Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

i c h i

"Why do I always have to deal with the peak hour traffic? And of all times!" Elizabeth punched the horn again and a cacophony of impatience echoed after. Elizabeth had just delivered her last package of the day and decided to drive straight to the restaurant so she would not be late but see what happens? She was meeting a guy at a restaurant as apparently, she needed to get out and find a boyfriend as constantly chastised by her mother.

"Lizzy, you wouldn't believe what surprise I have gotten for you!" Mrs Bennet squealed over the phone that morning despite the fact that Elizabeth had only picked it up after three missed calls. Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth braced herself for the worst. One for one spa massage? A "new" pair of jeans from the thrift store? Twenty discounted bottles of cranberry jam? Mrs Bennet was very cheapskate, hence her desperation to marry her daughters off.

"Well...?" Elizabeth certainly did not want to fuel her mother's excitement by playing along with her guessing games.

"Do you remember Sir William? Because of his friend's brother's boss's nephew, I managed to clinch a blind date for you with the renowned Mr Darcy!"

"Sorry, who again?" Mrs Bennet had way too many connections for Elizabeth to remember.

"Silly girl! He's a commanding officer in the navy force! I still remember he looked so dashing in that maroon suit..." Mrs Bennet gushed as Elizabeth started formulating an acceptable excuse to reject her mother.

"Sorry mum, it appears that I'm busy with deliveries today. Maybe another time?" Another time means never but I'm not going to say that out loud.

"Lizzy! How many times do I have to tell you?! Women need not work so hard! Your duty is to find a good and rich husband, bear children and take care of the house! Why jeopardise your chances of marriages with that meagre salary you getー"

"Mum! Stop turning this into another lecture about my job! I enjoy what I do with Charlotte and that's all that matters to me." Ugh, Mum always condemns my job. What's wrong with working for myself? Elizabeth knew it wasn't a very glamorous job to be proud of, but she had already been rejected by too many companies, leaving her no choice but to set up an online delivery service with her best friend, Charlotte. Sighing, Elizabeth decided the easier way to end this tiresome conversation was to simply yield to her mother's requests. Not that she was planning to take the date seriously, but desperate women called for desperate measures to deal with them.

"Alright, Mum, I'll go for the blind date with Mr whoever. Please send me the address and time afterwards." A yell of happiness erupted before Elizabeth hung up quickly.

Elizabeth's phone chimed immediately and five messages from "Mum" popped up on her notification screen. Elizabeth's eyes glazed over the details. 6pm reservation for 2 at the Greenwood Fish Market. 34/38 Greenwood Ave. DO NOT BE LATE. Not on my watch.

Famous late words indeed. She cursed herself repeatedly as the cars crawled forward at a pace slower than her mother's running. That was saying a lot as the only exercise her mother did was running up to single men and jumping to conclusions. Elizabeth checked the map displayed on her phone and it indicated that there was one more junction left to cross before she could turn into an alley and leave the congested street. The red 6.30pm flashing at the top of her dashboard seemed to be gloating at her. This was going to take a while.

"Good evening, I have a 6pm reservation for 2. My name is Elizabeth but I think my friend is already inside though." Elizabeth pulled on her coat as she haphazardly dashed over towards the neon blue fish sign. The waiter standing outside the door bowed and checked his clipboard before shaking his head.

"I'm very sorry, Miss but there is no Elizabeth on our reservation list. I'm afraid you got the wrong time and date." The waiter gave her an eerie smile and the long queue of customers glared at her as if she wanted to cut their queue under the pretence of a reservation. Damn, what was that guy's name again? Elizabeth racked her brains and tried to rewind the conversation with her mother but it was to no avail. With a heavy heart, Elizabeth was about to call her mother and announce the tragic news when an impeccably-dressed man came out of the restaurant.