Page 17 of Somebody To Love

“Is this some weird app that I have to download? You know the type where I have to scroll through millions of Photoshopped faces?”

“Nope. Not at all. It’s all in person. They have an office downtown. I’ll email you the info, because we already went ahead and scheduled you an appointment.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to thank us,” Dana said.

“What? I’m not.” Thank them? I wanted to shake them, but that wouldn’t be the nicest thing to do to people you’ve been best friends with for over a decade.

“It’s tomorrow at eight am,” Carter added.

“What?”

“One day you’ll thank us.”

I shook my head, but surprisingly, I felt gratitude that Dana, Meredith and Carter had gone out of their way to help me find my happily ever after. I couldn’t ask for better friends. No they were more than friends. They were family.

“Ok, I’m in. Send me the info. But if I end up dating a crazy person, I’m blaming all of you.”

Dana scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I saw Jerry’s act. You couldn’t date anyone crazier than him if you tried.”

Knowing she was right, but not wanting to admit it, I said my goodbyes, thanked them for their generosity and mentally prepared myself for asking a stranger for help with my love life.

Chapter Four

The next morning, I exited the swanky building where the dating service was located. It was called Infinity Connections. I thought the name was cheesy, but the service had been impeccable. The consultant who I met with, Sylvia, really knew her stuff. She had been easy to talk to and knowledgeable. After an evaluation that felt sort of like a psych test and a series of questions about me and my preferences, I started to feel as if she were a best friend or trusted counselor who I told my woes to instead of an employee of a dating company.

All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Yes, it had been embarrassing, but that was all my fault. I had made it clear that I didn’t want to be there and had even said I didn’t need the service. But then we started talking about my most recent relationships and since both ended with me probably being the other woman, it became clear to me and the dating specialist that I was deluding myself.

I figured that I would get myself a latte and then head back home to get back to work when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number and started to just ignore it, when I remembered that the dating agency planned to call me regarding my first meetup with a potential match.

“Hi, this is Piper.”

“Piper, thanks for picking up,” Carter said sounding frantic. Carter never panicked so I knew immediately something was wrong.

“Carter?” I looked at my phone again to confirm that he wasn’t calling me from his cellphone, “What number are you calling me from?”

“Work,” he said shortly. He was the principal at a local private school in the area. “Meredith is participating in an event today and there’s supposed to be a party afterwards.”

“Ok.” I was clueless why he was telling me this.

“Dana was supposed to chaperone the party, provide snacks, you know, the usual. But the twins are sick. Seems like the stomach flu is making its rounds.”

“Ewww…”

“You have no idea. Anyway, so can you—”

“You don’t have to ask. What time I should be there?”

“How about twelve?”

I looked at my phone and then confirmed mentally that I would have time to make myself look school presentable. “Sounds good, I’ll be there early.”

“Thanks, and don’t forget. No nuts. No dairy. Preferably no gluten.”

“Ummm… so that leaves me with what exactly? Air or fruit?”

“You’re creative. I’m sure you’ll think of something. Thanks again,” he said, hanging up.