Bleep, bleep.
I grab my cell phone, half expecting it to be more stuff from Billy, but to my surprise it’s an email from someone I’d almost forgotten emailing.
Dear Jace,
Thank you for your email to Hayley Spraggon’s Dating Agency. We would love to set up a meeting with you. I understand that your job keeps you away a lot, but do you have any free dates in the next month so we can get you written in the diary? We look forward to working with you and finding your match.
Thank you very much.
Hayley Spraggon.
I didn’t give away too much about myself when I filled in the application because I didn’t want anything to get leaked, and to be honest I wasn’t sure that I was going to go through with the plan anyway. I know that it’s utterly crazy, probably the weirdest thing that I’ll ever do, but I’m not sure what else to do. Every attempt at communication has gone completely ignored up until this point and I really don’t know what else to do.
There has to be a reason that I can’t forget about her, that I haven’t moved on. Maybe if this works out the way that I’m hoping it will, it’ll give me closure, or perhaps it will lead to something that I don’t dare dream about. I’m not sure, but if I don’t know then I’ll
always wonder ‘what if’ and I won’t ever be able to get out of this rut. I can’t go on feeling this way forever.
I fire off an email back to the dating agency, stating the date that I’ll be done with the tour. It seems I won’t be heading back to my LA mansion once I’m done, but I’ll be paying a visit to my mother instead. She still lives near where I went to college, where I met Addie, and where she still lives now, so I can head to the dating agency from there. I’m sure my mom will be glad to see me too, she hasn’t had much time with me since I started touring all the time.
It means Billy will have to give me a break, and once that time is over, I will know one way or another what I’m going to do next with my life. I’ll start with Addie and work out everything else out afterwards. Knowing that is the first time that I’ve felt even a scrap of relief in a very long time. I just hope that feeling isn’t misplaced and I manage to fly free from this cage, one way or another.
5
ADDISON
“I can’t believe it!” Luci squeals with excitement. “They sent you three profiles already! It’s only been a few days. You must be compatible with so many people and you’ve just been looking in all the wrong places.”
Or not looking at all, I think to myself, not that I’m going to say that aloud. “Hmm yeah, well now I just…”
She snatches the phone away from me and looks at the profiles I’ve been sent. “This is the good part. This is the bit where you get to choose which ones you want to go on a date with.”
“What if I don’t want to go on a date with any of them? They might be all awful.”
Luci tuts at me. “You have to go out with at least one. This is an experiment, remember? You don’t even need to like the guy that much, you just need to see what a date is like. I bet you don’t even remember.”
I don’t think this is the time to admit that I haven’t ever really been on a date at all before. Jace and I were just drawn to each other, like magnets. There wasn’t any awkwardness. Being together was as easy as breathing air, it was as if we’d known each other forever. I don’t have any experience at all.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I muse thoughtfully. “Maybe I do need some practice.”
“So, let’s look through these. Let’s see what we can find out about these guys and pick some that appeal to you. Let’s just focus on having something in common with these men first, so you’ll have something to talk about. They have small pictures too, but we’ll look at them second because you know, looks aren’t everything.”
That has to be a dig at my ex because he was just so handsome. But that wasn’t the only reason I chose him. It wasn’t just for his face, I loved him as well… not that this is the best time to remember how amazing he was. He did break my heart after all, I can’t just push that to one side. That’s what destroyed us.
And that’s why I need to move on.
“Okay, let’s pick some guys.” I nod with sheer determination. “Have some practice dates.”
Luci rubs my arm with a kindness to her touch. “I am so proud of you for this. You’re doing the right thing. You’ll feel so much better for this, trust me. You’re a great person, Addison, and you deserve some love.”
Her words touch me deeply and I feel a surge of determination with them. I only need to do one tiny online search of Jace (not that I do it often) to see that he isn’t exactly waiting around for me. I’m a forgotten memory for him. I can’t hook my whole life on something that happened forever ago.
“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do this. God, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Luci.”
“Luckily, you won’t ever have to find out.”
We spend the next hour scrolling through the profiles and examining them closely. It’s surprisingly fun. Luci makes me laugh the whole time which takes a lot of stress off my shoulders. I think that I’ve started to believe that love has to be this painful, very serious thing. I forgot that you can have fun with too.
“So, we have three!” Luci finally declares happily. “And I think you should ask Hayley to set up dates with all three. You don’t want to start with just one, especially when you’re as inexperienced as you are. You need to get out there and connect with as many different people as possible.”