Looking for Love (21 page)

He scowled at
her. “Saying I’m not altruistic.”

“
No, you are in your own way.
With a select few. Your charity doesn’t spread far and wide, but
gets concentrated very intensely on a couple of people or just one
person at a time.”

Oh, bother.
Why did she say that?

“
Do you have a problem with that?” A muscle in his jaw
twitched.

How could she
answer that without hurting him or revealing her true but very
confused feelings?

Silence again. Painful,
heart-crimping silence.
Break it somehow.

“
So you think I should continue
with
The
Album
?” She
tried to sound upbeat, as though their conversation hadn’t just
taken a dangerous detour.

He nodded.
“You need it.”

“
But I feel like I’m changing
people’s lives, the planet’s destiny, forever. What if I make the
wrong decision and match up a couple who seem happy together but
cause evil upon the earth or give birth to an evil
child?”

“
Do you think people are born evil?” he asked.

“
Well, I don’t know. Don’t they
say serial killers are born with some genetic weakness or glitch in
their brain that makes them do those things? Like someone born
dyslexic or bipolar.”

“
I’m not so sure people are born bipolar. Isn’t it related to
diet and lifestyle, circumstances, a compilation of many factors,
including genetics?”

“
Why are you so logical all the time?”

He shrugged
and offered her a proud grin. Her fingers itched to touch his
thigh, to stroke up and down the length of those muscular legs. She
swallowed and looked away.

“
You know, things happen on this
planet that are plain disgusting. A lot about this world is steeped
in chaos and
is pretty frightening. I think many of the things that
happen or that people do are caused by so many factors converging.
Bad, good, in between. Our little decisions can’t possibly affect
the whole planet, could they?” he said.

“
What about th
e theory that one butterfly wing
flap can change world weather patterns or cause a massive
hurricane?”

He laughed
loud and she smiled at the release of tension.

“
Where
on earth did you hear
that?”

“
I don’t know. I read stuff. Magazines. Blogs.”

“
But by worrying about every single decision you make, you’re
actually trying to be more like God—control all the
outcomes.”

“
I don’t believe God controls everything. I mean, does he
starve those kids in poor countries or did he cause Hurricane
Katrina?”

“
You have a point there.” He
winked at her. “Hey, you’re helping people. Keep it simple. You’re
giving them happiness. Life is so short anyway. Wouldn’t you want
to play a part in making the journey more pleasurable?”

“
But you said that I shouldn’t make it perfect for people, that
they should experience hardship in love so they appreciate it when
the right one comes along.”

He let out a
shaky sigh. “I don’t know. I suppose some pain is best
avoided.”

She looked away. What did he
mean by that? Had she caused him so much pain? Maybe he’d thought
more deeply about it since they’d first spoken about
The
Album
. She
liked that he didn’t brush her ideas off—that he pondered them.
Ross had so many good qualities. So why couldn’t she give him her
whole heart?

“
Okay, I’m going to give it another shot. I’m going to try this
business out for six months more and then do an assessment after
those six months to see if it’s working financially and for the
people I’ve helped. I’ll even send out forms for them—like feedback
forms. You and Pauline could design one.”

His shoulders and jaw tensed. She
shouldn’t have mentioned Pauline.

“
Look, I’m sorry I tried to match you with her. I won’t do that
again. I think I upset you both.”

He nodded but didn’t look at her. Suppose
he wanted more than an apology. He probably wanted her to say how
jealous it had made her. He didn’t need to know that right
now—might ignite another fire between them.

“
We can design one together—you and I.”

Why did she just say that? The
thought of poring over documents together, shoulders close and
legs
touching, sent her pulse into a drum roll.

He didn’t say a thing. What was
he thinking? They thankfully drove into an Ultra-City stop and went
in for a quick lunch and to fill up on fuel.
Only a few more hours with Ross.
Suddenly, she didn’t want to arrive home. He made the journey an
adventure. Talking to him certainly put her life into
perspective.

***

“
I have some ideas on how to help you.”

Ella
cringed as she sat at her desk the
following weekend opposite Frankenstein. Her mouth had spurted
things to her ‘problem’ client which she may regret later. But she
had to be honest.

He nodded, a frown creasing his forehead
and making his bushy eyebrows form a unibrow. “You’re the only
dating service that’s ever said anything like this before. I’m
impressed.”

Dating
service? Impressed?

She opened her
mouth and remained frozen for a moment, not sure what to say.

“
I’m open to your suggestions. I
think you may have a point. I need to change else I’m just going to
go down the same dead-end street as before.”

She gripped the desk as he repeated her
words almost verbatim.

“
Yes.” She cleared her throat.
“It’s what I’ve concluded by studying your files and your
relationship history.”
And your relationship future.

“
Fire away.” He gave the
‘come here’ gesture
with long fingers. “What do I need to change?”

“
Well, I’m happy to sponsor a relationship course for you.
There’s this colleague of mine who’s been attending it before she
gets married, but it doesn’t have to be only for those who’re about
to get married.”

“
Okay.”

“
So, you’ll attend? They can get
quite intense—the sessions, I mean. They ask all sorts of personal
questions and they also give you homework.”

“
Homework? Like what?”

She
envisioned the smoke coming out his
ears and suppressed a smile. She could imagine how stressful
something like this could be for a man.

“
Worksheets, studying up on stuff. Assignments. You won’t
regret it. I’ve looked up testimonials of other single men who’ve
done it and had tremendous results.”

