Claire

As some of you know, I had an interview in Manchester recently. It didn't go well, but an upside of it was the train journey back. Firstly, my Mac ran out of battery just as it was getting to the good bit in Inception. That wasn't good. I was utterly bored from about Sheffield to Nottingham, where a girl got on the train and, despite there being plenty of empty seats, asked to sit next to me - the most bored-looking and, after a day hauling ass on hot trains, sweatiest person in the entire carriage. Of course you can love.

For about ten minutes we sat in silence. I was all chatted out from my interview and just wanted to get home, but Claire had other plans. She started the conversation and I made a complete wally of myself:

C: Busy train isn't it?
B: What - where? Oh this one? Yeah...

That was it. Something that simple sparked the most amazing conversation I've ever had with a stranger. For a start, she had the balls to open me (which is a good sign to me), and secondly she was fun and easy to talk to. She had the same sense of humour as me, the same interests, the same attitudes and outlook on life and, most importantly, didn't take herself too seriosly. Magic stuff. Getting her number and organising a date wasn't even a thing - it just happened as we pulled up to Grantham.

Seeing her in 2 weeks.