the two bags out and soon they had a large table cloth covered in various food and drink. Rach and Stephen sank down next to each other. Helen sat close to Andy but with an obvious gap between them. Andy hid his disappointment.
"How did you know about this place?" He asked Rach.
"I've known about it for years, used to come here as a kid with my family. It's off the main path so virtually no one comes down here."
"You never brought me here and we used to go for a picnic at uni."
"Hey I don't want the whole world to know. It'd never be free for me and my closest friends now would it." Andy nodded and smiled. At least Rach liked him, even if it was just as a friend. He was happy to take that.
They started eating and chatting. Rach and Stephen were obviously very close already. He had known Rach for years and had never seen her as relaxed with a guy as she was with Stephen. He hoped it lasted, and looking at them together he thought it probably would. He and Helen were a different matter. The few times the spoke together it was cold and impersonal. From the way Helen spoke to him you would have never thought they were supposed to be on a date. Once they had all eaten their full they lounged on the grass with their different bottles of alcohol. Rach suddenly laughed.
"Do you remember that picnic with Julian?" She said to Andy.
"God yes, he was a complete prick."
"Tell me about it, but you pulled him down a peg didn't you." Andy nodded slightly embarrassed about the whole incident.
