Kismetology (19 page)

"They’ve only been on five dates, so who knows what
will happen. But I can see it lasting, yeah. They’re a very good match."

"You’ve done a great job on this, I have to
admit," he says. "When you first mentioned it, I thought you were
insane, but you’ve really worked hard and found a great guy. Kudos to
you."

"Thanks," I say. I decide to jump right in and ask
Dan what he thinks about something I’ve been mulling over in my head for a
while now. "Dan, do you think there are other women who would want
this?"

"What?"

"You know. Being set up with men who I’ve met and
decided are compatible first?"

"I don’t know what you mean, Mac. You want to do this
for other women?"

"Well, it’s just that old guy from Mum’s yoga class,
and then that woman who phoned up the other day, it made me think that maybe
there are other people out there looking for the second love of their lives,
who for one reason or another, aren’t motivated to go out and find him
themselves."

"So, what? You want to do this as a job?"

"If there’s a market for it, why not? I could start it
up as a business, get out of being a nail technician which you know I hate, and
do something that I love."

"You love doing this? Babe, you’ve been nothing but
frustrated for the past three months."

"Yeah, but the rewards are amazing. Okay, so I’ve met
some men who shouldn’t go outside in daylight, but the feeling of making a
match, the satisfaction I’m getting right now from seeing my mum happy is all
worth it. Don’t you think it could work?"

"Is there a market for it? Outside of your mum’s yoga
class, I mean?"

I shrug. "I think there might be. I mean, out of all
the men I’ve met, almost all of them have been married and divorced, or widowed
or whatever, and they don’t want to grow old alone, but they have no idea where
to begin, or even if they should begin, to find someone else. Someone they can
be happy with. I could do that for them. I could find them someone, like I have
for my mum."

"Oh right. Because the first time was just so easy,
wasn’t it?"

"No, I’m not saying it was easy, but the rewards make
it all worth it. Can you imagine if Mum and Ron get married? That would be
because of me, Dan. Just me. I would have made two people sublimely happy. Two
people who would never have found each other if it weren’t for me. There have
to be other people out there who would pay for that."

Dan shrugs. "I’m not trying to be down on the idea,
babe, but are you sure you’re not just being overly romantic here? I know
you’re a big sap and you love seeing people happy together, but do you really
think you can earn a living from it?"

"I don’t know, Dan," I say, secretly a little
rejected because I had hoped he’d be more supportive. "But don’t you think
I could try? I mean, professional matchmakers and dating agencies do it all the
time. People pay for those. Don’t you think people would go for a more
personalised approach?"

"Don’t you think it’s a little creepy? I mean, doing it
for your mother is one thing, but going on dates for complete strangers is
quite another. How would you even know what they were looking for?"

"They could fill out a survey or something, really
detailed, and I’ll find them a match."

"You sure you’re not just grasping at straws because
you hate your current job so much?"

"It’s not that I hate it, Dan, but I don’t love it. I want
to do something else. Something that means something to people. Something that
means something to me. Something that makes people happy."

"Having a French manicure doesn’t make people
happy?"

"Maybe. But it doesn’t change their lives. Finding love
would change their lives."

"There was a time when you thought painting flowers on
people’s nails would change their lives."

"Yeah, and that job totally didn’t turn out like I
expected it to. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with Jenni, and Liz, and all
the girls, but it’s kind of boring. I want to do something that makes a
difference. Even you can say that you do that, Dan. People fall in love over
dinner dates. People propose over dinner, people break up over dinner, and you
make that dinner. I paint pretty designs on the nails of people going out for
dinner. I want to do something different, and I could do this. I could make
people happy." I sigh. "And if the worst comes to the worst, I could
give their hands a makeover before they meet their dates and charge extra for
it."

"I think you’re insane," Dan says. "Do you
have any idea about businesses? About how to run one, or how to start one up?
How to market?"

"I have a
For Dummies
book. And Mum’s yoga class
have already shown interest."

"Yeah, one woman. Who you turned down!"

"Well, I’ll call her back. And there was the old
guy."

