photos. I can’t help glancing in its direction. Is it possible to find the impossible? Is Nancy sitting in that box?
38
Clive
The nicest thing about staying with Tess was not being alone in the evenings. Clive didn’t need to find a way to occupy himself when there was company and the option of watching a film. Since moving in, he’d learned Tess put a lot of hours of work into the café that was below her flat and she often referred to it as her love and passion. She wasn’t looking for another love (having been badly hurt by her ex-girlfriend) and that was why she was enjoying looking on Keisha’s behalf.
This evening she was demonstrating to him how she’d been selecting dates for their friend over the course of the experiment.
‘What’s it called again?’
‘Tinder.’ Tess settled two mugs of hot chocolate on the coffee table for them both and re-joined Clive on the sofa. She’d gone to the effort of making them with the café’s machine and the drinks came complete with luxurious whipped cream and fluffy marshmallows. What a treat!
‘Why do they come up with such random names for these things?’
‘It’s the start of a spark. I guess that’s where the name came from.’
‘Can a spark really occur from seeing a picture?’
‘There’s normally some messaging involved.’
‘Do they know it’s not Keisha talking to them?’
‘Yep. I let them know I’m setting up blind dates for her. It doesn’t take much to work out whether they’re a creep or not. If they start asking to see pics of me and whether I’m up for a threesome, I know it’s time to block them.’
‘Golly. It sounds so unromantic.’ Clive picked up his mug and enjoyed its warmth. Tess had added some salted caramel syrup from the café and along with the added whipped cream, it gave the drink a delicious dessert-like quality.
‘What are you planning for your recruitment process then?’ Tess asked.
‘Now don’t get me wrong. I’m sure the way you’ve been going about it is exactly how things are done these days. I was just thinking that if we planned an event and advertised it, we could get them to give us a few more details beforehand by writing a letter.’
‘A letter? Do you mean via email? I don’t think anyone knows how to send one on paper these days.’
‘I really hope the art hasn’t been lost. We can’t just have Keisha there, either. We’ll have to have other women as well.’
‘Of course.’
‘Are you going to take part?’ Clive asked.
‘Not if you want the café to run at the same time. Besides, as you know, not all of us are looking for a man. Some of us want a woman in our lives. We’ll have to do that next time.’
‘And one for us golden oldies. We’ll have to see how much money it brings in for the café and whether it’s worth continuing.’
‘We can make it ticketed with a drink and a slice of cake included. That way we know we have a set amount coming in and any extra is a bonus.’
‘Excellent idea. You never know. We might help more than just Keisha to find love.’
‘If we help Keisha find love, we’ll have performed a miracle.’
For some reason, thinking about her at that moment made Clive want to take his pulse. They’d obviously been spending far too much time together.
‘Right, let’s get the ball rolling and write down our plan.’
They spent the rest of the evening ironing out the details. Clive was enjoying doing something that he hoped would help Keisha. Even if it didn’t help her find love, it would help get her to the end of the hundred-date challenge. It was one tiny way of doing something for her, knowing the enormity of the task she was helping him complete this weekend. He thought of her and George working away together at his house. They were both such generous spirits.
The thought made him realise that if they were setting up an evening to help Keisha, it wouldn’t hurt if George was there participating. He just hoped that, when he asked George, he’d also be willing to take part. Because if there wasn’t a spark already, wouldn’t it be great if this was the thing that created one.
39
Keisha
It’s pitch-dark by the time we leave Clive’s house. The hours have slipped by without me realising and the sky is a canvas of black, barely visible clouds hiding the stars. It’s only the moon that is managing to shine brightly.