‘Christ, if this place was any more sterile you’d be able to operate in it,’ he teased when they arrived.
‘What do you mean?’ Ellie replied defensively. The first time he’d visited her he’d also mentioned something similar. She didn’t have any photographs on the walls or knick-knacks on window sills. Tim had called it ‘utterly immaculate but soulless’, so at Christmas, she’d made sure to make much more of an effort.
‘Don’t you think the Christmas decorations look pretty?’
‘Ells, when I suggested we put some up, I meant that you and I go out and buy them. Not commission a stylist to go to Liberty and bring home a massive fake tree and a ton of baubles which she then put up for us.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that’s what you meant.’
‘I bet you haven’t even read the books on that case, have you?’ he continued, purposely striding towards one of the eight chunky floor-to-ceiling shelves.
‘Um, some of them I have.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
Ellie perched in front of the case with her hands defiantly on her hips. Her eyes darted back and forth to take in the titles one by one, desperately searching for a familiar book to prove him wrong. However, one spine that she didn’t recognise caught her attention – it was titled ‘Ellie & Tim’. She glanced at him, puzzled, and he beckoned her to take a closer look.
She picked it up and read aloud. ‘Ninety-five things I love about Ellie Stanford.’
‘Come, let’s sit down,’ Tim suggested and she carried the book over to the sofa.
‘What’s this?’
‘Open it and have a look.’
Inside, hand-written on each colourful page was a reason why Tim loved her, along with a photograph of something relating to it.
‘“Number one – I love the way you clear your throat when you’re pretending not to cry at The Notebook or The Fault in Our Stars”,’ she read out. ‘That is so not true! “Number two – I love the way the only shape you ever doodle is a DNA double helix” … Where did you get this?’ she asked, pointing to a picture he’d scanned of a page from one of her notebooks. ‘How long did this take you to make?’
‘I struggled to find ten things let alone ninety-five, to be honest,’ he joked, ignoring her question. ‘Anyway, keep going.’
Ellie devoured each page, frequently laughing at the pictures Tim chose and wondering how he had noticed so many of her quirks, habits and foibles when others hadn’t. He really got her, she realised.
She turned to reach the final page. ‘And it’s for all of these reasons that I’d like to ask you …’ Ellie gasped. ‘Will you marry me?’
She drew her hands up to her mouth and looked at Tim. She hadn’t noticed he’d slipped his hand into his pocket and removed a small black box and opened the lid. Inside, on a chiffon bed, sat an engagement ring with a central diamond.
‘I asked your dad’s permission on Christmas Eve and he said yes, but I draw the line at getting down on one knee.’ He smiled. ‘However, I’d love it if my Match would do me the honour of being my wife.’
Ellie threw her arms around Tim and sobbed into his shoulder.
‘Shall I take that as a yes?’ he asked.
‘Yes!’ she bawled and slipped the ring on her finger. ‘Yes, yes, yes!’
Chapter 61
MANDY
Mandy recognised Michelle from her photographs – and of course the naked selfies – as soon as the café door opened.
She was immediately irked that Richard’s former girlfriend was even prettier in the flesh; her hair was now shorter and blonder, and she wore skinny jeans with a figure-hugging top. Her tan gave her a healthy glow and emphasised her white teeth. ‘Bitch,’ Mandy mumbled to herself, and subconsciously wrapped her coat tighter over her pregnant belly. As much as she was looking forward to the prospect of impending motherhood, the sacrifice of fashion for elasticated comfort clothing was getting on her nerves. She longed to slip on a pair of heels or find a pair of skinny jeans that could fit over her swollen ankles.
She waved at Michelle and feigned a smile, beckoning her over to the table at the rear of the café. It had taken a week of messaging to persuade Michelle to meet Mandy. And even now, Mandy didn’t know why she wanted to meet her either, but some invisible force inside her told her to pursue it.
‘Can I order you a coffee?’ Mandy began.
‘No, I can’t stop for long. I’m on my lunch break,’ Michelle replied, politely but curtly. ‘I’m still not really sure why you wanted to meet me.’
‘Well, like I said in my messages, I was Matched with Richard and I wanted to know more about him. We never got the chance to meet and I know the two of you were … close.’
