Operation Soulmate Read online

  “Okay,” Gerry nodded her agreement. This was actually going to be quite fun. Hideously contrived, but fun, nevertheless.

  “Wow!!” Brogan shook her head in amazement, clearly mesmerised and hardly daring to take her eyes off Ben.

  “Okay, let’s keep the rest simple: thumbs up means that’s potentially a good guy. Thumbs down - steer clear. Timeout means we need to reconvene to discuss something in the foyer, all three of us.” He said, looking pointedly at Brogan, who was already intoxicated by the slow trickle of well-turned out, evolved-looking, love-guru types.

  “Is that clear?”

  “Oh, yeah, yeah, sure hon,” She said distractedly.

  “Brogan” said Geraldine, looking slightly concerned now.

  “Yeah, no, I get it darlin’ I might be looking the other way, but I’m still listening, don’t worry. Timeout sign means we all go outside to chat about stuff.”

  “It’s one of the reasons you’re here Brogan. Sure, have some fun. You two go for a completely different kind of guy anyway, but remember why we’re here. This is really important. If guys see me chatting to just you, privately, Gerry, they could get the wrong idea. Okay, are we all clear?” They both nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, I’ll be across the room looking out for body language, discarded wives or girlfriends and general bad ...or great, behaviour. Just try to check everything out with me. Okay?”

  “Okay,” said Brogan.

  “Now mix, mingle and don’t get trapped with a bad prospect. The registration can take anything up to 45 minutes. Enjoy it. Don’t waste time; there are only two tea breaks, morning and afternoon. That's prime time right there.”

  Geraldine had just pinned on her delegates badge and had barely taken her first sip of coffee, when she felt someone’s eyes burning into her from across the room. It was Ben. He stared at her and discreetly put his hands together and pulled them apart again. Geraldine suddenly, subtly disengaged and turned away from Brogan, under the pretext of reaching for a biscuit. Brogan, who was in mid-sentence at the time, was about to follow her to finish what she’d been saying, when she suddenly caught sight of Ben, holding his chin with his other arm folded across his body, shaking his head slightly. She watched in amazement, as a tall, good-looking guy in a stylish navy suit approached Geraldine.

  “Hi, I’m Toby,” said a warm, velvety voice somewhere above her left ear. Geraldine turned to see where the deep and mellifluous voice was coming from.

  “Oh, hi, I’m Geraldine,” She said, shaking the offered hand. Just like the voice, the handshake was warm, reassuring and strong. Geraldine could feel her face getting warm. Toby had the look of someone from Kenya: Perfect, ridiculously smooth and even-toned, almost, magical-looking, coffee-coloured skin, eyes that shone with gentle wisdom and playful defiance. A beautiful, full, expansive and friendly mouth, filled with absurdly perfect teeth and a smile that simply took her breath away. His head was shaven, he was relaxed, well-groomed and life-affirmingly focussed. His dark, navy suit was smart, without being stuffy and its large lapels and the slightly anarchic T shirt he wore instead of a dress-shirt and tie, gave a brief wink to non-conformity, without being sloppy or making him look like an off-duty footballer. He had dignity, style, presence and smelled absolutely gorgeous. Nice one, Ben, she thought. Toby, just had to be the most beautiful-looking specimen of human being she had ever seen.

  “Nice to meet you, Geraldine. So what brought you here today?” He continued, confidently dripping honey, charisma and can-do calmness all of over her, his voice somehow reverberating dangerously through her chest. Geraldine suddenly glanced at Ben, in an unconscious, nervous gesture. Surely this guy was just too good to be true! Ben gave her a discreet thumbs-up, then quickly looked the other way, as she tentatively returned her attention to Toby.

  “Oh, I, I er... just came along with a couple of friends; they’re around here somewhere; how about you?”

  “Oh, I’m a head teacher, just looking for new ways to motivate some of the more challenged kids.” Geraldine swooned slightly. So much for her little prejudice against guys in suits.

  “That’s great, where’s your school?”

  “A little village called Stockwell.”

