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On the other end of the scale was Luke, a banker who sadly lived up to the stereotype. Proper geezer, or wanker as I’d prefer to phrase it. Well dressed and handsome, but also flashy, fast-talking and bloody annoying. Mum must have been having an off day with that recommendation, as he was the complete antithesis to the people they like.Oh, I get it. She probably thought that because I was into fancy designer stuff, he’d be right up my street. Definitely not.
Whilst I knew she was trying to help, sadly none of her proposed suitors were remotely my type. If her friend’s son could make me laugh like Ryan Reynolds or Will Smith, with the body of Channing Tatum, then it would be a different matter entirely…
But then again, maybe it was time to open my mind a little bit more. Charlie seemed interesting. I hadn’t looked to see if he was wearing a wedding ring, but maybe he was single?
Oh, stop getting carried away, Sophia, and go and make some food.
I was currentlyin my office on a call to Martha, an old-school journalist who could talk more than a chat-show host, when my mobile rang with a number I didn’t recognise. It was 1 p.m., and chances are I would be on the phone for at least another hour at this rate. Still, she was incredibly influential, and if she wrote about one of our products, it would make the sales go through the roof, so it was time well spent.
The phone rang out, and then about a minute later, a voicemail flashed up. When eventually my call ended, I played the message.
Sophia, Charlie here. Hope your appointment went well and you got home okay. I didn’t hear from you, so I’m assuming you did. Er, right, so, regarding the repair of your vehicle, it all seems straightforward. I won’t bore you with the details now. Give me a call back and I’ll run through it with you then. Also, you said you didn’t know how to repay me. Well, I was thinking, whilst repayment isn’t necessary, if you do insist, then how about dinner? I’m going away to Australia on business tomorrow for two weeks, so perhaps when I get back? I’ll leave that thought with you. Call me. Goodbye for now.
Dinner? Mmm.I couldn’t help it. I started grinning. I was kind of excited.See, Reasanna? Maybe it wasn’t all in my head.
Now I’m sure there were rules on playing it cool, waiting X amount of hours and minutes before replying so I didn’t appear too keen and all that nonsense, but I couldn’t be bothered to play games. I checked my diary. Yep, dinner in two weeks could work. Friday would be best for me.
After my marathon phone call, I didn’t have time to call him back right then, as I had a stacked afternoon. I launched WhatsApp and started typing:
Me
Hi, Charlie, thanks for your call. I’ve got a hectic afternoon ahead, but glad to hear it should be straightforward re: fixing the car. Maybe we can discuss later?
Dinner sounds lovely. How about two weeks on Friday?
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Sophia
There. Simple. Now back to work.
Well. Workingwasthe plan. But I started getting carried away again…fuck.
First I began picturing his chiselled jaw, sparkling eyes and megawatt smile. Then I was thinking again about how lovely and kind he was. Oh, how much my mum would love him.Such a nice, polite young man, she’d say. He also seemed successful. I liked that. Driven, ambitious, kind and handsome. He didn’t seem remotely weird, like some of the guys I’d met on Tinder. He was just so selfless and not at all sleazy. He seemed reliable, trustworthy, solid. Maybe even potentially good father, or failing that, sperm donor material…?
Jesus! What was wrong with me? I had barely known the guy five minutes and already I was thinking about the future. After Lorenzo, Icouldn’tgo down this infatuation black hole again and waste hours dreaming about him, stalking him on Facebook, waiting for messages, then analysing messages. No fucking way. Not again. The whole point of making mistakes like that was to learn from them.
I would not, I repeat, I wouldnotspend the next two weeks letting my mind get carried away with this fantasy of some stranger I’d met yesterday called Charlie, that I didn’t know from Adam, being some sort of knight in shining armour.
I would not, I repeat, I wouldnot…
As if it were a sign from above, my mobile rang.
Maybe it’s Charlie, I thought before I’d even had a chance to check the screen.
FFS, Sophia!screamed Reasanna.I thought you weren’t going to obsess over this guy, yet you already think he’s calling you one minute after you messaged him? Get a fucking grip!
Reasanna was right. It wasn’t Charlie. It was, in fact, Roxy. Even though I was supposed to be working, I answered the call quickly.
‘Hi, Rox, how’s it going?’
‘I’m bored,’ she replied. ‘I’m supposed to be spending the afternoon working out the prices for a new range of tweezers we’re launching,’ she said, ‘but frankly I’d rather use them to pull out my own teeth right now than do that. I’m just not in the mood. So,’ she added, her voice brightening, ‘I thought you could cheer me up with some more of your Tinder tales. Come on, love, spill!’
‘Sorry, Rox. You’re all up to date. I told you all about last week’s dates and haven’t really messaged any of them since.’
‘Oh, what?’ she said, sounding disappointed. ‘Things are a bit quiet for me on the romantic front too, so I was hoping to live vicariously through you until my current FWB gets back tomorrow’.
‘FWB?’ I said, confused at another one of her acronyms.
