“I’m confused,” Carrie stated.
“Helena. I know her.”
“You know one of the other women here?” she asked. “I thought that was against the rules.”
“I didn’t invite her. It’s against the rules toinvitepeople. Nia doesn’t want this becoming a service for a couple looking for a third, unless that’s a specific event.”
“A couple looking for a–”
Becky stopped pacing and sat down next to her on the bed, looking very much like a woman who was upset about something and not at all interested in going through some icebreaker questions with Carrie tonight.
“Can I tell you something? It’s private here, right? We all signed a mountain of paperwork.”
“Yes. But even if we hadn’t, I’d still keep it to myself.”
“I can’t use my phone to call anyone, and I need to talk to Nia about this, because what the hell, but right now, she’s with the caterers and seeing them out. So, can I talk to you?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied and set the cards down on the bed.
“Nia is a friend. We’re sort of in the same industry.”
“You run events like this, too?”
“I’m more of a traditional matchmaker, but I work with women seeking women exclusively as well. I’m gay, and as a gay woman, when I first started out and tried to get clients, it wasn’t easy. Gay men didn’t want to work with me, and while straight men thought I could get them women, women weren’t sold that I could get them men. It was a whole thing. Anyway, I’ve been working exclusively with women for a while now, finding them other women to date. I’m somewhat successful, and I met Nia because of that. I was dumped by my girlfriend a while ago, and Nia suggested I come here. She told me she thought this was the right group for me. Now, I know why.”
“Is Helena your ex or something, and Nia thinks you two should get back together?”
“No.” Becky laughed. “Helena was a client.”
“Oh. So, Nia knew she was your client? How, exactly?”
“I told her. Helena was the one client I did the absolute wrong thing with for someone in my line of work.”
“What’s that?”
“I fell in love with her,” Becky replied and flopped back on the bed. “She needed a matchmaker, and I thought I was up to the task. We met several times and even went to drinks a few times just because, and I started to feel something for her, but I messed up. I kept sending her to meet with women I knew she wouldnotbe right for, and eventually, she fired me as her matchmaker. That was kind of what I was hoping for, becausethen, I could ask her out. My job is not exactly a therapist-patient relationship, but there are contracts, and money was exchanged, so I didn’t feel comfortable dating a client. When she told me that she was going to take a break looking for love, at least for now, at drinks one night, I was going to ask her to change her mind and ask her out finally, but I chickened out.”
“And that was it?”
“She got busy with her own job. I got busy with mine. We didn’t go to drinks or hang out anymore. The last time I saw her was about two months ago. I’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship when we met in my office. Well, technically, we met before that relationship ended, but my feelings for her didn’t develop until after. Initially, I thought that I shouldn’t ask her out because of the conflict of interest, but also because of the fact that I was single for the first time in a while, and I didn’t want to risk a rebound relationship. I wanted to be ready for her.”
“Why do you think Nia did this?”
“Because she knows how I feel about Helena. I told her all about it one night when I had too many glasses of wine. I had no idea that Helena had applied for one of these. Ididmention Nia’s service to her when she let me go as her matchmaker, but I never asked if she’d applied. I suppose I didn’t really want to know. Now, I am pissed because Helena is in another room, probably answering questions, and soon, she’ll be having sex, and I might hear her through the walls. I tried talking to her when we arrived, but I got herelast, and Nia swept us all up in that great room. I bet she had me get here last on purpose, that bitch.”
Carrie looked over at the stack of cards, having no idea what the right protocol was now, given this new information. She’d hoped for sex on this trip, yes, but she wanted to meet someone and make a real connection. If Becky already had a realconnection with another guest, she wasn’t sure if they should even talk about anything happening between them tonight.
“So, what do you want to do?” she decided to ask. “Talk to Helena? You can probably find her and tell her how you feel or something. I don’t know. Maybe you’d have to wait until tomorrow.”
“I want to find Nia and ask her what she was thinking.”
“Well, she’s probably done with the caterers now.”
“Hey, do you want to have sex?” Becky asked.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I feel bad. This whole thing is for people to find love and have sex while they’re at it, and you got stuck with me. Helena is probably doing it right now. I might as well be.”