  “Oh, yes, I know Stockwell,” she said, ruefully. As far as teaching went, it didn’t get much more challenging than Stockwell. In fact, Geraldine was sure she’d read something, recently, about an amazing, young head who’d completely turned around a really difficult school in Stockwell, in just a couple of years, to the point where the school was now almost unrecognisable: top of the league tables, with a completely overhauled and highly motivated teaching team. Surely this couldn’t be that guy could it?

  “Oh my God,” she said without thinking, “It’s not Stockwell Green is it?”

  “That’s the one...” he said, looking slightly confused. “How on earth did you know that?”

  “Oh, just a lucky guess,” She said. “Well, no, I mean, I read about the school in TES. I wrote a feature for them recently on the connection between disaffection and decreasing spiritual direction in schools... Kind of presenting a case for meditation and mindfulness in schools. And your school was featured in the same issue. I suppose it kind of stayed in my mind. It was just so inspiring... all the great things happening in that school and, well, you just seem like the kind of guy who could have made them happen...”

  She tailed of sheepishly. She was slightly uncomfortable, now. She was fawning, blatantly, and he was looking embarrassed. And why, oh why had she mentioned spirituality so soon. And why had she dunked that blasted biscuit into her coffee, only to have it now, looking dangerously weakened as it hovered threateningly over her cup, while she continued smiling and trying to look as if she was perfectly comfortable carrying the whole sticky mess around for another ten minutes or so.

  Toby smiled awkwardly, and somewhat bashfully, and took an almost visible step back, as her coffee-cup trembled ever-so-slightly in an unhelpfully ill-fitting saucer. Her heart was pounding uncomfortably and little beads of perspiration were beginning to break out on her top lip. She could feel them.

  “Well, I’ve got a great team behind me, I have to say.” He said, fidgeting slightly.

  From across the room, she could see Ben, shaking his head and wielding the timeout signal, but Brogan was nowhere to be seen.

  “Would you just excuse me for a second, please, Toby, I’m just going to pop to the ladies.” For a second or two, Toby seemed slightly taken-aback by her unexpected withdrawal and then suddenly looked interested again.

  “Well, I hope we can catch up again later, Geraldine,” he said, smiling warmly. “I really enjoyed that feature, by the way. I thought it was beautifully insightful.” Geraldine felt herself melting. There was just no way of figuring men out sometimes...

  “I’m sure we will,” she said regaining her composure. What on earth could Ben want at a time like this? And where was Brogan?

  Brogan's voice came ringing through the hall as soon as Geraldine began marching towards the foyer “Y’okay darlin’?’” she said. Geraldine jumped slightly, as the flaming red mop suddenly appeared by her side. How did she always do that!? Appear as if by magic, from out of nowhere, just, when she was needed??

  “Where have you been?” Said Geraldine, more fascinated than annoyed.

  “Just over there darlin’ talking to the guy with the hot bod.”

  Gerry glanced over at a personal-trainer type who was now winking suggestively at a blushing Brogan. Borgan bowed her head chastely, and actually fluttered her eyelashes at him before offering a delicate little wave. Geraldine rolled her eyes and shook her head stoically. “Okay, Ben’s just called timeout,” she said in a loud whisper, “Just, follow me.”

  Outside, in the cool air-conditioned foyer, Ben was looking pleased and slightly impressed.

  “Great start!” he said, triumphantly.

  “What do you mean, great start!?” said Geraldine, incredulously, “I’d barely said two
words to the guy before you dragged me away.”

  “Oh, I think you got more than two words in there. In fact, you could probably have written another feature for the Times Educational Supplement on the subject of “How great I think you are Toby, and how I am not worthy.” Geraldine looked down at the floor between them and bit her lip slightly with embarrassment and irritation. Ben was truly infuriating! How had he even heard so much of the conversation?!! And, more to the point, what was really so awful about letting someone know you liked them and that they impressed you and almost made you want to conceive on the spot because they were someone just crying out to be reproduced for the highest good of all?! Okay, maybe, in hindsight, it was probably not that great. Not awful, but not completely ideal. She could see how she might not have come across all that well. But how on earth had Ben heard so much from the other side of the room? It was all truly cringe-worthy! “Look, just trust me on this,” he continued, rising to the challenge once again. “You were getting flustered and he was losing interest. This guy obviously has women fawning over him all the time. Gerry, you are going to have to pull yourself together and just be a little bit more confident and mysterious. Just circulate now and talk to some more guys. He’ll come back if he’s interested, and this time, you’re over the shock of him and you’ll be a bit more ...calm and self-assured. K?”

