Page 131 of The Match Faker

I knew if I asked, my parents would try and lend me some money, but that wasn’t the solution. What would happen the next time the rent increased or some other unexpected costs popped up? I had to prove that I could run a business, by myself.

So that was that. I had to work from home. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I’d come too far to give up now.

Trudy was understanding. She said she was happy to work from home and had mainly agreed to share the office space and rent to help me out, which made me feel worse. And that was saying something, because since Liam went back to LA, I’d been feeling pretty low.

That night after I’d left Liam’s place, I’d gone back to my flat.

It felt weird to be home. It was eerily quiet and so cold. I’d tried to put the heating on, but it wasn’t working, so I’d spent the night wrapped under the duvet in several layers of clothes. But it didn’t matter how many blankets I piled on, nothing warmed me up. I just felt hollow.

As I lay there, I told myself that although I was missing Liam, the pain was temporary. It was the first time I’d slept in a bed alone since we’d got together, so it was normal that it’d felt weird. In a few days, I’d be fine.

Except, it’d been a month, the heating had been fixed and the bed still felt as cold as it had back then.

The stories in the press hadn’t helped. ‘Liam Breaks Off Romance to Return to LA’ headlines dominated the tabloids, gossip magazines and websites for more than a week.

After that, they must’ve got bored and started focusing on the new film he had coming up with Hollywood goddess Nina Rose and how she was helping to console him. Thank God there hadn’t been any photos of them snuggled up together. I hoped it wasn’t true, but I knew if I saw any images of his tongue down her throat it’d kill me.

So yeah, there’d been that. And the pitying looks from strangers who recognised me in the street. I didn’t know what was worse—the sad looks from relatives when I was single or the ‘poor thing got dumped by a movie star’ stares I got now.

Anyway, like the saying went, there was no point crying over spilt milk. I just had to try and save my business, forget about Liam and move on.

I packed up the last of my things, took a final glance around the office, then locked the door for the last time. I’d miss this place.

After handing in the keys, I trudged outside. A gust of frigid wind hit my face. I tightened my scarf around my neck.

Just as I was about to cross the road, I saw a woman standing on the corner with a bright red sandwich board. What she had written on the front stopped me in my tracks.

Looking for True Love

Interested? Call me!

Underneath, her number was listed.

A few passers-by pointed and laughed before snapping photos.

As I got closer, I saw that she was shaking and had tears in her eyes. I wasn’t surprised she was upset. I knew how it felt to be looking for love. Things must be really bad for her to resort to such extreme measures.

‘Hi,’ I said softly. ‘You okay?’

‘You mean, apart from feeling cold and humiliated?’ Her face broke into an awkward smile.

She had a lovely smile. She had dark hair and was dressed in a long grey coat.

‘How long have you been out here? It’s freezing.’

‘About an hour, but it feels like ten.’

‘What’s your name?’

‘Kelly.’

‘Nice to meet you, Kelly. I’m Mia. Why don’t I buy you a coffee? We can have a chat and get you warmed up.’

‘That’s really kind, but I have to do this. It’s my last resort.’ She exhaled an icy puff of air.

‘What have you tried so far?’

‘Dating apps, speed dating, blind dates… and everything ends in disaster.’

---