Page 1 of The Blind Date

Prologue

Weddings were beautiful, but they had nothing on love.

At the rate I was going, they were probably two things that I would never get to experience. That thought alone was enough to depress me even though I was the Maid of Honour at my best friend’s wedding.

I couldn’t be happier for Alina and Jeremy if I tried, but that didn’t cancel out the hollow feeling inside me.

Everyone around me was settling down and moving forward with their lives and lovers. All of my friends were either engaged, in long-term relationships or already married. I was the only single one in the group, and while I always joked that I would be the hot, rich aunt to all their children, it was starting to feel real now.

The older I got, the less appealing being alone and single became, but it was also harder to find someone. The more I neared thirty, the less appealing the single life became however, men my age were either looking for too much too soon or not looking for enough to interest me.

“I know that look,” Mum sounded from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to watch her pull out the chair next to mine and take a seat.

“What look?” I asked, forcing a happy smile despite the dark, heavy cloud hanging above my head.

“It’s theI’m-miserable-and-lonelylook.”

“No, it’s not,” I scoffed and shook my head. “I’m neither miserable nor lonely. I’m really happy for Alina, and I love Jeremy. They’re great together and have been in love with each other forever. It’s about time they bit the bullet and got married, and I’m honoured I got to be a part of this beautiful experience.”

“There’s no doubt about you being happy for Alina and Jeremy,” Mum told me, a softness about her tone. “But you’re lonely, Saff. The sooner you admit it, the sooner you can do something about it.”

I exhaled deeply, unable to lie to Mum’s face. Not when sometimes it felt like she knew me better than I knew myself.

“I am a little lonely,” I admitted in a low murmur. “I would love to get married one day but I don’t think it’s on the cards for me, Mum.”

“Most people get married. And you will as well.”

“I’m twenty-eight,” I sighed. “Most people are already coupled up by this point, and my longest relationship was only three months. I don’t think there’s much hope left for me anymore.”

“Oh, don’t be so negative, Saff. Your soulmate is out there. You just need to do a better job of looking for him.”

“Soulmate?”

“I don’t want to hear you say anything about soulmates.” She sent me a warning look. “Let’s drop this topic for now. This is your best friend’s wedding. You should be enjoying yourself.”

“Iamenjoying myself.”

“It doesn’t look like that to me,” she snorted and flagged down an unsuspecting waiter with a tray of champagne glasses. He tried to offer us two, but Mum conned him out of four. “Here.” She pushed two glasses toward me.

“That’s a bit optimistic, don’t you think?” I asked but reached for a glass anyway. It was hard to say no when it was sitting in front of me, tempting me with all its golden, bubbly goodness.

“Drink up, Saff. It’ll help lighten your mood.”

I wanted to argue that I didn’t feel like drinking tonight. Given my sombre mood, drinking was probably a bad idea, but I was too lost in my head to think clearly right now. Besides, I was already done with my Maid of Honour duties, and all that was left was to enjoy my best friend’s wedding, but I was doing a pretty shitty job of it so far. So, as my mum prompted, I threw back the first glass of champagne and reached for the second one.

“Come on. Let’s do some shots.” She tried to grab my hand, but I swatted it away.

“Shots? At your age?”

“Don’t look at me like that, Saff. I’m your mother, not ancient. In fact, I’ve even heard some of your friends refer to me as a MILF. I had to google what that means. Mother I’d like to–”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” I groaned in alarm and sprang to my feet. “Come on. Let’s go and do some shots.”

* * *

Several shots later,everything looked fuzzy no matter how hard I squinted my eyes. It didn’t help that Alina and Jeremy had taken to the dance floor, and their first dance made me feel like the whole world was spinning.

“You could have that as well if you want.” Mum’s annoying voice sang in my ear, and she replaced the empty glass in my hand with another fruity cocktail without me even realising it.

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