“Miss. Devine. Miss. Devine? Cara. CARA!!!”Reality slapped me in the face and I let my dreaming slip from my mind. I was pushed from somewhere above the clouds, back into the stuffy room that I call my office. My seventeen year old assistant Caroline was standing in the door.

“Sorry to disturb you, but your three o’clock appointment is here. He is getting anxious” I looked down at my watch. It was three fifteen. I stood up abruptly. “We tried calling your phone but it went straight to voicemail.”

“That’s fine Caroline. I’m so sorry for making him wait for so long. Send him in.” Caroline nodded and disappeared from my door. I let myself drop into my leather office chair and leaned back. I thought I was done with my appointments for today. I usually don’t take clients after two thirty. Unless. . . 

“Caroline! Come back here!!”Caroline came running back into my office.

“Yes Miss. Devine?”

“Is my three o’clock a blonde man that’s about six foot three?”

“Why yes, he is. He wasn’t on your schedule earlier today but he called and said that he just had to see you so I made an exception. He seems so very. . .” Collin... 
             “SEND HIM AWAY NOW!!!”Caroline was taken aback by my bizarre reaction.

“I’m afraid it’s too late. I told the front desk to page downstairs and send him up.” I began panicking. 

“Stop him before he gets up here. Do whatever you have to do but he can NOT see me. If he does, we all will never hear the end of . . .”

“Miss. Devine.” A deep voice echoed through the room. The look of terror on Caroline’s face was priceless. She mouthed a week sorry and left me alone to deal with this horrid man myself.

“Collin. What a surprise to see you!” I tried hiding my look of utter disgust but he saw right through my mask.

“Oh come on Cara. Don’t act like you’re not ecstatic to see me.”

“Well, I’m not sure if ecstatic is the right word. After all, we did break up.”

“Yes but that was in the past. I have come here to inquire of you if I could win you back. Come with me and I will show you that we can have what we once had again.” I threw up a little inside my mouth. What did I ever see in this guy?

“Collin, that’s really sweet but…” I was interrupted by a harsh rapping on my door. I opened it to reveal Caroline standing there with a phone in one hand, and a cup of my favorite “anti-mother-anxiety” tea in the other. Oh no.

“Cara, I don’t mean to disturb you, but your mother’s on the phone.” 

“Can it wait?” Caroline shook her head and I sighed. Could today get any worse? I took the tea from her and took a nice long gulp. I was going to need it for what I had coming to me. Truthfully, I didn’t know why my mother was calling but if she called the office, it couldn’t be good. Hesitantly I took the phone from her hand. 

“Hello, Devine Matches. This is Cara.” After speaking, I held the phone slightly away from my face to avoid hearing damage. Let’s just say that my mother has a very strong, loud, southern accent.

“CARA DEVINE!!! IF I FIND OUT YOU TURNED THAT NICE BOY DOWN YOU WILL BE DISINHERITED!!” I could feel my mother’s fury through the phone. She was seething. “He called earlier today to ask your fathers blessing and I was overjoyed. He really is a superb young man”

Sometimes I feel like my mother thinks that it’s her duty to marry off her daughters. She believes that it is our life responsibility to be mothers and wives for the rest of our lives, cooking and cleaning so that our husbands can go off to work and provide for us. She doesn’t understand that I want to do more with my life than just settling down. Maybe I will end up with a family someday, but for heaven sake I’m only twenty six! A girl is allowed to be single at twenty six right?

“Mom you don’t understand. Collin is a creep!”

“Honey, don’t let your first impression of the boy get in the way of your better judgement. Collin is a perfectly sensible fellow that suits you nicely.”

“I dated him for four months! I’m pretty sure that I have more evidence that he’s a creep than just my first impression. He was hitting on my best friend! How does that not put him into the creep category?”

“All boys suffer temptations.”

“MOTHER!!!”

“Cara, go on one more date with the boy. Maybe he will surprise you. If it’s a disaster, then we’ll talk.”

“But…”

“No buts Cara. One date or disinheritance. It’s your choice.” The line went dead. 

If there’s one thing that my mother has almost complete control over in my life, it’s money. Matchmaking definitely has its perks, but it isn’t a very lucrative position. Being the entrepreneur that I am, I am still paying off startup costs. On top of that, I have to pay my employees, and keep myself off of the street. So yes, it helps that my family is extremely well off. 

