Page 20 of The One That I Want

‘I didn’t realise I was a contender.’

‘Excuse me, withthatensemble’ – he waves his hand in my direction like a warlock casting a spell – ‘andthatbeat? Stun-ning. You being an editor atNouveauis simply the icing on the cake,’ he assures me.

Ididtake extra care with my appearance today, going with the look-great-feel-great tactic, which, until this meeting, had barely made a dent in my apprehension about Anjali’s (misguided) plan. Thank goodness for George. His appreciation of the effort I’ve made is just the boost I need.

Right as he and I are basking in the glow of mutual admiration, Poppy returns with a portable whiteboard in tow. George pops out of his seat to help her get it through the door.

‘Thanks,’ she says to him, a little out of breath. ‘We should have one of these in every meeting room,’ she tells me. She’s right – we have them in all the offices and meeting rooms atNouveau– you never know when inspiration will spark a brainstorming session. ‘But we’re making do sharing this one.’

She manoeuvres it into place at the head of the table and takes a marker from the tray.

‘Right,’ she says, ‘let’s nut this out.’

An hour later, after Anita popped her head in with another offer of beverages and this time I said yes to a G&T, as did Poppy and George, we arrive at these concepts:

1. Matchmaker, make me a match – engaging a modern-day matchmaker

(Completely anonymised – not just me and all my potential matches, but the agency too.)

2. The dating pool – avoiding the shallows and swimming in the deep end

(Catchy title, but a little nebulous.)

3. Ten first dates – how to make a first date feel like the third

(I don’t love this one – too close to the dreaded listicle.)

4. The best of both worlds – a career woman’s guide to finding The One

(I don’t love this one either – far too much pressure to create a definitive guide.)

Poppy steps back, her head at an angle as she regards our handiwork. George downs the rest of his G&T and crunches on an ice cube, then fishes for the lemon wedge with his fingers, and I sip mine, my editor’s eyes roving the whiteboard over the rim of my glass.

‘What do you reckon?’ Poppy asks, turning to me.

‘They’d all work,’ I say. ‘Though, that’s me with my editorial hat on.’

‘What about wearing your client-of-a-matchmaking-agency hat?’

I run my eyes over each item on our list again, really trying to imagine what it would feel like to be the subject of the ensuing articles.

‘The first one… that’s more of a behind-the-scenes take on the work you do, so…’

Although it’s the easiest concept from my perspective, it’s also the least personal, meaning readers may not engage with it as much as they would with the other, more vicarious, approaches. Hmm, that’s me with my editorial hat on again.

I continue, grateful that both Poppy and George are giving me space to sift through my thoughts.

‘I think two is too…’

‘Out there?’ Poppy offers.

‘It’s not really firmed up, is it?’ I reply.

‘Well, there are people who play a numbers game,’ says George, snapping his fingers in quick succession. ‘One date after the other, regardless of how wrong their dates might be for them, in the hopes that one of them might work out. I suppose this would be the opposite – more carefully curated dates, substance over volume.’

‘I like that,’ I say. George may have spent much of this meeting fangirling, but with one astute observation, he’s proven his mettle as a matchmaker.

‘What about number three?’ asks Poppy. ‘Too “women’s magazine-y”?’

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