The Matchmaker Meets Her Match

TWO

My attention, alone with everybody else's, was seized by a figure that walked through the opened entrance. I look in his direction from the distance and observed him as he searched around the room for something. He was a rather tall man, about 190cm while I was a mere 165cm. He was just the right size, not too thin and not too built either. He had short, pale-blonde, spiky hair above a perfectly chiseled face with a strong jawline. He was simply handsome and to the other people in the room, irresistible. He had his hands buried deep in the pockets of the pants of his dark blue suit. He took out a hand to wave in my direction when he noticed me stand up.

It was the first rule of meeting up with a client that I had learned: Do not remain seated. I stood up and brought a broad smile onto my face while he maneuvered around the tables and chairs.

"Beatrice?" He asked with a suave voice that just seemed to smoothly roll off his tongue. He reached his hand out for me to take it and slipped my petite hand in his, feeling his strong grip when we shook hands. I saw from up close that he had sandy brown eyes, the color of the desert underneath a summer's blaze. They were truly mesmerizing but I couldn't say that I was attracted to him in the sense that the other women in the room were.

"Robin," I responded to see him chuckle slightly.

"I prefer Ambrose, if you don't mind," he said, releasing my hand and taking a seat right after I did. Unlike a few minutes ago, I was perfectly calm and so far I was doing great in terms of making an impression. He didn't seem to mind my outfit at all and the calming aura around him calmed me down greatly.

"Not at all," I said. He raised a hand, motioning for a waiter in the distance who came over for him to order his drink. I was halfway through my coffee but didn't need a refill as the waiter asked. I had already had too much for the day. The waiter returned no more than two minutes later and by then I had already asked Ambrose where he wanted us to start.

"I don't assume there's too much to it, is there?" He asked with a smile, reaching into his pocket to pull out a stack of photographs I had requested he bring along. Actually, it was something all of my clients had to bring along. My job was done visually rather than analytically or through observation of behaviors and such. There was no need to read the stars or their alignment or to analyze personality traits and such. My work was done with a simple glance.

The waiter placed the coffee down on the table besides the stack of the photos Ambrose had placed upside down so that I wouldn't be able to see any of the faces. It would have been overwhelming if I had seen all the faces at once so it was better to go through them one at a time. From looking at them, I saw that there were six photos in total, meaning that my job would be quick unlike with the other clients.

I took a sip of my coffee while I watched him closely. Only six photos as opposed to the standard thirty and upwards. He wasn't desperate to find a lover to settle down. It was explained clearly on my website that the fewer choices one had, the higher the chances of neither of them being compatible. He must have known yet he kept his choices so small. Only desperate people had consulted me so far but he looked far away from it. He was very handsome which meant that he could find a lover very easily, but the low number told me that he was searching for genuine love and not just from random people.

"Let's start from from top," I said, placing my mug down and reaching over for the photo atop the stack. He remained very calm with the smile still transfixed on his face. I couldn't understand why he wasn't nervous. I took ahold of the edge of the photo with my fingers and flipped it over to what could have been one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had long silky hair and wore an extravagant dress. The rest of the people in the photos would look the same. I wasn't at all surprised by the beautiful women he could charm.

"That's my secretary. I've known her for over five years and there has been some growing tension between us ever since," Ambrose explained as I looked down at the picture. It didn't take long for the entire surface of said picture to turn a bright, transparent red. I could still see her face even though the photo was clouded with a red hue. This was something that only I could perceive and to Ambrose it just looked like a normal picture. I placed the photo face down on the side and shook my head.

"She's really pretty... but ultimately she isn't the one for you," I explained in a low voice to try and express the sympathy that I did not feel. Before, I would just blurt out my thoughts and that was what led to angry clients. Ambrose nodded immediately and reached over for the second picture. He flipped it over for me and a second later all I saw over another beautiful face was a bright red.

"A friend of mine from highschool... she was married until two years ago and I figured 'Why not?' I guess that's why," he said as I added the photo onto the new stack. He was reacting too calmly for someone who just discovered he couldn't be with two beautiful women. There wasn't a chance he wasn't searching for appearance, too, alongside love because the third woman proved it to me.

"I met her on a business trip abroad... she's in a relationship but that could have been easily changed. Is that a no?" He asked and I replied with a simple 'yes'. There was something about his demeanor and replies that did not seem right to me but I brushed it aside as I picked up the fourth image. The same result with a similar story about how she was a few years older than him and had been his substitute teacher for a summer in his final year of high school. There were only two pictures left and I was already ready to leave.

As soon as I was done with the last picture, I would call Tatum and have him take me to the next client so that I could get my day over and done with quickly.

The next picture piqued my interest quite a bit, but not so much as to get me full interested. Another beautiful woman, as expected, but she was younger than him. I would say about two years older than me. I began to wonder why he thought a woman so young would be interested in settling down. I certainly wasn't, but then again, people were different. Her photo was a bright orange this time, meaning that she was between 25 and 50 percent compatible with him. It wasn't a great number but I could see people working to resolve that.

"Not too bad. But far from being the perfect one. Who is she?" I asked, looking up at his face after I had put away the photo.

"That's my fiancée," he said and I suddenly felt an awkward tension arise in the room. Another minute and he would able to see me visibly uncomfortable. I waited patiently for his face to contort into a scowl or an angry face but it didn't arrive.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that. But keep in mind, this is just advice... you don't have to take it to heart-"

"No, I was actually planning on breaking up with her soon. I guess I just needed a good reason," he said, resting his hand down on the table. I looked away and at the stack of the photos. It was at times like this that I hated the stupid job that would lead to the end of relationships. I was supposed to help start them but I always ended them instead.

"I have somebody else in mind but I'm not certain if she'll approve," he said and I narrowed my eyes at him. He was definitely moving a bit too fast even before he would end his engagement to his current fiancée.

"Who is she? Do you want my judgement on it?" I asked.

"Actually, I do. But I need you to do me a favor," he said and I nodded, filled with curiosity. He lifted a finger and pointed it at my purse.

"Can you pull out the ring from your purse?" He asked and my heart skipped a beat. How did he know about the ring in my purse? I wanted to ask him but he gestured for my purse again so I ended up pulling it out. I held it in my hand, glancing between him and the ring while visibly confused. He reached for the last photo and flipped it over. To my shock, I saw my face on the photo, further adding to the weirdness I felt at the moment. The other thing that shocked me was the fact that the image turned green a few seconds later, an indicator of 75 to 99 percent compatibility.

"Beatrice Berenice..." Ambrose stated with a soft voice, "I want you to marry me."