"He wasn't even a client. And he paid you with a cup of
coffee!"

He's talking about the old guy who takes Mum's yoga class
and wanted help finding a replacement wedding ring for his wife.

"I don’t know, Dan," I say. "I don’t know. I
was just asking you what you think. Would it really have killed you to be a
little supportive? You know, all you have to say is ‘hey, that’s a great idea,
Mac. You should look into it.’ Why can’t you ever just support me? You thought
I was stupid trying to set my mum up, and look how that turned out, Dan. It
worked. Even though you didn’t think it would. It worked. Why can’t you
believe, even for one moment, that this might work too? Why can’t you ever give
me the benefit of the doubt?" I pause, sitting on the edge of the couch.
"And don’t worry," I add as an afterthought. "I don’t want any
more free food from Belisana."

"Mackenzie." He sighs. "It’s not about the
free food. You’re welcome to eat there as much as you want. I just think that
you haven’t thought this through. All the dates you’ve been on haven’t exactly
been easy. Do you even remember the twenty-seven-year old? Or the guy old
enough to be your grandfather asking for a blowjob?"

"Yes," I say. "Like I could ever forget. But
the reward at the end is worth it. My mum is happy now, Dan. And it’s not about
having the couch to ourselves. It’s not about the fact that we don’t have to
watch
Coronation Street
anymore. It’s about the fact that my mum is happy.
She would never have gone out and dated all those men herself. She would have
gone on one bad date and given up, and she would still only have a spoilt
Yorkshire terrier for company. But I didn’t give up, I kept going on bad dates,
and now she has someone really special, who she probably has a future
with."

"And if she doesn’t?" Dan interrupts me.
"What if that all goes sour and turns to dust too? As things have a
tendency to do with your mother."

"Then I go back out there, and I find someone
else."

"So, what? You’re not giving up until she’s
married?"

"Something like that, I guess." I sigh. "I
don’t know. I just don’t know. We’ll see how it works out with Ron."

"And if it works out, you think you can make a living
out of setting people up on dates."

"You know what, Dan? Yes. Yes, I do. I think I can do
that, and if you had a little more faith in me, you would too."

I get up and storm out the front door, slamming it hard
behind me so the glass rattles. I love Dan, but I hate the fact that he is so
discouraging about everything I do. Why is it so hard for him to support me, no
matter what?

I realise that I am stomping down the street and I have
nowhere to go. I figure I’ll go over and feed Baby his supper now. Give both
Dan and myself a bit of time to cool off from each other, and go back later to
apologise. It’ll probably be me apologising—it always is.

I open the front door of Mum’s house with my key, and Baby
greets me by hurling himself at my knees and catching his claws on my trousers.
It creates a big ladder in them, but for once I don’t care. I sit down on the
doormat and stroke the dog, he’s excited now because he’s been on his own all
day, and I realise something. My mother is right—he is very calming. But he’s
still not allowed to pee in my plant pots. I suddenly find myself blinking back
tears. What am I doing? Sitting on a doormat, stroking a tiny dog, and crying?
Why? I don’t even know why myself. Dan is right about one thing—the past few
months have been insane, but I keep coming back to the fact that it was so
worth it. So, so worth it, just to see my mother happy and feeling young again.
Okay, so I met a few creeps, but I also met some great guys, who I could use as
a potential client list to set other women up with, even though they didn’t work
out with my mother. Like Jeff, for instance. I could find Jeff someone
wonderful. That someone special who I genuinely want him to find. It might not
have been my mother, but it could be someone else. And I could do it. And if it
works out, Dan can eat his words and admit he was wrong, and I could really do
this. Couldn’t I?

"C’mon Baby, up." I pat the dinner table in my
mum’s dining room, open a tray of dog food, and start forking dog-sized
mouthfuls towards Baby.

This could really work out.

Baby barks in agreement.

I’m beginning to wonder if my mum has her house set up with
CCTV or something, because it seems every time I’m here, she comes home.

"Hi Mac," she calls from the hallway.

"Hey, you’re home early."

