Finding Mr. Right (25 page)

After my dad died, I made sure to keep up our routine of going to the bookstore every week and buying a new book. It was on one of those trips that I found out what bashert was. The word hadn’t even crossed my mind again after that night until that particular trip. I can remember that moment like I can remember my favorite scene from my favorite book. I was walking down the aisle, trying to decide what kind of book to get. I didn’t want to get another romance. I knew that ultimately, my dad had wanted me to expand my mind by reading, so I had decided to look for a more educational book. I wasn’t even looking for a religious book, but stumbled upon the Judaic section, almost as if I were guided there. And there was a book called Finding Your Bashert. I had to admit, it made me jump.

I paused and cleared my throat, scared to look up at him. I didn’t want to see a negative reaction on his face. But I couldn’t continue reading the book if he hated it. I didn’t want to deal with how I would feel if he hated the book.

“Aren’t you going to continue?” I looked up as Blake spoke, and I saw a huge grin on his face. “I want to hear more.”

“Are you sure?” I blushed, unsure if he was being honest.

“I love it, Maggie.” His eyes sparkled. “I really really love it.”

“You do?” I grinned back at him, my heart beating fast. “It’s not too sappy for you?”

“I’ll be honest; it’s not something I would normally read, but I think it’s brilliant.”

“You helped to inspire me.” I paused. “It’s a book about soul mates, but one of them is dead.”

“Don’t ruin it.” He laughed.

“Sorry.” I couldn’t get rid of the smile on my face.

“You’re really talented, Maggie. Really talented.”

“Thanks, Blake.” I put my iPad down and kissed him. “If you keep saying nice words like that, I think I’ll have to show you some gratitude.”

“I never say no to gratitude.” He kissed me back, and we lay there laughing. “So I inspired the book?”

“Yes.”

“Because I’m your soul mate?” He lifted my face up so that he could stare into my eyes, and I blushed, nervous and embarrassed. “I think you’re my soul mate too, Maggie.”

“You do?” I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. I felt like I was in one of my perfectly delicious daydreams.

“Yes.” He grinned. “Heaven knows that I certainly didn’t expect to fall in love with someone like you, but I can’t help myself.”

“Fall in love?” My eyes were as big as saucers. This had to be a dream.

“Yes, my dearest Maggie. How could I not love you?” He traced his fingers down my neck. “You’re incorrigible, goofy, beautiful, funny, and the list goes on.”

“You can keep going on.” I smiled shyly. “And I’ll be beautiful after I lose about 20 pounds.”

“You’re beautiful now, Maggie.” He put his finger to my lips. “Repeat after me.”

“Okay.”

“I am beautiful.”

“I am beautiful.”

“I have a gorgeous body.”

“No, I…”

“Shh, I have a gorgeous body that my boyfriend loves.”

“I have a gorgeous body that my boyfriend loves.”

“I am loved by many.”

“I am loved by many.”

“I am a talented writer.”

“I am an okay writer.”

“I am a brilliant and talented writer. Say it.” He fake-glared at me.

“I’m a pretty talented writer.”

“I guess that will do.” He kissed me again, and I melted against him, feeling the most content I had ever felt in my life. “Promise me you’ll remember that, Maggie.”

“I will.”

“And promise me that you will be disciplined and work on your book until it’s done.”

“I will.”

“No changing it to a YA book, or self-help, or romance, or mystery or whatever. Just write this book and finish it.”

“It kinda is YA romance.” I grinned.

“Just write it, Maggie.”

“Yes, Pops.”

“Shh.” He laughed.

“If you say so, Blakey-Wakey.”

“Shh.” He sat up and stared at me. “I want to sing a song to you.”

“Oh?”

“It’s one I wrote.” He seemed anxious. “It’s kinda goofy, and I just thought of it in my mind, but I want to sing it to you.”

“Okay.”

He grabbed my hands and held them, and I could feel my heart beating quickly. He cleared his throat a couple of times and started singing:

“There was a girl,

Her name was Maggie

And she filled up my heart to stop it sagging.

I loved her since,

She was a girl

And now she’s a woman,

I love her still.

