I really shouldn’t eavesdrop on conversations. But there were five* things I particularly liked about the young lady in her mid-20s from the touring choir, who was perched at the next table in the Executive Lounge of the hotel the other night:

1. She was quiet, shy, intelligent, with a gentle humour.

2. She was my ‘type’. (Any of you who know me in real-life will understand that there’s a certain type of girl who makes me go weak at the knees. And she seemed quite oblivious to how attractive she was).

3. She and her two female friends had chosen not to go out with the rest of the group: the others were too rowdy and the three of them felt like a quieter evening exploring. (Show me a room full of strangers, and I’ll head straight for the fringes!).

4. She was East Coast American. (I have a very soft spot that part of the world, having a number of dear friends who hail from (or have lived) there - my first play partner included).

5. She’d taken her punishment bravely when the choirmaster had paddled her for her wrong note in that afternoon’s rehearsal. He’d given her ten whacks across her jeans, right after the others had left. Hard, since the following night’s concert was so important.

* OK, only four of these are definitely true. One might have been the product of my over-fertile imagination!

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