Page 93 of The Match Faker

‘Exactly. And I won’t need it either, because I’m right. You’ll see.’

The office line rang. Saved by the bell.

‘Good morning, Soulmate Connections, how may I help you?’

‘Yeah, hi. Can I speak to the woman who runs the agency? The one who’s dating Liam Stone.’

‘Erm.’ I paused, worried that it was a pap or journalist. ‘Who may I say is calling?’

‘Chardonnay.’

‘Hello, Chardonnay, this is Mia speaking. I run the agency.’

‘Cool. So can you set me up, then? I’m looking for a rich boyfriend. Well, preferably a rich husband. Someone like Liam. I don’t want some old, bald, fat guy. He needs to be fit. And loaded.’

‘I see.’ I paused, thinking how best to handle this. I’d hoped being with Liam would bring in some new business, but this wasn’t the kind of client I wanted to work with. The fact that she’d mentioned that he needed to have a lot of money three times in less than thirty seconds told me she was looking for a sugar daddy, not true love. ‘If you’re interested in becoming a client, I can email you a link with the questionnaire I ask all new clients to complete. It also includes the fees and payment terms.’

‘What? I have to pay?’ Chardonnay gasped. ‘But Tinder’s free!’

‘Yes, I’m aware of that.’ I took a deep breath. ‘But this isn’t a dating app. My company is a professional matchmaking service, so you pay a fee which covers the time I spend searching for the perfect love match for you. It’s a bespoke service.’

‘I’m not going to pay to meet someone! I’m sure there’s a Tinder for celebs. I bet that’s free. Can’t you just tell me how to get onto that?’

‘I believe the app you’re referring to is called Raya. By all means, if you feel that may be better suited to your needs, feel free to apply.’

‘Yeah. I’ll do that. Cheers! And if you need someone to take Liam off your hands, I’m up for it. I’m open to the three of us having fun together too, if you fancy spicing things up a bit?’

OMG. Seriously? That was the first time I’d been offered a threesome by a potential client.

‘Thanks for your call, Chardonnay. Good luck.’

She hung up.

‘Did you just turn down a client?’ Trudy frowned. She’d returned to her desk and was demolishing a blueberry muffin.

‘Not really. She was looking for a rich, fit celebrity boyfriend and was horrified that I charged for my services.’

‘Oh… got it. But doesn’t Raya charge too? And don’t they have thousands of people on their waiting list?’

‘Mm-hmm.’ I nodded, then sighed.

This was the challenge I was up against. People were always sceptical about paying for a matchmaker when they thought it was easier and cheaper to use the apps.

‘Don’t worry. When you win this competition, you’ll have loads of serious clients knocking down your door.’

‘Here’s hoping.’

The message notification ping sounded on my phone. As I glanced down at the screen and saw who it was from, a warm feeling flooded my chest.

I thought back to when he’d first put his number in my phone and how annoyed I was when I saw that he’d put it under My Hot Boyfriend. It seemed ridiculous back then, but now, the description felt… true.

‘Is that loverboy?’ Trudy smiled.

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because you’ve got a smile the size of Asia on your face.’

‘Yeah, it’s Liam.’ I grinned.

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