Haley Hill - Love Is...

It was hard to imagine Dominic on a date, let alone in a relationship. I was almost certain he was a sociopath who fantasised about mutilating female body parts in the manner of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.

Mandi scowled at him, then continued. ‘They were so good together. Perfect for each other. You never saw them on the ski trip, Dominic. Or at their wedding. What would you know?’ Mandi’s chest was flushed now. She turned back to me. ‘I have to help them, Ellie. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.’

Dominic shook his head at Mandi. ‘Get one of your matchmakers to deal with it. You’re a manager now, you have more important things to do.’

‘Nothing’s more important than saving a marriage,’ she said. ‘And besides, Dominic, you should know by now, I’m a matchmaker first and a manager second.’ And with that she stomped off.

Dominic glared at her as she walked away, then turned to me and pointed at his watch to remind me, as he did every Monday, that it was time for our weekly meeting.

‘Another hour of my life I’ll never get back,’ I muttered, as I followed him into the meeting room.

‘Sorry, what was that, Eleanor?’ he asked, as he sat down in one of the executive orange leather seats he’d had commissioned for our meeting room.

I forced a smile. ‘Another intellectually stimulating chat,’ I said.

He looked at me and raised one eyebrow, then took a file from his briefcase.

‘So,’ he said, placing both hands on the table, ‘this dating therapy thing you want to do.’

I stared at him. ‘You mean the coaching programme, which has been formally approved by the investors?’

He nodded and smiled. ‘Well, I believe it could generate more profit than our introductions service.’

I went to smile but Dominic’s enthusiasm was concerning me.

He continued. ‘So the investors and I have spoken and it was unanimously agreed that you should manage this project.’

I stared at him some more, wondering what point he was trying to make.

‘In its entirety,’ he added.

‘I thought that had already been agreed.’

He leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. ‘We expect you to write and deliver the programme.’

I shook my head from side to side. ‘Well, the idea I had…’

‘Yes?’

‘…was to work with the top psychologists and researchers.’

Dominic clapped his hands together with the glee of a fisherman who had just felt a tug on his rod. ‘Excellent, Eleanor. That’s precisely what we were thinking too.’ He glanced down at his file and began flicking through the pages. Then he nodded and pushed the file across the table towards me. ‘You’ll find a comprehensive list of experts in there.’

I opened it and glanced at the first page, which I immediately discovered was a fold-out world map.

Dominic continued. ‘You’ll start in New York; that’s where most of the current research is being done. Using that as a base, you can travel to Long Island and Texas. Then, after that, you’ll move on to Iceland, then Tokyo—there’s some interesting research going on there—then Africa, and finally, you’ll end up back in Europe.’

I leafed through the pages, noting every stop Dominic had listed on my protracted tour of the globe. I closed the file and shook my head.

‘I’m not leaving London,’ I said.

The beginnings of a smirk crept out from the corners of his mouth. ‘But this is what you wanted, isn’t it, Eleanor? To find a cure for heartbreak?’

I pushed the file back towards him.

‘What about Skype? I could easily speak to the experts on the phone. I don’t have to be there.’

Dominic shrugged his shoulders. ‘Well, we think you do. That way you can witness and experience any interventions firsthand.’

I screwed up my face. ‘I can’t be the researcher and the recipient.’

Dominic grinned. ‘The investors think you can.’

I stood up, ready to walk out. ‘Well, I’ll have to persuade them otherwise then, won’t I?’

His smirk was at full capacity now. ‘They’ve decided to channel all available resources into the project. So, good luck with that.’

That evening, I arrived home to find Nick in the kitchen, pan-frying tuna steaks. I could see he’d already prepared a salad and the table was set complete with a lit candle.

‘Evening, my gorgeous girl,’ he said, handing me a glass of wine.

I leaned in towards him and rested my head on his shoulder. I knew we’d have to have a conversation about our childless future at some point, but for the time being, I wanted it to just be Nick and I again. Without any complications.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated. It was a text from Victoria.

Hurry up. You’re late

I scrunched up my face, remembering a vague acceptance of a dinner invitation last week.

‘What is it?’ Nick asked, sipping some wine.

I sighed. ‘We’re supposed to be having dinner at Victoria and Mike’s tonight.’

Nick’s smile faded. He glanced at the tuna steaks and then at the candle burning and then back at me. ‘But I wanted a night with just us,’ he said.

I leaned over and turned off the hob. ‘So did I,’ I said, ‘but we promised.’

Nick let out a long sigh and then downed the rest of his wine.

‘Come on,’ I said, ‘we’d better get a move on, you know what she gets like if her scallops are overdone.’

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and we made our way next door.

We rang the doorbell twice before anyone answered, which, given Victoria’s domestic staffing levels, was quite unusual. There was a bit of a kerfuffle, some scratching at the door and what sounded like a tiny bird chirping, before eventually Olga, Victoria’s housekeeper, opened the door. A bundle of grey fluff rolled out onto the flagstone step. I bent down to pick it up. At first I couldn’t quite tell if the warm little body, with the fast-beating heart, was a cat or a rabbit or something else entirely, but when a pair of big blue eyes stared up at me, and the little tail started wagging, I realised it was…

‘A puppy?’ Nick asked, leaning in for a closer look.

Olga ushered us in. ‘I take Rupert now,’ she said.

‘No, no, He’s fine with me,’ I said, looking down at his furry face and smiling.

‘Careful, he’s likely to pee all over you.’ Victoria strode towards us, looking uncharacteristically flustered. ‘At best.’

‘Oooh, I don’t mind,’ I said, cradling him in my arms. I nuzzled his fur with my face. He smelled like malt biscuits and freshly cut grass.

Nick leaned in closer and stroked him on the tummy. ‘He’s a cute little chap, isn’t he?’

Victoria smoothed down her ponytail. ‘We need to eat,’ she said. ‘Give the hound back to Olga. And make sure you wash your hands.’

Mike didn’t join us until we were seated at the table and from his expression, he was as enthused about the dinner party as we were.

Once Victoria had formally chastised us for being late and thereby being solely responsible for the asparagus’ limpness, she went on to explain Rupert’s arrival.

‘Camille’s therapist suggested we get her a pet.’ Victoria sniffed. ‘She said that given the high turnover of au pairs, it would provide a constant in her life.’ She flicked her ponytail and speared a piece of asparagus. ‘Dr Osbourne has been harping on for months now about maternal attachment. Clearly trying to promote that book she wrote. She’s been on the Lorraine show too.’ She took a sip of wine, then shook her head quickly as if to disperse the alcohol. ‘I was raised by sixteen different au pairs and it never did me any harm.’

Nick started coughing. It looked as though a bit of asparagus had gone down the wrong way.