One thing I’m sure of,

One thing I’ve always known,

Is that I want you in my life for now and evermore.

Say you love me,

Say you want me,

Say you know that we’re meant to be.

There was a girl,

Her name was Maggie,

And she drove me crazier than a drunk a begging.

She lights up my life,

Like a million bulbs

And no blackout

Can stop her glow.

One thing I’m sure of,

One thing I’ve always known,

Is that I want you in my life for now and ever more.

Say you love me,

Say you want me,

Say you know that we’re meant to be.

There was a boy,

His name was Blake,

And he loved that girl, whose name was Maggie.

He loved her pretty much all his life.

And he never stopped, even through all the strife.

What he really wants is for her to be his wife.

Oh say you’ll be his wife.

One thing I’m sure of,

One thing I’ve always known,

Is that I want you in my life for now and ever more.

Say you love me,

Say you want me,

Say you know that we’re meant to be.”

I stared at him with tears in my eyes. “That was beautiful, Blake.”

“Do you love me, Maggie?”

I nodded my head, suddenly shy.

“Can you say the words?”

“I love you, Blake. I’ve always loved you. You’re my everything, and I don’t know what I would do if I lost you. Probably I’d be a huge mess. I want to be more mature. Smarter. Quicker. Nicer. Funnier. I just want to be the best person I can be because of you.”

“Maggie. I just want you to be yourself. Well maybe not completely yourself.” He paused. “I wouldn’t mind if you stopped getting yourself into silly, awkward situations. No dating other goofy men, or pretending to date. And no Bradley Cooper!”

“Okay, no Bradley Cooper.” I laughed. Of course, if Bradley Cooper really came knocking at my door we would have to reexamine that caveat.

“Marry me, Maggie.”

He laughed at my shocked expression. “Be mine. Let me love you and take care of you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“Oh, Blake, I love you, too. Of course I’ll marry you,” I grinned at him. “On one condition.”

“What’s that?” He looked at me suspiciously, mostly probably wondering what hair-brained scheme I had concocted.

“Let’s get married in Paris, with Gayle and Ben there as witnesses.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, yes.” I kissed him. “I would love that.”

He leaned over and whispered in my ear. “And then we can have our first French kiss.”

I laughed, and he winked at me, and we fell back on the bed and did a lot more than just French kissing!

Dear Diary,

I want to apologize that I haven’t written in you in such a long time. So much has happened in the last few months, I still feel like I am living in a real-life Utopia. Blake and I went to Paris and got married in the gardens at Versailles. Gayle and Ben were our witnesses, and we all stuffed our faces with bread, cheese, and wine afterwards. Blake surprised me with a Tiramisu cake as the wedding cake. It was as unconventional as our relationship, which is why I loved it so much.

The biggest news is that Blake quit his job. He’s a writer now too! It turns out that he always wanted to write and that was why he always used to push me to do it. He wished he was doing it himself. We are finishing up my book on soul mates. Yes, we are writing it together, and it’s nearly done. Can you believe it? He’s a good motivator, and I love writing the book with him. You might even see it on the NY Times Bestsellers list in a few months, if it sells well. How great would that be?

When we got back to Los Angeles, Blake and I got a place in Santa Monica, and we go running on the beach every morning. Okay, maybe not every morning but at least twice a week, and guess who we met a few weeks ago on the pier? Bradley Cooper! I thought my heart was going to stop beating, and I was going to faint. I couldn’t believe it was him. But he didn’t even glance at me. I didn’t even have a chance to wink or give him a seductive smile, which I think is just as well. I wouldn’t want to hurt Blake’s feelings by divorcing him if Bradley had asked me to be his.

In other news, Blake and I are expecting. He doesn’t know it as yet, but I figure he’ll be excited. I couldn’t imagine a better dad for my kids than Blake. If they are ever in trouble, Blake will be able to get them out of it. So now I’m thinking of names for the baby. Something cool but not out there. So I might start writing in you again. To keep up with everything going on in this new exciting time. And maybe to jot down plans for the baby, like maybe having her star in a movie or commercial or even having her join the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first talking baby or something.