Michelle cautiously eyed Mandy before she leaned forward on to the table. ‘All right then, what do you want to know?’
‘What was your relationship like? Did you love each other?’
Michelle smiled at this. ‘Rich and I had an on and off relationship. I was in my last year at university when we first hooked up, and he was working at the gym.’ She paused, clearly wondering how much she should say. ‘I was pretty much in love with him, but Rich? Well, I reckon he might have been at first but then he started pulling away. In the end, I felt like he was just using me for hook ups.’
‘Really?’ Mandy said. She was surprised, but deep down secretly satisfied that even pretty girls sometimes got used.
‘Yeah, and I got the feeling he had a few of us on the go, like some of the older women he trained at the gym. They were always flirting with him, especially the married ones. I just don’t reckon he was the type to settle down and have one regular girlfriend.’
‘Oh.’ Mandy suddenly felt very deflated. ‘Maybe that’s when he did the Match Your DNA test. He knew you weren’t the one and didn’t see any point in continuing it.’ She regretted her choice of words as soon as she saw a glimmer of hurt in Michelle’s eyes.
‘Maybe,’ Michelle conceded. ‘But I was surprised when you said you’d been Matched. Rich was adamant he never wanted to do the test.’
‘Really?’
‘He said something like it’d take all the thrill out of the chase and that life without risks wasn’t a life at all. So there was no way in hell he’d be told who he was supposed to fall in love with.’
‘Maybe he changed his mind.’
‘Possibly, but I doubt it.’
Mandy leaned back in her chair and stared at the table as the mental picture of Richard she’d spent months painting, with the help of Pat and Chloe, faded before her.
‘I guess I knew in my heart he wasn’t the one,’ continued Michelle. ‘I’ve read about how it feels when you meet your Match, and I didn’t get any of that with him. But he was a nice boy and we had a lot of fun. And can I be honest with you?’
‘Please do.’
‘And I’m not saying this because I’m jealous you’ve been Matched with him or anything, but if things had been different, no matter how much the two of you might have been in love, I still don’t reckon Rich was the type of guy who’d throw all his eggs in one basket. He’d have played around on you.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ellie replied defensively. The first time he’d visited her he’d also mentioned something similar. She didn’t have any photographs on the walls or knick-knacks on window sills. Tim had called it ‘utterly immaculate but soulless’, so at Christmas, she’d made sure to make much more of an effort.
‘Don’t you think the Christmas decorations look pretty?’
‘Ells, when I suggested we put some up, I meant that you and I go out and buy them. Not commission a stylist to go to Liberty and bring home a massive fake tree and a ton of baubles which she then put up for us.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that’s what you meant.’
‘I bet you haven’t even read the books on that case, have you?’ he continued, purposely striding towards one of the eight chunky floor-to-ceiling shelves.
‘Um, some of them I have.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
Ellie perched in front of the case with her hands defiantly on her hips. Her eyes darted back and forth to take in the titles one by one, desperately searching for a familiar book to prove him wrong. However, one spine that she didn’t recognise caught her attention – it was titled ‘Ellie & Tim’. She glanced at him, puzzled, and he beckoned her to take a closer look.
She picked it up and read aloud. ‘Ninety-five things I love about Ellie Stanford.’
‘Come, let’s sit down,’ Tim suggested and she carried the book over to the sofa.
‘What’s this?’
‘Open it and have a look.’
Inside, hand-written on each colourful page was a reason why Tim loved her, along with a photograph of something relating to it.
‘“Number one – I love the way you clear your throat when you’re pretending not to cry at The Notebook or The Fault in Our Stars”,’ she read out. ‘That is so not true! “Number two – I love the way the only shape you ever doodle is a DNA double helix” … Where did you get this?’ she asked, pointing to a picture he’d scanned of a page from one of her notebooks. ‘How long did this take you to make?’
‘I struggled to find ten things let alone ninety-five, to be honest,’ he joked, ignoring her question. ‘Anyway, keep going.’
Ellie devoured each page, frequently laughing at the pictures Tim chose and wondering how he had noticed so many of her quirks, habits and foibles when others hadn’t. He really got her, she realised.