"Yeah, Ron has to work in the morning so I thought I’d
leave and let him get a good night’s sleep. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just feeding Baby his supper," I lie. The
truth is that Baby ate about two hours ago, but I wasn’t ready to go home yet.
I sat down, let the dog curl up on my lap, and flicked the TV on, wanting to do
anything to avoid facing Dan just yet.

"It’s way too late for him to be eating, Mackenzie. You
should have fed him hours ago, you know that."

I don’t reply, opting instead to be enthralled by the
program on TV.

Mum clicks her tongue at me. She’s annoyed. "What are
you watching? It looks interesting."

I glance towards it. I actually have absolutely no idea
what’s on. "I don’t know, I was just channel surfing."

"Is everything okay? You haven’t had an argument with
Daniel, have you?" I think she sounds a bit too hopeful that it might be
that.

"No," I lie.

"It’s okay if you have, you know, Mac. You can always
move back in here."

"We haven’t argued," I snap.

She stares at me intensely for a moment then carries on
taking her coat off and kicking her shoes out of the way.

"So, how’re things with Ron?" I ask, taking a deep
breath to calm myself down.

"Fantastic," she says. "He’s wonderful. Ever
such a nice man. We’re meeting at the park on Sunday to introduce Baby and
Daisy."

"Daisy?"

"His dog. The Chinese Crested. She’s a lovely little
girl."

"That’s good," I say, not really listening.

"Mac, what’s wrong with you tonight?"

"Nothing," I say. "I should get going."

"Okay." Mum looks at me again, like she can see
right through me. "Just remember your room is always here for you.
Always."

That makes me get all teary again, and I’m almost tempted to
give in and say that I’ll stay overnight, but Mum says, "It’ll do you good
to get away from that idiot of a boyfriend you’ve got."

This just makes me angry. "Thanks for the offer, but
I’ll get going now," I say, stoically.

I give her a quick hug and leave, before I either throw
something or break down in tears. It’s just after eleven when I walk quietly up
the road and I kind of hope that Dan has already gone to bed so we can just
brush it under the carpet for the time being.

No such luck. Typically, Dan is sitting on the sofa, feet up
on the coffee table, TV remote in his hand.

"I wondered when you’d get back," he says,
nonchalantly.

"How’d you know where I was?"

"I figured you were at your mother’s. Your car is still
outside."

Oh.

"I’m sorry," he says, flicking the television off
and leaning forward. He pats the sofa beside him. "Come and sit down, Mac.
I’m sorry. I didn’t want to argue with you."

I reluctantly give in and go to sit beside him. He wraps an
arm around my shoulders and kisses my hair. "Sorry," he whispers
again.

I decide to cut him a break, seeing as he has had the decency
to apologise first. "It’s okay," I say. "I’m sorry too. But I
expect a bit of support from you, Dan. I really want to do this, and I do need
your help."

"If it’s what you want," he says. It sounds
disingenuous to me, but he’s said it, that’s what’s important.

"I have it all figured out," I say. "I was
thinking about it just now. You know the first guy I met, Jeff? Jenni from
work’s father?"

"Yeah." Dan nods slowly.

"Well, I saw him again the other day, and he’s still
single but not really looking. He’s exactly the type of person I need. So I
figure I’ll ask him to be a test subject for me, and I’ll find him a date and
see how it works out. If it works, then I’ll go for it. Do you think that’s a
good idea?"

"So… Wait. You’re doing this with women as well? You’re
going to try finding women for blokes too?"

"Yeah," I say. "Why not? I mean, I need all
the clientele I can get, I shouldn’t just be finding men only. I can do it the
other way around too."

"How will that work? Are you going to date the women
like you’ve been dating the men?"

I shrug. "Maybe not exactly the same way, but yeah, why
not? I can meet women for a coffee or something, have a chat, and figure out if
they’re compatible."

"Where are you going to find all these people? The same
way you’ve found the ones for your mum?"

"I guess so. Unless anyone has any other bright ideas.
And maybe I should say that the clients can specify where they want their
potential dates found or something. And there will be my client list too. Any
people I’m trying to set up might be compatible with other people I’m trying to
set up."