We’ll see!

Thank you for reading Finding Mr. Right. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review and recommend it to a friend. You can
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US READ

Maggie Lane’s Online Dating Debacles

I opened my Cupidlove account and saw that I had 10 messages in my in-box. I felt a sudden thrill of happiness run through me at the thought that 10 guys wanted to take me on a date. And then I looked at the photos and groaned. I know, I know. I shouldn’t be so superficial. I am certainly no supermodel, but really. Half of the guys were balding, two had grey hair, and the other three looked like they had recently escaped from Alcatraz. I’d have to check ‘America’s Most Wanted’ to see if any of their photos matched up with this week’s list. I could certainly do with the $25,000 prize money.

I sighed as I sat down to read the messages on the screen. I couldn’t afford to be too picky, especially not about superficial stuff. I needed to get to know the guys and not just base my opinions of them on their photos and blurbs. So what if they said they enjoyed going to nude beaches or that they loved snakes. That didn’t mean we couldn’t be a successful match. At least that’s what my best friend Gayle told me. And who was I to argue? Beggars can’t be choosers, and I hadn’t had a date in over 2 years.

I clicked on the first message; it was from a guy called Ben. I thought that was a good sign. I mean I’d had a crush on a guy called Ben Bonkers for ages, and well, just because he was out of reach didn’t mean I couldn’t date another Ben. This one had even contacted me.

“Dear beautiful, your eyez are like sparkling diamontes, not cubic z’s. I could drown in them like the Atlantic river that I swim in as a child. Make me happy and meet me for drink. I will even be a feminism and let you pay. Ben.”

I looked at the email for another second before I deleted it. There was no way that even my standards were that low. I was not about to go on a date with this Ben. His email was atrocious, and add to that his listed height was 5”4 and his two different photos looked like two different people. He was out.

I clicked on the next guy’s profile before I read his email. He looked really cute. His name was Vince. He looked like John Stamos, and that was my sort of yummy. I was actually surprised he had contacted me. Really good-looking guys generally weren’t interested in me, as I wasn’t super skinny or blonde. And I didn’t have gigantic boobs. But hey, if he was interested, why shouldn’t I be excited? He was slightly balding, so perhaps that was why the Barbies weren’t interested in him. I eagerly clicked over to his message to see what he had written to me.

“Yo gorgeous, I saw your profile and I want to take you to dinner. I’m from New York and used to women who like to chow down on a big juicy steak, and you sound like the type of girl who is down for that. I work for my family business: we are large, Italian and brash, and welcoming. Message me back if you are interested in going on a date.

Vince.”

I didn’t know whether I should be offended by the steak comment, but seeing as it was true and the steak was free, who was I to get upset by it? I replied to his email:

“Hi Vince, I would love to join you for a steak dinner one night. You were right, I do enjoy a juicy steak. When did you move to LA? Do you miss New York? I would love to visit NY one day. You must feel blessed to have a happy and large family, and it must be nice to work for yourself. Hope to hear back from you soon. Maggie.”

I hoped that he responded to my email soon, as I would love to be able to go on a date and boast about it to my friends, especially Ben and Blake. I wondered what his family business consisted of. Maybe they owned some Italian delicatessens. I didn’t know if I wanted to be married to a salami man, but I guess I could make do; money was money. I didn’t really want to reply to any of the other emails until I heard back from Vince, but I didn’t want to limit my options. And so I looked through the other messages quickly to see if there were any other potentials.

There was only one other guy who caught my eye. His name was Maximus. And he was English. And he looked like Shemar Moore, that gorgeous actor from Criminal Minds. He had been my crush before Bradley Cooper, and I was hoping that perhaps he was the real Shemar Moore using a fake name. I did wonder why he would use a fake name but real pictures of himself, but people do funny things. I decided to reply to his short but sweet message and asked him if he would like to get a coffee sometime.

***

Vince and Max responded to my emails within a few hours, and I was really excited to see that both of them wanted to go on dates with me. It seemed like my luck was finally changing. I was also pretty excited to note that Max had said he was an actor in response to my ‘what to you do for a job’ question in my last message.

