AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Wow, that’s quite some skill you’ve got there.’
She knew that voice. Slumping her shoulders, she glanced across at Max as he slipped off his trainers and joined her in the ocean.
‘Sorry to disappoint you. I think Jeremy is still up in the car park if you want me to fetch him?’
‘Very funny.’
‘I’m sorry, I won’t say anything else. I won’t say another word about Jeremy and his nutritional expertise.’ Max ran the tips of his index finger and thumb across his lips, pretending to zip them up.
Brooke picked up another pebble. ‘Huh, I wouldn’t blame you. It must have been quite funny to watch.’
Max frowned. ‘I wasn’t watching. You know that, don’t you? I wasn’t revelling because you were having a rubbish date.’
Brooke traced the outline of the pebble with her index finger. ‘It doesn’t matter, anyway. That’s it. I give up.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘With dating. Before I met up with Jeremy, I had decided that would be my last date while I was staying here and, you know what? I think it might just be my last date. Final. I’ve been dating most my adult life, searching the internet for my perfect match and it’s not happened. I just need to accept that’s it for me. I’m better off alone. No one wants me anyway.’
‘That’s not the case. The problem lies with these apps and the expectation that you can fall for someone without even meeting them, not with you. In the past, and you must remember this when you first started dating, you’d meet someone through friends or family. You may have even got to know them as friends first or at least heard your friend talking about them. You’d know some of their history, some of what made them tick. You’d probably share similar interests because they were friends of people you knew and liked. It’s not you, it’s the expectation that we can just click on a picture, send a message and fall in love. For the vast majority of us, it just doesn’t work like that.’
‘Umm, I guess so.’ Now he’d put it like that, she could see he was probably right. ‘So, what now then? I’m not going to meet anyone through my friends. Heck, I’ve been set up on blind dates with every eligible bachelor my friends know. So I just give up?’
‘No, never give up on love.’
‘So what do I do? You’re saying that for most people, dating apps aren’t the answer, so what are my options?’ She threw the pebble, watching as it plummeted into the dark water, with no bounces whatsoever.
‘I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that to find someone you have a genuine connection with, then you’ll probably have to go on a fair few more first dates than if you were to meet someone through friends or family.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s a numbers game, that’s all.’
‘One you’ve already told me you’ve given up on, so why are you trying to talk me out of giving up?’ She shoved her hands in her pockets.
‘I haven’t given up. Not completely. I’ve just given up on the apps for a while.’
‘So you’re just relying on the chance that someone magically walks into your life that you fall madly in love with?’ She looked down at the sand; digging her toes into the minuscule grains and watching the pull of the water instantly refill the little dips.
He looked across at her and shrugged. ‘Why not?’
‘Umm. I can think of a million reasons why not, but on the other hand, I just don’t have the energy to keep going on a relentless train of first dates.’ Biting down on her bottom lip, she turned away. She wouldn’t let him see how much it upset her. How much she let each first date fail get to her, knowing that it was yet another person who she either couldn’t connect with or they thought she was unworthy of them.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yep.’ Keeping her eyes firmly fixed on a wave as it rolled its way towards them, she nodded.
‘Remember, you probably don’t want to date most of these men, anyway.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, try not to take it personally, the fact that your recent dates haven’t worked out the way you’ve wanted them to. It works both ways.’ He picked up a pebble. ‘Jeremy seemed into you, but could you really see yourself picking at lettuce leaves with him for the rest of your life?’
Brooke snorted, a low rumble of a laugh escaping her through her nose. ‘No.’
‘There you go, then. That date fail wasn’t him rejecting you, it was you rejecting him. Or more accurately, you both realising you have nothing in common with one another.’
‘I guess so. It still doesn’t make me feel any better.’ She wiped her eyes with the cuff of her cardigan, making sure to keep facing away from him.
‘This might though.’
Turning, she watched as he jogged up the beach towards their shoes and picked up a bag.