He stood up
and stretched to shake her hand. “Well, sign me up please. Thank
you so much. We’ll be in touch once I’ve finished the course.”

“
Sure.” She shook his hand back,
reeling with how easy it had been. Maybe it would backfire in her
face. Just didn’t seem possible that the most difficult of her
clients could be so flexible and open-minded. Had
The Album
been wrong in
showing his dismal futures? Was he really a decent guy? Would she
ever know?

He said goodbye and left her office. She
set to work booking his course and did the transfer to pay for it.
It would cost more than he’d paid for his consultations with her,
but it was a once-off thing. She probably wouldn’t have many
clients as hard to match as he—notching it down to investment in
the business—an expense well worth it to maintain her
reputation.

Talking of reputation, she hadn’t as yet
read the article in the country-wide people’s interest magazine
about someone who’d come to her and found a partner. Andrea had
sent her an urgent message to buy the magazine and read the
article. She’d bought it first thing at seven in the morning when
the grocery store had opened and not had a chance to read it until
now at almost lunch time.

Opening up the
magazine, she quickly located the article and gasped at the
headline.

“
Dating service messes up my life.”

What?
This could not be
Exact Match
.
The Album
wouldn’t fail. Something was amiss. Maybe
false journalism. Why hadn’t she heard anything yet?

With h
er heart hammering wildly and her
mouth dry, she read the words of the article. After reaching near
the end, she let out a big breath of relief. They hadn’t been
referring to
Exact Match
at all but rather previous experience with bothersome
companies. In fact, they’d called her company something beyond a
dating service. That’s why she’d been shocked when Frank had called
it one. Of course, she went beyond just pairing people up based on
a guess or some quizzes—she looked into their future. But no one
knew that.

One passage in the article bothered her,
though.

“
It’s uncanny how perfectly
matched Paul and I are. We are suited to one another in every
sense. I wish I could learn what methods Ella Haviland uses to
choose partners for her clients. She doesn’t hold any degrees or
formal education and runs her matchmaking business part-time, yet
she seems to instinctively know who belongs with whom. Is there
magic in the mix here? Or is there some other mysterious individual
advising her and using her as a pretty store-front for the
business?
”

The article ended there. They’d
even found a photo of her—one from her website.
Pretty storefront? Like I’m just
beauty and no brains. What an insult!

Ella stood up and paced the
room. What if they started investigating her? What if journalists
began knocking at her door? How could she keep
The Album
secret? As palpable the relief
was that the article didn’t disparage her in any way, it brought a
new concern, and she couldn’t sit still. She needed to go for a
walk to clear her mind.

While on her
walk, a text message from Dirk arrived on her phone.

“
Up for a movie and dinner
tonight?
” he
asked.

She smiled. At least he hadn’t
given up on her. That’s just what she needed to get her mind off
everything. Four days ago
, she’d travelled back with Ross and spent hours
with him in the car, her feelings for him morphing into something
alien to her heart. Dirk held her only means of escape. If he gave
her a good enough reason to say goodbye to Ross forever, she could
come to a decision once and for all. The agony could
end.

“
I’m game. What
time?
”

“
Fifteen minutes too soon? The
next show starts at 16h45.
”

She looked at her watch. A
quarter past four. She picked up her pace to get home within ten
minutes. She had five minutes to freshen up for Dirk. Talk about
stress.
But
it’s a good stress.

By the time he
arrived, she was
giggling as she tried to apply make-up and strap her shoes at the
same time.

“
Come in,” she called from the
mirror in her guest toilet by the front door. She’d left the door
unlocked for him. She stepped out the little room. “Hi
Dirk.”

He stood before her in all his
male-infused glory. Dirk had an amazing smile that would cause any
woman’s heart to flip. It somehow only made hers ache and reminded
her of painful decisions.
Could only get better
, she told herself when he came up to her
and gave her a peck on the mouth.

“
It’s been a while since I saw
you. Missed you,” he said.

He smelt fresh
and sexy, too.

“
You, too.”

“
Ready?”

“
Yip.” She switched on her outside lights, then pushed him out
the door so she could set her alarm and lock. Once out on the road,
she relaxed. “What movie is it?”

“
A crime drama.”

“
Good stuff. Big carton of popcorn?”

“
Of course.” He grinned at her.
“Now tell me about your trip away.”

She briefly
explained how she’d helped her gran, not going into any detail
about Ross at all.

Dirk listened and nodded. “You
certainly
stepped up to the plate. Want to become a
farmer?”

“
Nah.” She shook her head. “Fun for a break from the usual
routine, but I don’t think…”

He looked at her. “I’m trying to imagine
you in jeans, boots, and outdoor gear. It would suit
you.”

Her face
heated as his gaze rested upon her in a suggestive way. “I could
look rather messy on the farm as I didn’t have time to make myself
up.”

He gave her
leg a quick squeeze. “Messy or not, you’d look great.”

“
Thanks, Dirk.”

They parked outside the Boardwalk Mall and
ran inside to the cinema. They were only five minutes late and the
movie hadn’t started yet. Dirk got them seats and went back out to
stand in the queue for popcorn and sodas.

Once the movie
started, they tucked
into the salty snacks and drinks. Dirk took her hand after they’d
demolished the popcorn and she snuggled up against him. In a quiet
part in the movie, he whispered something to her and as she turned
to ask for him to repeat the words, he stole a kiss from her—long
and deep and intimate. Then he pulled away and continued to watch.
At least they were in the dark because he shouldn’t know how
confused that kiss made her.