“I’m going on a date with Shemar Moore! I’m going on a date with Shemar Moore!” I danced around my living room with my dog Lucy as my partner. I held her paws up and attempted to lead her in the dance, but she got tired of the jig and tried to jump up and lick my face instead.

“Oh Lucy, you goof.” I bent down and gave her a peck on the forehead. Lucy was in an extremely anxious excited state because she was eager for us to go on our weekly walk in the Hollywood Hills with Blake. Blake was my childhood friend who recently came back into my life. He was handsome, funny, and totally unavailable to me, which was a huge shame. What was ironic was that he was with me more often than he was with his ‘partner’ Bridget, but I figured he was trying to ensure that I kept up my exercise routine so I could attempt to run a marathon with him and Gayle in a few months. I didn’t know how likely that was going to be because I could barely jog for 5 minutes without running out of breath now, but I was trying.

I replied quickly to Vince and Max and set up dates with them for the following Saturday and Sunday. I was so excited. It had been a while since I’d had two dates in one weekend with two hot guys.

“I’m coming up in the world, Lucy. I’m coming up,” I sang to Lucy, and laughed with delight as she barked along with me. “I’m moving on up to the East side; I’m getting dates in the sky.” I collapsed on the couch laughing and jumped when I heard a loud knocking on the door.

“Coming!” I went over to open the door to see Blake standing there in his gym shorts and a white t-shirt. He looked deliciously scrumptious, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Hey, Maggie Moo. What was all that racket I heard coming from the apt?” Blake grinned at me and ruffled my hair. I hated it when he called me Maggie Moo and ruffled my hair, because it reinforced in me the fact that he saw me as his little sister and not as a potential mate. And oh, how I wanted to be his mate. Maybe after I lost a few more pounds and became a famous author.

“Oh there was no racket. Lucy and I were just a little excited about my date.”

“Date?” Blake raised an eyebrow and look inquiringly at me.

“Well, two actually. One is a famous TV star and the other guy works for his extremely profitable family business.” I assumed it had to be profitable if he was boasting about it so much and he wanted to take me for a nice steak dinner.

“A famous actor huh? Who?” Blake looked at me in disbelief.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you.” I flounced away from him, upset that he didn’t think I was cute enough to date an actor. “It’s to do with contracts and privacy and stuff, sorry.” I felt a twinge of guilt at the lie but figured that it might come true at the date. I mean, Shemar Moore would likely want us to keep our relationship hush hush at first so that we wouldn’t be in all the tabloids. That was, of course, if Max turned out to be Shemar.

“It’s a secret, huh Maggie?” Blake laughed. “Even from your childhood confidante?” He reached over and tickled me under my arms, and I couldn’t stop from giggling.

“Blake, stop it. I can’t tell you.” I tried to dart away from him, as my body was convulsing with nervous pleasure.

“Tell me, Moo-moo, tell me.” Blake grabbed a hold of me so that I couldn’t run away. I looked around to see if Lucy was getting ready to attack Blake and save me, but I saw her across the room lying on the couch and chewing the throw-pillow. Great guard dog she turned out to be.

“Stop, Blake! Ha ha! Stop!” I collapsed to the floor, laughing hysterically, and I brought Blake down with me. His arm was still around me as we fell, and as I gazed into his laughing eyes, I felt a zing of electricity dart through me. We gazed at each other silently for a few seconds, and then he reached over and kissed my nose before he jumped up.

“You win, Maggie. I’m sure you’ll tell me when you can.”

I was disappointed that he had jumped up away from me. I’d been hoping he would lean in for a real kiss. I sighed.

“Okay Blake, I don’t know if he is a TV star yet, but I think he is.”

“You think he is?” Blake looked at me, confused.

“I haven’t met him yet.”

“What? How do you have a date if you haven’t met him yet?”

“I met him on Cupidlove, if you must know.” I put my head up high.

“The online dating site?” Blake laughed.

“Yes. Sorry if that’s too loser-ey for someone like you,” I hurled at him defensively.

“Loser-ey? Is that a word?”

