Accident PRONE

Carrie was having another dreadful day. Would her luck ever change?

Sorry. Were you sitting here?’ the man asked when Carrie got back to her table.

‘I was, yes,’ Carrie growled as she glanced at the group of people on the next table. ‘And I asked a woman if she could stop anybody else from sitting here while I went to get another drink, but she seems to have gone.’

‘Oh, OK.’ The man stood up and picked up his beer. ‘I’ll find another table.’

‘No, you’re all right,’ Carrie replied, feeling guilty as she looked round the crowded pub. ‘You can stay here. I’m just going to knock this wine back, then I’m going home anyway.’

He sat down again. ‘OK. It sounds like you’ve had a bad day.’

‘I’ve had a dreadful day,’ Carrie said as she sat down opposite him and decided it would be too embarrassing to tell him she’d just been stood up. ‘Everything has gone wrong.’

‘Sorry,’ he said, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at her face. ‘Did somebody hit you?’

Carrie put her hand up to her cheek and flinched as she touched it. ‘No, I walked into a cupboard door.’

‘Really?’ He didn’t sound very convinced.

‘Yes, really,’ Carrie said before taking a swig of her wine. ‘I know that’s what people say when they don’t want to admit to some other reason, but I did walk into a cupboard door.’