Page 6 of The Blind Date

“Why? And aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon right now? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” she dismissed quickly. “I am on my honeymoon, but I needed to make sure you weren’t going to bail on your blind date tonight.”

“Not you as well,” I groaned, leaning my head back against the headrest. “My parents have been on my case all week. The last thing I need is my best friend to side with them.”

“I’m not siding with your parents. I just have your best interests at heart.”

“That’s exactly what they tell me.”

“I don’t think you realised it, but at the wedding, you looked miserable.”

“That’s not true.” I tried to deny but my argument was weak. I hated to admit it, but Alina was right.

My best friend’s wedding had consisted of a lot of highs for me. I loved helping Alina get dressed only to hold it up for her a few minutes later when she needed a nervous pee before the big moment. I had shed more than a few tears when she walked down the aisle, said her vows and kissed Jeremy. Even more tears had been shed during their first dance, but they had all been happy tears.

Like I said, there had been a lot of highs that day, but there had also been a lot of lows. Mostly because I was the only one that had turned up without a plus one on my arm.

“I know that as my best friend and Maid of Honour, you were happy for me. You were the best, most perfect Maid of Honour I could have ever asked for, and I hope to return the favour one day, but any time you thought no one was watching, you looked downright miserable.”

I winced at her words, hating how accurately she had hit the nail on the head.

“Miserable might be taking it too far.”

“Then what better way should I describe it?”

“I guess I was kind of lonely.” A small frown played on my lips. “It’s hard not to feel lonely in a room full of loved-up couples.”

“You don’t have to be alone if you don’t want to.”

“I know, but without the risk of sounding full of myself, I don’t want to feel like I’ve settled, you know? I don’t want to feel like I’ve chosen to be with someone just for the sake of being with someone. I want to experience love. That deep, intense kind of love where he’s the most important person in my life. Where he’s my last thought before I go to sleep every night and the first thought on my mind in the morning.”

“That’s exactly how I feel about Jeremy,” Alina murmured in a quiet voice, and I could picture the goofy grin on her face, no doubt gazing at Jeremy with literal love hearts in her eyes.

“And that’s why you married him.”

“You can have that kind of love as well,” she told me, still sounding like she was high on love.

“Yes, but I just haven’t found him yet.”

“And that’s why you have to keep looking.”

“Do I have to?” I whined. “Why can’t I just wait around until he comes to find me? Isn’t that the chivalrous thing to do?”

"I wish things were that easy, but unfortunately, that's just not the way it works. Your soulmate isn't just going to run into you on the street one day. You have to go out there, find him, and grab him by the balls.” She laughed at her own choice of words. “Anyway, I’m confident you’ll like your blind date this evening.”

"And what makes you so sure of that?" I asked with a quirked, questioning brow. Not that she could see it through the phone.

"He went to university with Jeremy's older brother. I've only met him a few times, but when Clarke asked me if I knew anyone that could be a good match for you, I instantly thought of Cedric. I don’t know why I didn’t think of him for you earlier. You two are perfect for each other!"

"Perfect for each other? That might be taking it too far. And what kind of name is Cedric?" I snorted, turning my nose up. I knew it was childish, but after such a long, tiresome day that was about to become even longer, I couldn’t bring myself to care. "I bet his ex-girlfriend's name is Cho, and she's now dating a guy named Harry. The next thing you’re going to tell me is that he graduated from Hogwarts and works for the Ministry of Magic.”

My Uber driver laughed at that, and I couldn’t help but join in. It was too bad that my best friend didn’t find it as funny as we did.

“Listen,” Alina tutted, not impressed. “Your parents really like this guy. They like his parents as well so we all have high hopes for Cedric. Don’t blow it. I think you’ll really like him if you give the guy a chance.”

"What on earth is going on here?" I groaned. "Why are my parents already friends with his parents like we've been dating for years? And why have they met him before I have?"

“When you meet him, you’re going to feel like you’ve known him for years.”

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