Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

‘ S hall I put these over here?’ Tracey, one of the waitresses at Ruby’s restaurant, held up a tray of champagne flutes. ‘That way, people can take a glass of bubbly as soon as they arrive?’

‘And what are we doing about the tables?’ Freddie, the chef, had ventured out of the kitchen to help set up for the speed dating evening and now stood in front of Fleur, his arms wide as he indicated towards a cluster of tables by the window.

Fleur spun on the spot. After a full day of flower arranging, taking more orders for the looming Valentine’s Day as well as making up twelve table centres of roses in differing shades of pink for the tables at tonight’s event and having a final meeting with the soon-to-be happy couple she was providing flowers for on Saturday, the last thing she needed on a Thursday evening was to be playing host to Nettleford’s first speed dating event. Her shoulders slumped as she spotted Gregory push through the restaurant door and come to stand next to her.

‘Evening, Fleur. I have these for you.’ Gregory shoved the box he was holding beneath her nose.

Taking a series of slow, deep breaths, Fleur bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming, and composed herself before saying, ‘I’m just in the middle of something, Gregory. I’ll be with you in a moment.’

Frowning, Gregory turned to Freddie and Tracey. ‘Tracey, great idea. I’m certain our daters will love a drink as they come in. Freddie, if you move the table at the edge a little closer to the wall and swap the sides the chairs are on, then they’ll be more space between each potential couple.’

‘Consider it done.’ Freddie nodded before turning back to the tables while Tracey began unloading the tray of champagne flutes.

Standing there, the box still beneath her nose, Fleur breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t used to this, having multiple things going on at once. In her shop, she was the only employee of her one-woman-show and she worked through things one at a time. She turned towards Gregory, for once actually grateful for his presence. ‘Thank you.’

‘No problem.’ Gregory tapped the box with his free hand. ‘I borrowed these from Meadowfield’s mayoress. You’ll find a bell you can ring to end a session, scorecards to keep tabs on any potential daters and pens.’

‘Right, thank you. Again.’ Taking the box, Fleur placed it on the counter and began riffling through it. Yep, there was everything they’d need for tonight’s nightmare event. Even pin badges each participant would need to wear.‘Isn’t your lady friend joining us?’

‘Not tonight. Unfortunately, something has come up.’ Gregory smoothed down his tie.

‘Oh.’ Fleur glanced across at him and frowned. Nobody had met this woman and the longer this so-called relationship went on, the more Fleur wondered whether Gregory was making the whole thing up.

‘Well, by the looks of things, you’re almost good to go.’ Gregory checked his watch as the door opened and closed again.

‘Hi, Fleur. I thought I’d come along and see if there was anything you needed help with?’ Sadie shrugged out of her coat. ‘I know we’ve only got a few minutes until people started arriving, but I left the sweet shop as soon as I could.’

‘No worries and thanks. Yes, that’d be great.’ Fleur looked towards the front door. Sadie was right. They had five minutes to be precise and although now the restaurant was ready, she certainly didn’t feel ready to talk in front of a crowd of strangers.

‘Bea sends her apologies. She’s got caught up with some problem with a delivery or something.’ Sadie began pulling the scorecards and pens from the box, stacking them up on the counter.

Nodding, Fleur bit down on her thumbnail. She knew Bea would be here if she could be.

‘You have your speech with you, I assume?’ Gregory straightened his tie.

‘Er, yes.’ Pulling the sheet of paper with the opening speech Bea had helped her write, she unfolded it.

‘Great. Well, I for one am excited about this.’ Gregory rubbed his hands together.

‘Right.’ Fleur looked down at the paper and squinted. She could hardly read her writing.

‘Okay, let’s open the doors and let the matching begin!’ Gregory hurried across to the restaurant door and pulled it open before Fleur had the chance to disagree. ‘Welcome, welcome. Don’t be shy now. Come on through.’

Fleur inched closer towards the counter as the restaurant filled with people eager to find the love of their lives. Or at the least to have a good time. Although the event had been advertised towards those in their thirties and forties, she was certain the group of giggling women bee-lining for the Prosecco couldn’t have been older than twenty-five, twenty-seven at the most, and she knew for definite that the man running his thumb across the rim of his glass was at least sixty. Still, it didn’t matter. If the event was full, Gregory would be happy.

‘Now?’ Gregory sidled up to Fleur and tapped her on the elbow, drawing her forward.

She nodded.

Clapping his hands, Gregory quickly drew the attention from the twenty or so participants and a quiet lull descended in the restaurant. ‘I’d just like to introduce Nettleford’s very own creator of romance, Fleur, from our very own Flower Shop.’

Stepping forward, Fleur cleared her throat. She hadn’t spoken in public since reading a book round-robin style at secondary school. ‘Hello, everyone. Thanks for coming and supporting our first speed dating event in Nettleford. Who knows, maybe this will be the night you meet your soul mate. Now, we should have twenty-four singles here, so hopefully there will be a good chance you’ll find your perfect match.’

‘Woohoo!’ One of the women from the group cheered.

‘Yep.’ Fleur smiled. She’d obviously had a few to drink before coming to the restaurant. ‘You’ll have precisely seven minutes to speak to each potential match and get to know them as much as you can before I ring the bell, signalling you to move on to the next person. Ladies, you’ll remain seated at the tables, whilst gentlemen, you’ll just work your way around to the next numbered table on your scorecard.’

‘That’s right. Here are the scorecards.’ Gregory held one up, showing it around the group.