  Geraldine couldn’t help feeling she was slightly out of her depth here. She was no good at being calm and self-assured. This was too hard! And she was beginning to lose the fun factor from concentrating too much on trying to appear to be something she wasn’t. Surely love didn’t involve all this plotting and scheming, did it!? She sighed and smiled weakly. She had, after all, promised to trust Ben completely, and so far it seemed to be working out okay... She nodded dolefully.

  “Okay,”

  “Gerry, this is great!! Don’t get down about this. This is going better than I thought, much sooner than I’d expected. We’re learning a lot here. This is amazing feedback!! YOU are amazing!!! Okay stand up a bit straighter and remember he wants to get to know you: You, the woman, not you the easily impressed teenager. You are the prize here, remember, not him. Until he proves himself to be worthy of your affections, he’s just ‘some guy’, try to remember that.”

  “Okay, okay, but what if he doesn’t come back?”

  “Then you let him go. Then he's just 'some guy you had to let go' ”

  “But he was gorgeous!!”

  “Okay this is your first potential mistake. At this point, he wants to have to make an effort to find you, get to know you. The guy’s a hunter; it’s written all over him. He wants it to be hard. He so obviously thrives on a challenge. Do not take that away from him. If he doesn’t have to make the effort about this, he won’t feel the need to make any kind of effort while you’re dating him. If he doesn’t come back, let him go. There’s no scarcity here. The room is full of interesting, single guys. Now get back out there.”

  Brogan jumped to attention and almost saluted. She was having a whale of a time. They returned to one of the tall, coffee tables which were placed strategically around the room in such a way as to encourage small groups, while being far enough from the ground to allow standing, and (relatively) carefree sipping....and more mingling.

  “God, he’s amazing!!” Brogan whispered, as they wandered slowly back. “He’s totally got the hots for you, though, hon.”

  “What!!!!!???”

  “Shhhhh!” Brogan looked around to see whether her friend’s outburst had registered above the cool, calmly enthused and evolved hubbub. Geraldine was genuinely shocked. Considering what an incredible medium she was, Brogan could be so completely off the mark sometimes.

  “Oh my God. You’re insane!!! What are you talking about?”

  “Darlin’, it’s obvious!! Come ON!! Wake up and smell the coffee.”

  “Brogan, you are being completely ridiculous. Ben has come all this way on a Sunday to do everything he can to get me hooked up with some other guy. Does that sound like someone who’s got designs on me?!!!” Brogan thought it through for a minute or two but remained mysteriously unconvinced.

  “All I know is what I just saw, the way I saw him lookin’ at ya. That’s not even what I’m picking up psychically, hon, just obvious boy/girl stuff.”

  “You’re insane!”

  Geraldine glanced over at Ben, just in time to see him making the separating gesture again, and was relieved to be given permission to get away from Brogan, who was quickly becoming a bewildering distraction rather than the sensitive wing-woman that the job required. She was nevertheless heartened to see Toby checking her out from across the room. She detached herself slightly, and went back to looking friendly and approachable, while nibbling affably on a dry bourbon cream, as Brogan returned her attentions to the personal trainer type with the hot bod.

  “Hi, I am Antonio,” said an overly polite-sounding voice coming from behind her. She turned to see a tall, Spaniard with thick, dark curls and penetrating eyes. Hmmm... Not bad. Not Toby but not bad. Ben was really coming through for her today. But then, of course he would. Why wouldn’t he? That was the whole point of this excursion, surely. What on earth was Brogan’s problem?

  “Hi, I’m Geraldine,” She said, offering her hand for the second time that morning... From across the room, she could feel Toby’s eyes burning into her now, and with her peripheral vision, she was sure she could see Ben smirking. He seemed to be everywhere at once and aware of everything that was happening in the room, all the time.

  By the time they actually went into the seminar, Geraldine was exhausted. She’d never seen Brogan looking so happy. She was like the proverbial kid in the candy-store and was, on reflection, the perfect choice for the assignment.

