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Mary was staring at the other woman in horror. Karen, her neighbor, had just gotten married and was in a beautiful bubble of happiness… but not everyone had the same experience - nor the same outlook.
“We just want you to say ‘hello’,” another woman said openly, smiling and watching her with avid interest. “Karen said you were a sweetheart, and this guy is really kind…”
“Then what does he want withme?” Mary said bitterly. “Look, if he was such a great guy, he wouldn’t want some divorced and jaded woman that just got out of a bad relationship. I don’t want to be set up on some email thread or go on a blind date with some guy that I don’t even know!”
“Ghost would be so nice to you and…”
“Ghost?” Mary scoffed, staring at them like they’d lost their minds. “I am not talking to anyone with a name like Ghost. What’s his brother’s name? Famine? Blister? Specter? Phantasm? Has he got tears tattooed under his eyes like some gang member? A pierced tongue? Is he a freak?”
“Are you sure about this one?” the woman with pigtails said quietly under her breath to Karen, not looking away and trying to cover her mouth as she whispered the words.
Mary almost shut the door in their beaming faces.
“Positive,” Karen smiled happily. “Do you want to come over and have a cup of coffee so we can talk, Mary?”
“I’ve got to get to work,” she said quickly, the lie tasting sour on her lips. She was actually going to purchase something to protect herself, because she couldn’t take any of this anymore. The nightmares, the lack of sleep, the fear and constant looking over her shoulder, was too much to bear.
“I’m used up, tired, and would be no good for your friend…” Mary whispered painfully, her arms crossing protectively over her chest as if to hide a deeply wounded soul.
“Actually, it’s not aboutyoubeing good forhim,” Karen said gently. “I think Ghost would be goodfor you– if you could give him a chance to be a friend. He’s on the other side of the world, so there is nothing he could do to you here. Say hello via email… and that’s it.”
“Uh, Karen?” the woman with pigtails said quickly, interrupting her.
Mary zeroed in on that.
“Is she exaggerating or lying to me?”
Her neighbor grew silent as the other woman stuck out her hand.
“Have we met? I mean, I guess I should have said something to begin with. My name is Glory and I’m friends with Karen and her husband. I’m the three M’s – mechanic, mom, and matchmaker…”
The woman might as well have cursed at her or said she was a tax collector. Hearing the term ‘matchmaker’ shut her down immediately.
“Forget it,” Mary said instantly, moving to close the door, and Glory stopped her – her steel-toed boot catching the door instantly as the woman smiled gently.
“I get it,” Glory said softly, smiling and holding out a hand. “Come have a cup of coffee with us and let’s talk. I understand being scared, and from what I know, you just got out of an abusive relationship not too long ago. No one wants to hurt you. It’s okay to want to protect your heart… but I’m telling you this man is of a different breed. He’s lonely, kind, looking for someone to talk to, and a friend.”
“Why me?”
“Because you need someone on your side, a friend, someone to trust… and he’s got enough heart to go around.”
“If he’s so great – then why isn’t he married to one of you?”
“I’m not saying you have to marry him – or even fall in love with him,” Glory replied, smiling, holding out both of her hands as if to ask for peace between the trio. “Be a friend, Mary – that’s it. I’m asking you to give ‘nice’a chance, regardless of what he looks like, how he acts, or if he’s a big ol’ dummy. There’s a lot to be said for a guy who’s overly nice and can be there for you. Not everyone wants to wait for the football player to deign to notice you… sometimes the quiet ones at the back of the class just need a friend, too. I promise, they are the real ‘keepers’, through and through.”
Mary stared at the duo for several moments – mentally arguing with herself. This was the stupidest idea she could even fathom… but something in what Glory was saying hit home in a way only another person could understand.
“I was the quiet one,” Glory said softly, her eyes gentle. “And when my husband finally noticed me? It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
“I can’t exactly picture you being quiet,” Karen muttered from behind her – causing Mary to choke out a laugh nervously, because the duo had been trying to talk her into this fiasco for over ten minutes now.
“Coffee, huh?”
“Yes.”
“And this isn’t a set up?”
“It’s opening the door to a friendship, saying hello, and what you do from there is completely up to the two of you – but no. I am not going to say, ‘Hey go to this place at two and meet this guy’…”
