Page 36 of Hook, Line and Single

‘Why stop at amber? You could go the whole hog and go red.’

‘After one date? Even I’m not that impetuous. Anyway, I wondered how you’d feel if I spent the day with him again tomorrow. I know it’s not what we agreed, but…’ She tails off, her eyes full of hope.

‘It’s fine,’ I tell her. ‘Don’t worry about me.’

‘Thanks. You’re the best.’ She gives me a quick hug before making for the door. ‘I’m just going to freshen up before we go to the singles thing. I’ll bang on your door in ten, OK?’

It’s only when she’s gone that I realise she didn’t ask anything about my day. Maybe that’s for the best; I don’t want her trying to matchmake Cameron and me. We’re just friends.

13

‘All right, lovely singles,’ Barry yells over the hubbub of conversation in the Nautilus lounge. ‘I’m sure we’re all desperate to find out how our Blind Date couples got on before we get into tonight’s event. Where are Brad and Gail? Come out, don’t be shy.’

Brad steps forward confidently, dragging a somewhat reluctant-looking Gail by the hand.

‘There you are,’ Barry cries ecstatically as if he hasn’t seen them for years. ‘So, Brad, tell us about your date.’

‘We’ve had the best day,’ Brad says. ‘I feel such a connection to Sicily, having spent a considerable amount of time in Rome before. We really enjoyed seeing some of the locations from the iconicGodfathermovie, and I was able to impress Gail with my grasp of Italian over lunch.’

‘She doesn’t look that impressed to me,’ a familiar voice says in my ear, and I smile as I turn to Cameron. On my other side, Sam is thankfully oblivious, as her attention is completely focused on Robin.

‘She doesn’t, does she,’ I reply quietly. ‘Look at the vice-like grip he’s got on her hand. Probably the only way to stop her escaping.’

‘And what about you, Gail? Did you have a good day?’ Barry asks.

‘Not really,’ she says, flashing a contemptuous look at Brad and forcibly removing her hand from his.

‘Oh dear. Have you got any advice for Brad in his next encounter?’

‘Yes. Talk about yourself less, and maybe find out a bit about the other person. If you’d bothered to do that, you’d have learned that I’m actually fluent in Italian myself and there’s more to the language than just sticking random vowels onto the ends of English words.’

‘Ouch, that’s got to hurt,’ I murmur to Cameron. ‘Calling out his linguistic ability in front of everyone.’

‘Mmm. It seems our Brad may not be such a cunning linguist as he thinks.’

‘I see what you did there, dirty boy.’

‘Sorry. It was too good a joke to resist.’

‘I’m really not sure it was.’

‘So,’ Barry asks, adopting a wistful expression. ‘It seems like love didn’t blossom on this occasion. Brad, is there anything you’d like to say to Gail?’

‘Yeah. I’m sorry you didn’t have a good time, Gail. I think you’re an amazing lady, and I wish you all the best, genuinely.’

Her expression softens. ‘You’re not a bad man either, Brad. Just work on the feedback I’ve given, will you? You’re enough as you are; you don’t need the bullshit to make yourself look better.’

‘OK. Let’s hope you guys have better luck on the speed dating tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give Brad and Gail a round of applause!’

As the clapping dies down, Barry starts scanning the room again. ‘Where are you, Sam and Robin?’ he calls. I nudge Sam and she and Robin step forward.

‘And how about you?’ Barry asks. ‘Did things go well?’

‘Superbly, thank you, Barry,’ Sam enthuses. ‘Robin and I had the best day. We really enjoyed the locations and the lunch, but most of all we enjoyed just getting to know each other, didn’t we?’

‘Sam’s very easy to talk to,’ Robin agrees. ‘In fact, if neither of us meets another match at tonight’s speed dating, I’d be happy to spend the day with her again tomorrow.’

If Sam’s disappointed that Robin isn’t showing the same commitment that she was expressing to me earlier, she hides it well.

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