We are "Anytime Diners" which means that we can go to any restaurant at any time rather than being allotted a time/table/companions that you have to stick to every night. The Maitre' D always asks you if you are happy to share a table with other people, but this night I didn't want to. We were tired and didn't want to make small talk - so we said we'd prefer a table for 2. There were people behind us and it didn't occur to us until later that us saying 'no' to sharing meant that we didn't want to share with them. There were no tables ready so we had to wait 10 minutes. We went for a walk and came back to find that our table was ready - they had moved a table for 4 apart by about 4 cms effectively making it a longer table for 4 with a hole in the middle and guess who was sitting at the other end? Well, it was all a little awkward. They made jokes about us not wanting to sit with them and now we had to and we made our excuses and there was nervous laughter. Then all four of us were determined to stay with our own conversations even though I could see the lady looking over at us and I know I was looking over at them. I was thinking "just ask them about their salad" or "ask them where they're from" - but finally it was Jen who broke the silence - she obviously couldn't stand the tension in the air either and really it was ridiculous sitting at the same table and not talking! In the end, we were on of the last tables there. They were a lovely couple, let's call them Peter and Diane ('cause that's their names), and we had a lovely evening. maybe we will share next time - could we be so lucky twice?
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