“Yes!” I walked away from him and sat next to Lucy.

“So when’s the date with Mr. Possible TV Star?” Blake tried not to laugh.

“Sunday. I have a lunch date on Saturday as well, with a gorgeous guy who looks like John Stamos.”

“John Stamos, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Impressive.”

“Yes, Vince is...” I started before Blake interrupted me.

“His name is Vince?” Blake looked down, trying to hide a smile.

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

“Let’s go walk, Blake. We can talk about this later.” I concluded the conversation abruptly. I didn’t want him to make my happiness dissipate. I mean, I already had some anxious feelings about the dates, and I was trying to keep them down.

*****

I was really excited for my dinner date with Vince and was a bit surprised when I arrived at the address he had given me for our date. The only restaurant I saw before me was Applebee’s, and I just couldn’t believe that a man who could send me so many emails talking about good juicy steaks and spoiling me would schedule a date at Applebee’s. Maybe it was a surprise. Maybe he was meeting me here but whisking me somewhere else. Like a practical joke. Oh gosh, maybe he was going to fly me in his family’s private jet to Italy. What a date that would be. I hadn’t brought any clean underwear with me though or my toothbrush. Oh well, I’d just ask to stop at Target before we got on the plane. Excitement coursed through my body. I’d never had a first date where I was whisked to another country before. In fact, I’d never had any date where I had even been taken to another city.

I walked into the Applebee’s with a big smile on my face. “I’m meeting Vince.” I told the hostess confidently.

“Sure, follow me.” The young brunette smiled at me, and I smiled back. ‘She must know about the real date,’ I thought to myself. I wondered if she was jealous. I know I would be if I worked here and heard about a fantastic date like this.

As I followed her to the table, my smile grew even wider. Vince was even more gorgeous in person than he was in photos, and I could only hope he liked me too.

When the hostess walked away, I slipped her a $5 note and saw her look at me in surprise. Most hostesses don’t get tipped for taking people to their table, but I wanted her to know that just because I was on my way to Italy, I was still down to earth.

“Maggie, is that you?” Vince jumped up from the table, nearly knocking over a glass of water. He gave me a thorough look-over and smiled at me.

“Well, you sure do look slimmer than your photo.” he boomed out. I was a little concerned about the loudness of his voice but figured he was nervous.

“Thank you.” I smiled. And then I gave him a hug. And then stood there, waiting for him to lead me to his chauffeur and shout “Surprise.”

“Shall we sit down?” he said as he sat.

“Sure.” I beamed at him. “Why not?”

“Good to see you, Maggie. I’m glad you showed up,” Vince shouted at me while picking his teeth. I was a bit taken aback, but decided to put my distaste towards him to the back of my mind.

“Of course, you know me. I can’t say no to a good steak dinner.” I beamed at him.

“Right. I knew you were a steak girl when I saw your photos. All plump girls like them some red meat.”

I looked at Vince in annoyance. He was really starting to irritate me, but I held my tongue. I mean I could really one-up Blake if I was able to tell him that I went all the way to Italy for a first date.

“I just love Applebee’s, don’t you? I was going to suggest TGI Friday’s, but realized that their steak was a few bucks more expensive.” Vince laughed as I felt my stomach lurch.

“Uh yeah. Applebee’s is okay.” Please God, let Vince say “Surprise” any second now.

“Feel free to get some mozzarella sticks as an appetizer. No onion rings though, don’t want no stinky breath for later.” Vince laughed and licked his lips, and I felt my stomach recoil.

“Um, excuse me. I just need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” I got up from the table and walked to the restroom. I looked behind me and made sure that he wasn’t looking and then ran to the main door and ran out as quickly as possible. The hostess looked in me in shock as I shot by, pushing past an old couple who had just come in and were waiting by the door. I felt bad, but I couldn’t stop. I kept on running until I got to my car and sped out of the parking lot. I only started breathing when I was a few blocks away from the restaurant. I felt bad, but I knew that I couldn’t spend one more second with Vince. I knew there was going to be no trip to Italy, and that he certainly wasn’t part of the Versace empire or anything close to that.