Page 47 of The Match Faker

‘Shit. Sorry to hear that,’ I said softly. Mia swallowed hard. ‘She was a really lovely woman.’

‘She was. And she really liked you too. Whenever she made her coconut drops, she’d always give me a batch to give to you.’

‘I remember. They were delicious!’

Those Jamaican coconut drops were one of my favourite snacks. They were pieces of fresh coconut chopped into pieces, then covered in a kind of ginger and brown sugar syrup.

‘Yeah. Makes me hungry just thinking about them! So yeah, she was the inspiration. I started matching friends at uni. At first it was the obvious stuff, like, Oh, you like Alicia Keys, you should meet Sylvester. He’s a big fan of her too. But then I got braver. So if I overheard someone talking about something I knew my single friends were interested in, or say I saw someone playing tennis in the park that I thought looked nice, I’d ask them if they were single, show them a photo of my friend who was crazy about Wimbledon and see if they were interested.’

‘Wow. That’s kinda weird and cool at the same time.’

‘Yeah!’ she laughed. ‘I got some strange looks and comments, but most people were fine when you explained. And because it wasn’t for me, somehow that made it easier.’

‘And I guess it worked?’

‘It did! And once I’d done it for a few friends, people started asking me to help them out.’

‘Is that what led to you starting the agency?’

‘Kind of. I did it on and off for a while and always thought about doing it professionally. Trudy and I always said we’d follow our dreams by the time we were thirty. But it wasn’t until I heard about Sarah, a friend of a friend who had a disastrous experience with a matchmaker, that I gave it serious thought.’

‘What happened to her?’ I leant forward. This was actually interesting.

‘Well, first she set her up with a guy in his seventies, when she’d asked to date someone of a similar age. She was thirty-five and recently divorced. Then the matchmaker said she’d found someone who Sarah would be perfect for. It was her ex-husband. The one she’d just divorced!’

‘No way!’ I laughed.

‘Yes, way! So I thought I must be able to do better than that. I offered to find her someone for free, and when I did, she said I should set up my own agency. I’d wanted to for ages, so I decided to go for it! I love the idea of bringing two people together. It’s the most rewarding feeling.’

‘Good for you. I’m glad you followed your dreams.’ What I’d said the first time she came over to my place was wrong. Although I didn’t believe in marriage, I was genuinely happy she was doing something she loved.

‘Like you did.’

‘We’re here, sir,’ Phil announced via the intercom.

‘Great, thanks.’ I undid my seat belt, grateful that now I could avoid responding to Mia’s last comment.

‘Where are we?’ Mia glued her face to the window. ‘Wait. No way!’

I stepped out to open the door for her again.

‘Mademoiselle.’ I held out my hand.

A jolt of something shot through me. Her palms were soft and her hands seemed tiny wrapped in mine, but it felt surprisingly nice.

‘But this is… Chung’s?’

‘Yeah. You still like Chinese, right?’

‘Course, but I didn’t think you’d bring me here.’

‘Sorry.’ My face fell. ‘If you want, we can go somewhere else?’

‘No way! I’m just surprised, that’s all. It’s perfect!’

Fake date or not, hearing those words fall from Mia’s lips was a relief.

The date had started well.

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