  “Thanks for doing this Brog,” she said squeezing her arm, affectionately, as they took their seats.

  “Are you kidding me hon?? I wouldn’t have missed this for the world!!”

  The seminar itself was amazing, and just the perfect thing for shoring up Geraldine's optimism about the rest of the day ahead. She couldn’t help noticing that another really gorgeous guy seemed to have made an effort to sit next to her; she’d also noticed him watching her earlier. She glanced across their row just in time to catch a big, ‘thumbs down’ from Ben. He seemed to be rubbing one of his fingers. That wasn’t a code she remembered. What was finger-rubbing a code for? Geraldine panicked for a second. What did it mean? Did this man have chubby fingers? Ben knew she had an aversion to chubby fingers. She glanced down at the hunk’s hands, just in time to see him struggling surreptitiously to remove a thin wedding band. Geraldine was disgusted. She looked back at Ben, and shook her head to demonstrate her indignation but for some reason, he pretended not to see her and kept his eyes on the speaker and on the rest of the room. Message received and understood.

  He was a consummate professional.

  Eventually, the first tea-break came and Ben was already signalling separation again.

  “So, what did you think of the first part, Geraldine? Or can I call you Gerry?” It was Toby, gratifyingly back for more. Ben was always so right! Toby’s return increased her confidence enormously and signalled a turning point in her approach. She could almost feel the neurons shifting. This time, she even found herself feeling relaxed enough to start flirting with him a little. Antonio hovered in the background, keeping her in view, while listening to an older gentleman wax lyrical on the subject of mind-maps. He looked a bit bored. Geraldine jumped when her phone, suddenly, rang unexpectedly. She’d completely forgotten to switch it off during the seminar. Ben’s name appeared on the display. What could he possibly want now?! She hadn’t even said anything yet!

  “Excuse me, just a second please Toby,” She said apologetically. “Hello!” she whispered into the phone, smiling nervously at Toby before turning away from him slightly.

  “Okay,” said Ben “now listen to this carefully. You’re going to have to force the issue with this guy. There’s someone
else interested in him, someone very persistent. In order to get him to make a move, you’re going to have to do something drastic or it just won’t happen.”

  “Okay, I’m listening” she mumbled quietly and cryptically into the phone, quickly submerging her irritation in light of Ben’s proven wisdom.

  “Now, when you get off the phone, make your excuses and tell Toby that something has come up at home. You have to leave. Your friend needs you. You make nice - good to meet you Toby, enjoy the rest of the seminar, take care, keep up the good work, yada yada yada, goodbye. Then you turn on your heels and leave... without. Looking. back.”

  “No! Oh, no... No way” Geraldine almost hissed into the phone. She could feel Toby’s eyes burning into her back. This was all very uncomfortable!

  "Geraldine, are you going to trust me on this?” Geraldine’s natural impulses were interrupted once again by the annoying recollection of her promise to trust Ben, no matter what. But all this subterfuge and artifice, all these plots and subplots and counter-plots were just making her head spin. She just wasn't cut out for all these games. Surely, a good old-fashioned rejection was easier to manage! She glanced around at the packed room, literally teaming with possibilities. Who knew there were so many great guys out there?

  “Okay then, fine,” She said, ending the call decisively and somewhat petulantly.

  She turned back, just in time to see Toby being finessed by a small, but determined-looking woman, called Indira who was wearing a light, Summer pashmina and smelling of rich and exotic fragrances. Toby made eye-contact with Geraldine again and moved closer to her, as she nervously shoved her phone into the pocket of her summer dress. Eye-contact had to be a good sign, surely!

  “Toby, I’m so sorry; it’s been lovely meeting you but er...something has come up. I have a friend who really needs me at the moment. I can’t really explain just now. I’m sorry. Enjoy the rest of the seminar.” Well.... it was sort of true. Ben was her friend and he needed her....to leave...now... for some reason. She smiled weakly, before mustering every ounce of discipline in her irate little body, and turning towards the exit. But before she even had a chance to walk away she heard Toby’s velvety tones, travelling into her consciousness in a dangerously evocative way.