‘No. I’m guessing not.’
‘Good. Because I have an absolute gem of an idea for how to meet him quickly.’
‘Sounds intriguing.’
She took a deep, dramatic intake of breath before announcing enthusiastically, ‘A dating app.’
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard her sound so excited about something. And I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt such a huge anti-climax. ‘Tinder? Seriously?’
She shook her head. ‘Not necessarily Tinder. There are plenty of others. And I haven’t finished. That’s not the grand idea.’
Thank goodness for that.‘So what is?’
‘I believe you make your own decisions and control your own destiny. Clairvoyance would imply it’s mapped out for us already which means we’re not in control. If you believe the CD, you justhave to wait for Steven to appear. How about trying my way and making him appear?’
‘How?’
‘By targeting Stevens on the app. It’s a fairly common name so it’s possible you could fall for a Steven if you date enough of them. You therefore fulfil the crazy prophecy except you’re in control. You’ve made it happen. Now, tell me, is that a grand idea or is that a grand idea?’
‘A dating app?’
‘Weren’t you listening to me? I’m talking abouttargetedapp dating. I’m talking about seeking out profiles that only belong to Stevens. Don’t you think that’s genius?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘You’re not sure?’ The high pitch made me flinch and quickly look around the bar to make sure nobody else was looking.
‘Maybe I’m just tired,’ I suggested. ‘It’s not abadidea. I just didn’t imagine that’s how I’d meet him.’
‘Well I think it’s a brilliant idea. It surely can’t hurt to try.’
‘Do you really think it’ll work?’
‘Christ, how would I know? I don’t do long-term relationships so I’m probably the worst person in the world to be giving you advice. But, as we’ve just discussed, you’re probably not going to meet Steven at work and the first one we encounter on a night out is on his stag do. Do you have any better ideas? Apparently one in four relationships start online.’
‘One in four?’
‘I knew you’d like that stat.’ Clare grinned. ‘So why not try this? For whatever stupid and misguided reason, I think you’re convinced that woman is right and Steven’s your destiny. I know you and I know you’ll get yourself into a right state constantly wondering when you’re going to meet him. I say don’t wait. Get out there, control your own destiny, and search for Steven yourself. There must be loads from North Yorkshire registered on dating apps and, if none of them are right, then I think you should admit defeat and accept your clairvoyant was wrong. Could you do that?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Sarah! Where’s your sense of adventure?’
‘Can I promise to think about it?’
Clare stared at me for a while. ‘You have until tomorrow morning,’ she said at last. ‘Because tomorrow we register you. I’m going to the bar. You can start thinking about it while I’m gone.’
I watched her head to the now-packed bar, men gazing adoringly at her as she passed and women narrowing their eyes with instant dislike. It happened everywhere she went. I leaned back in my seat. Online dating, but only targeting Stevens? Interesting idea. Maybe I hadn’t given her enough credit for it. Logic would say that the more Stevens I met, the more likely I was to findtheSteven. Going through theYellow Pagesdefinitely wasn’t the way forward, especially when my copy was eight years out-of-date. Maybe online dating was the way to go. I took another sip of my wine. One in four? Yes, I definitely liked that statistic. Couldn’t do any harm looking.
‘Decision made?’ Clare asked, reappearing with our drinks a few minutes later.
‘Go on, then. I’ll give it a try, but it’s going to have to be online rather than an app.’
‘Why?’
I reached into my bag and cringed as I held up the phone that Auntie Kay had ‘kindly’ gifted me.
Clare recoiled in disgust. ‘What the hell is that?’
