Amber Aitken - It Takes Two

“What about Archie and Gwyn?” she whispered to Nicks.

‘What do you mean ‘what about them’?’” Her best friend shrugged and nodded. “Individually or as a couple?”

‘As a couple, of course,” Coral grinned.

Nicks turned sharply. The girls’ noses now touched. “You’re not thinking of playing matchmaker, are you?”

Coral was thinking of doing precisely that. But she kept her face blank. “Uh, not really. But it does look as if they could both do with a bit of company, doesn’t it?”

“Coral, this is a wake – not Valentine’s Day.” Nicks looked stern.

“I have been remembering my great-aunt all day,” Coral mumbled in self-defence. She had only just been wondering why the old lady had never married or had children. “I just think it might be nice for Archie and Gwyn to meet.”

Nicks’s face softened slightly. “An arranged meeting, you mean?”

Now she looked vaguely interested.

“I have a very small plan – it’s barely even an introduction.”

Finally Nicks gave in. “Oh, all right, tell me about it,” she said.

And Coral did, in detail. She needed her friend’s help. Nicks listened carefully and sprinkled a few sighs on the plan. She hadn’t counted on being dragged in to help. But finally she agreed.

Coral went first. She approached the food table and the plate of chocolate éclairs. There were four left. She stood with her feet slightly apart and her shoulders square, and ate three one after the other. She paused for a short moment at that point, chocolate, pastry and whipped cream fighting for space inside her. She felt her stomach shudder and inflate. There was a chance it might burst. She braced herself, but the moment passed. She would be OK.

Dabbing at her whipped cream moustache with an orange paper serviette, she gave Nicks the thumbs up. There was no time to waste. She made her way over to cousin Archie, who was now inspecting the ceiling. Perhaps this rock climber thought he was Spider-Man.

“Hi, Arch,” she said.

His eyes dropped from the ceiling and landed on her. “Hi, small fry,” he answered.

“You’ve got to try the éclairs, Archie,” she declared, like a life might depend on it.

“I do, huh?”

“Oh, yes! They. Are. Amazing. Definitely the best I’ve ever tasted.”

Archie nodded. “OK, sure.” But he didn’t move. He didn’t even budge. Coral stared at him expectantly. Did he expect waiter service?

“You have to get one now,” she pleaded, swallowing hard. The third éclair was fighting her. “There’s only one left. It’s now or never, believe me. The word is out.”

Her cousin looked a little perplexed and then finally shuffled his feet. “If you say so,” was all he said as he turned for the food table.

This was only one half of the plan. Coral searched for Nicks, who was now with Gwyn. She glanced over at Archie. He was almost at the éclairs. Would there be enough time?

Nicks was still talking. Gwyn was still listening. Now Archie was at the food table.

Finally Gwyn stood up. Nicks looked relieved and scurried back over to her friend. And together they watched the rest.

Gwyn stood over the food table and spied the éclair just as Archie reached for it.

“Oh, I am sorry,” she said apologetically.

Archie glanced from the éclair to Gwyn’s face. “Were you after the éclair?”

“No, no, you have it.”

“Please – go ahead,” urged Archie.

“You were here first.” Gwyn smiled coyly.

Archie grinned back. “Ladies first,” he reminded her.

“We could share it?”

Archie turned the idea over in his head and nodded. He reached for a knife and made a clean, precise cut down the middle. “I’ve been told they’re really delicious,” he said as he handed Gwyn her half.

She seemed surprised. “Oh, my, I’ve heard the same. They must be really good then.”

They took bites with smiling mouths and watched each other over chocolate-coated pastry. Neither seemed in a hurry to move on.

Nicks and Coral turned and gave each other fierce hugs.

So there you go. That was the start of it – the day the Cupid Company was born. The girls decided then and there to make it their mission to matchmake other loveless people in Sunday Harbour. Nobody loved love more than Coral and Nicks. And they had, after all, successfully played matchmaker to Archie and Gwyn (the couple kissing on the beach at that very moment!). So it really was their destiny.

Coral turned and faced her friend with a big grin. “What a result!”

“What a pair of matchmakers we are,” agreed Nicks with an identical grin.

Coral thought about it some more. “You know, there’s a chance I may have a special talent,” she added. After all, Archie and Gwyn had been her idea. She then thought about Great-Aunt Coral. Was this talent something she’d inherited? After all, Coral Hut was like a shrine to love. Coral Hut. That was it! Coral tapped her chin thoughtfully. It seemed like the universe was sending them a message.

She stared at Nicks, but she was focused on Romeo, who had disappeared on to the beach and returned with a plastic spade in his mouth.

“Maybe it’s actually Great-Aunt Coral who is sending us a message from…wherever she is,” Coral wondered out loud. “Maybe the beach hut is where she wants our company to be – where we should base it all. This could be our Cupid Company head office!”

‘What a brilliant idea!’ said Nicks excitedly. ‘But just how do we find more people to matchmake?’ she murmured thoughtfully.

Coral hadn’t thought that part through. But her enthusiasm was gathering speed. She felt a bit like Venus – the goddess of love (and probably Cupid’s cousin or something). “We’ll work it out. It’ll be all for love and love for all!” she cried out passionately.

“It will?”

“Yes, that can be the Cupid Company’s motto.”

Nicks was contemplative for a moment. “Mmm. If we’re going to do this then we must do it properly. We should have questionnaires for the Cupid Company clients to fill out – you know, listing their likes and dislikes. That way we know who to match up.”

“Good idea,” agreed Coral.

“And we’ll need to distribute some Cupid Company posters. Every company needs to advertise. And of course we’ll have to clean Coral Hut up properly. We’ll probably need to paint the outside too. It’ll make a far better impression.”

Now all Nicks needed was a clipboard to write all those useful points down. She was a top organiser. And if she was going to be the head of the Cupid Company then Coral was definitely the heart. They really were the perfect pair.

“But before we do anything,” Nicks paused with a finger planted firmly in the air, “we need to return this spade to its rightful owner.”

Coral glanced down at Romeo, who still had the plastic spade gripped tightly in his mouth. She nodded happily. And even though they were only matching a missing spade with a child, already she felt like the fairy godmother of happy endings.

It was not even lunchtime, but already it felt like the end of the day. The girls had arrived at Coral Hut early that morning weighed down with buckets, soap and thick sponges. Even Romeo had carried a feather duster in his mouth. They’d certainly started off with great gusto. But cleaning the beach hut had only seemed like fun for a while. After that it was just plain old cleaning.

Coral’s mum arrived just in time. Not only did she have sandwiches, chocolate bars and a large bag of cleaned laundry, but the girls knew she’d offer to help them. One of the girls counted on it.