‘Thanks, Gregory.’ Fleur paused as the door opened again and turned to see who had come in. Her heart dropped as she realised it was the one person she’d hoped to avoid tonight, Matty. With her eyes fixed on him, she watched as he slipped out of the navy suit jacket he was wearing before hanging it over his arm and leaning against the doorframe. He had a job here then. Helen had been right, he was staying. But why was he here? Was he single, searching for a date in Nettleford? She’d been certain he’d be married by now. She swallowed.

‘Fleur?’ Leaning towards her, Gregory muttered.

‘Er, right, sorry. Now where was I?’ Tearing her eyes from Matty, she tried to focus on the sheet of paper in her hands, blinking as the words jumbled together. Giving up, she cleared her throat again. She’d just have to wing it and hope she included everything she needed to say. ‘Yep, and that’s about it. Oh, erm, you’ll need to mark off on your scorecards if you want to see any of your potential matches again and then we’ll put you in contact with each other. So... yes... enjoy.’

A round of applause rang through the restaurant as Gregory held his hands up, palms forward. ‘Quiet please. May I just add that, ladies, before you take your seats, can you take a scorecard, pen and a pin badge from the counter. Once you have them you can make your way towards the tables? And, gentlemen, let’s give the ladies a few minutes before heading to your first tables. And...’

The woman who had moments ago cheered, clasped her hand over her mouth before shouting a muffled apology and running out into the street, her friend close behind.

‘Oh.’ Gregory floundered, unsure what to do before turning back to his audience and holding his index finger up. ‘One moment, please.’

Fleur watched Gregory follow the women outside as a hubbub of chatter erupted in the restaurant. She looked across to Sadie, who had positioned herself behind the counter ready to hand out scorecards and shrugged at her.

‘I think she’s had a bit too much to drink. I saw them coming out of the pub when I was walking over here.’ Sadie grimaced. ‘Not that I can blame them. I think I’d need at least a hundred glasses of wine before I subjected myself to something like this.’

Fleur nodded as she kept her eyes focused on Sadie. She wasn’t going to look in Matty’s direction. She just wasn’t going to. It was fine that he was here. Just fine that he wanted to find someone to date in Nettleford. Why shouldn’t he? He’d just moved here. And at least it answered one question. She’d been wrong about him being married.

‘Excuse me, excuse me.’ Gregory forced his way back through the throng of eager daters until he was once again standing beside Fleur. Leaning in, he whispered conspiratorially. ‘We’re down one of our ladies. She’s been taken ill and has gone home.’

‘Oh, right. No problem. One man can just sit out each time.’ Fleur turned back to the group of people ready to tell them to come and get their scorecards.

‘Oh no, we can’t have that. People have come here to find a potential match. They won’t do that if they’re sitting alone at a table.’ Gregory shook his head so violently Fleur was worried he might just lose the remaining hair on his head.

‘Well, I didn’t mean one man all the time. I meant they take it in turns so...’

‘I know what you meant, but no, that just won’t do. The evening will end in carnage.’

‘Carnage?’ Fleur raised her eyebrows. Now the obviously drunk woman had left, everyone else looked placid enough. She couldn’t imagine anyone being particularly bothered about spending seven whole minutes sitting alone.

‘Sadie, you’ll join in, won’t you? You’ll save the evening?’ Gregory looked pointedly at Sadie, whose face fell.

‘No, I can’t.’ Holding her hands up, palms forward, Sadie backed away. ‘I... umm... I really can’t’.

‘Okay, then you, Fleur, you’ll have to do it.’ Taking the sheet of paper her speech was written on from her hands, he gently shoved her forward into the throng of people.

‘No, no...’ Fleur attempted to be heard just as Gregory raised his voice and addressed the daters again.

‘Thank you, everyone, for your patience. Let the dating begin!’ He clapped his hands as he ushered the women forward to collect their scorecards.

Waiting until the other women had collected their cards and settled in their seats, Fleur approached Gregory again. ‘I don’t want to do this.’

‘I know and your heroism won’t go unnoticed, I can assure you of that.’ Gregory smiled as he shoved a scorecard, pen and pin badge in her hands.

‘But, I...’

‘Thank you, ladies. Now, gentlemen, please step forward and I’ll number you one to twelve. As soon as you have been numbered and collected your scorecards, pens, and pin badges, you may go and sit with your first date. Please do not start talking until the magic bell rings.’ He held up the bell. ‘I will not condone any cheating.’

Standing back, Fleur let the men file past Gregory and towards their seats, making sure she kept her eyes low so she couldn’t catch eyes with Matty. She really couldn’t do this. She’d come face to face with him and seven minutes might not sound like a long time, but when she was sitting opposite the man she’d left at the altar, she was pretty sure it would feel like a lifetime.

‘Go on now, Fleur. Take your seat. There’s no time to dawdle.’ Gregory nodded towards the table in the corner. ‘Off you go.’

Her cheeks turned scarlet as she realised everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to join them so the evening of dating could begin. Muttering under her breath, she reluctantly made her way to her table and slipped into the chair. She was never going to volunteer to help with any of Gregory's silly ideas again. Not that she had volunteered in the first place. No, she’d never wanted to be part of this stupid debacle, but she hadn’t kicked up a fuss last night when Gregory had told her to host this stupid dating thing. Oh no, she’d gone along with it, against her will and look where it had landed her. On a speed dating cycle with Matty here.

‘And gentlemen, please take your seats.’ Gregory flourished his arms towards the tables as the men began filing towards them.

Please don’t be Matty. Please, Matty, don’t come here. Not first, anyway. Fleur breathed a sigh of relief as Thomas, one of the local farmers, joined her at the table.

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