She turned to reach the final page. ‘And it’s for all of these reasons that I’d like to ask you …’ Ellie gasped. ‘Will you marry me?’
She drew her hands up to her mouth and looked at Tim. She hadn’t noticed he’d slipped his hand into his pocket and removed a small black box and opened the lid. Inside, on a chiffon bed, sat an engagement ring with a central diamond.
‘I asked your dad’s permission on Christmas Eve and he said yes, but I draw the line at getting down on one knee.’ He smiled. ‘However, I’d love it if my Match would do me the honour of being my wife.’
Ellie threw her arms around Tim and sobbed into his shoulder.
‘Shall I take that as a yes?’ he asked.
‘Yes!’ she bawled and slipped the ring on her finger. ‘Yes, yes, yes!’
Chapter 61
MANDY
Mandy recognised Michelle from her photographs – and of course the naked selfies – as soon as the café door opened.
She was immediately irked that Richard’s former girlfriend was even prettier in the flesh; her hair was now shorter and blonder, and she wore skinny jeans with a figure-hugging top. Her tan gave her a healthy glow and emphasised her white teeth. ‘Bitch,’ Mandy mumbled to herself, and subconsciously wrapped her coat tighter over her pregnant belly. As much as she was looking forward to the prospect of impending motherhood, the sacrifice of fashion for elasticated comfort clothing was getting on her nerves. She longed to slip on a pair of heels or find a pair of skinny jeans that could fit over her swollen ankles.
She waved at Michelle and feigned a smile, beckoning her over to the table at the rear of the café. It had taken a week of messaging to persuade Michelle to meet Mandy. And even now, Mandy didn’t know why she wanted to meet her either, but some invisible force inside her told her to pursue it.
‘Can I order you a coffee?’ Mandy began.
‘No, I can’t stop for long. I’m on my lunch break,’ Michelle replied, politely but curtly. ‘I’m still not really sure why you wanted to meet me.’
‘Well, like I said in my messages, I was Matched with Richard and I wanted to know more about him. We never got the chance to meet and I know the two of you were … close.’
Michelle cautiously eyed Mandy before she leaned forward on to the table. ‘All right then, what do you want to know?’
‘What was your relationship like? Did you love each other?’
Michelle smiled at this. ‘Rich and I had an on and off relationship. I was in my last year at university when we first hooked up, and he was working at the gym.’ She paused, clearly wondering how much she should say. ‘I was pretty much in love with him, but Rich? Well, I reckon he might have been at first but then he started pulling away. In the end, I felt like he was just using me for hook ups.’
‘Really?’ Mandy said. She was surprised, but deep down secretly satisfied that even pretty girls sometimes got used.
‘Yeah, and I got the feeling he had a few of us on the go, like some of the older women he trained at the gym. They were always flirting with him, especially the married ones. I just don’t reckon he was the type to settle down and have one regular girlfriend.’
‘Oh.’ Mandy suddenly felt very deflated. ‘Maybe that’s when he did the Match Your DNA test. He knew you weren’t the one and didn’t see any point in continuing it.’ She regretted her choice of words as soon as she saw a glimmer of hurt in Michelle’s eyes.
‘Maybe,’ Michelle conceded. ‘But I was surprised when you said you’d been Matched. Rich was adamant he never wanted to do the test.’
‘Really?’
‘He said something like it’d take all the thrill out of the chase and that life without risks wasn’t a life at all. So there was no way in hell he’d be told who he was supposed to fall in love with.’
‘Maybe he changed his mind.’
‘Possibly, but I doubt it.’
Mandy leaned back in her chair and stared at the table as the mental picture of Richard she’d spent months painting, with the help of Pat and Chloe, faded before her.
‘I guess I knew in my heart he wasn’t the one,’ continued Michelle. ‘I’ve read about how it feels when you meet your Match, and I didn’t get any of that with him. But he was a nice boy and we had a lot of fun. And can I be honest with you?’
‘Please do.’
‘And I’m not saying this because I’m jealous you’ve been Matched with him or anything, but if things had been different, no matter how much the two of you might have been in love, I still don’t reckon Rich was the type of guy who’d throw all his eggs in one basket. He’d have played around on you.’