I took a moment to calm myself before reentering my office. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out… Here goes nothing

Have you ever had the chance to be in the presence of someone who feels like they are about to be fired? They give off the weirdest aura; a combination of something dying, failure, and crushing dreams. Well this is exactly how Caroline looked at this very moment. If the Collin hadn’t been there, I would have laughed.

“Caroline, you may be excused.” I should have chosen my words more carefully because as soon as I said that, she burst into tears.

“I’m so sorry Cara! I didn’t know that he was, and you did, and Margaret, and…” I put my hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her crying mess.

“Caroline, what I meant is you can take your coffee break now.” She blushed with embarrassment and ran out the door. I sighed. Caroline is so sensitive that it can be sweet. She reminds me of myself when I was seventeen. 

Caroline’s funny reaction almost made me forget that Collin was even there. Almost. It wasn’t until I turned around and saw him that I realized the awkwardness of the situation.

“Hello Cara.” His voice was cold and stiff without a hint of romance in it. It made me want to vomit.

“Hi Collin. Can I help you with something?” I shuffled around the papers on my desk, trying to make myself look busy so he would leave.

“Actually, yes.” He stepped closer, taking my hand in his, and before I could quite realize what was happening, he planted a thick slimy kiss on my lips. I froze for a moment, not quite sure how to react. And then, doing what any other logical, independent woman would do, I pulled away and slapped him.

“Hey! What was that for?” He clutched his face in pain. I laughed at the irony of the situation.

“You shouldn’t be the one asking that question, I should be the one asking that question. Why the heck did you kiss me?”

“I thought that maybe I could make you think that we could…” I stopped him midsentence.

“No. You weren’t thinking. You never think. This is a huge reason why things never worked out between us. You were constantly overstepping your boundaries; acting without thinking.” Collin grew quiet and we both sat there for a moment.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally stood up to leave. As he was picking up his coat, the inevitable happened. My mother showed up.

“Oh Cara!” Her ringing voice echoed through the now quiet office. Nobody dared to say anything.

“Hi Mom.” She gave me one of her large, fake smiles before turning to Collin.

“Mr. Collin Andrews! I didn’t see you here. What a surprise! Have you had a chance to talk to Cara yet?”

“Yes, actually. He was just leaving.” I turned to Collin and thankfully he took that as his signal to vamoose. 

“Wait!” My mother grabbed his shoulder in desperation. The worst was coming. I could sense it. “You can’t just let my beautiful daughter slip through your fingers. What kind of man would do that?” Unfortunately, this gave Collin the confidence boost that was required to turn and face me. He nodded at my mother. 

“You know Mrs. Devine, you’re right!” Before I could run and hide in my closet, Collin was in front of me on one knee. “Oh Cara. My sweet Cara. Could you ever forgive me?”

“No.” My mother gasped at my stark reply.

“Cara! Don’t be so rude. Let the poor boy speak before you make any harsh judgements.” I rolled my eyes. She was being ridiculous. Collin attempted to make eye contact but I turned away abruptly. Listening, yes. Eye contact, not in a million years.

“Cara, I know that things haven’t really worked out in the past, but we can put that behind us. I would be enthralled if you would accompany me to the cinema on Saturday evening.” My mother clasped her hands together overjoyed and before I had a chance to let him down gently, she was already all over him.

“Oh yes Mr. Andrews! She would love to! I already took a look at her calendar and she is wide open.” Collin beamed.

“Oh blimey! I mean, yes. Sounds great. I’ll pick you up at seven.” I tried to catch him before he slipped out the door but a boney hand grabbed my arm and sat me into the chair. She just stood there for a moment, her bloodshot eyes twitching in rhythm as she breathed.

“Cara, I am so embarrassed! How dare you treat that poor boy like that?! I know he hurt you in the past, but everyone deserves a second chance.”

“MOM!! ARE YOU LISTENING TO A SINGLE WORD I AM SAYING? Collin cheated on me. He’s a slimy dirt bag who only thinks of himself. He definitely DOES NOT deserve a second chance.” Her expression turned from anger to worry and for a second, I thought that she might be starting to see my side of the story.

“You have two days until the date to think about it. Either give Collin a shot, or the money stops. I don’t want to be the only mother in my book club with a daughter that’s twenty six and still not married. Collin could be your last chance to…” She stopped midsentence, realizing that she had crossed the seemingly distant line. Without another word, she dismally stood up and walked out the door.