Page 122 of The Match Faker

‘In three weeks,’ I replied, sitting up straighter.

‘Can we come?’ Mum said.

My jaw dropped.

‘You—you want to come?’

‘Of course!’

‘Well, I…’

‘Amazing!’ Liam added.

‘But I might not win,’ I blurted out, self-doubt flooding my thoughts.

‘You deserve to.’

‘Awards ceremonies are so awkward,’ Alice sighed. ‘Ninety per cent of the finalists will be disappointed and then they have to pretend to be happy for the winners.’

She was right. If I lost, Mum and Dad would feel sorry for me again.

‘We’d love to come!’ Dad ignored Alice’s comment.

‘Great!’ Liam said. ‘Shall I book a table?’

I nodded, my mind whirring.

Thankfully the rest of the evening went quickly. As well as my parents filling us in on their anniversary plans, they bombarded Liam with questions about life as a Hollywood star. Alice was also keen to know which celebs he was friends with.

‘We’d better head off.’ I stood up from the table.

‘That’s a shame,’ Mum said.

After we’d said our goodbyes, we headed out to the car, then set off.

‘Thank God that’s over,’ I exhaled.

‘Sorry if I did the wrong thing by mentioning the awards. I could see Alice was getting to you, so…’

‘It’s okay. Thanks for having my back.’

‘Why didn’t you want to tell them?’

‘Because like Alice said, if I don’t win, it’ll be embarrassing. I don’t want to let my parents down. They’re already going to be disappointed when… we don’t end up settling down. And they already think my business is a failure and unless I lift that trophy, I’m going to prove them right.’

‘Why do you want this award so badly? You know you’re good at what you do and your clients believe in you. If it’s the money, I can help.’

‘Thanks, but it’s more than just the money. The credibility and exposure winning will bring is priceless. They’ll run a double-page spread in their magazine, which has a big circulation. Being able to say I was featured in Happily Ever After magazine on my website and marketing materials alone is huge. Plus, the closer we get to Christmas, the more people will be thinking about finding a partner. The New Year and Valentine’s Day are also important seasons. Winning will help me capitalise on that.’

‘But why do you need to rent an office to matchmake? If the rent’s so high, aren’t you better off working from home and meeting clients at a decent coffee shop when you need to? That’d cut your overheads massively and take some of the pressure off.’

‘No. When you’re asking people to pay for a service like this, they expect you to operate from a nice place. It puts them more at ease.’

‘You’re the expert.’ Liam held his hand up in surrender. ‘I don’t know anything about matchmaking, but I just thought people cared about whether you can find their dream partner or not. The rest is just… not important.’

If only that was true.

Right now, I could only think of one thing: winning.

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