"You live around here?", she asked.
"Yes, just a few blocks away", he replied.
"How about I say a proper 'thank you' over dinner sometime?", she asked glancing at his fingers. He noticed.
"If I had a ring on, I would have tactfully removed them immediately I saw you walk in here", he laughed. Charlotte smiled taking the hint.
"But unfortunately, I'm very selective about what I eat. Merci" He smiled at her and exchanged pleasantries with the principal one last time before leaving his office.
"You know that man?" Charlotte asked the principal trying to sound as casual as possible. He stared at her for some time before replying.
"When did you say you got divorced again?"
"Not your business", Charlotte smiled and stood up to leave.
Outside the principal's office, she met Marty playing with some boys and she briefly wondered how he still managed to make friends considering how badly he behaved. She shrugged and called for him and strangely, he answered immediately and waved his friends goodbye. At the end of the hall, she recognized the man who she had seen in the principal's office. He was obviously in a hurry because he didn't notice when his wallet fell from his pocket. He was already in front of his car before Charlotte got to the door of the hall and she picked it up and opened it, looking for a name. The wallet was virtually empty and she started clapping and waving trying to get his attention but to no avail. He entered the car and zoomed off before she could get there and she stopped and searched the wallet again, flipping it upside down. This time, a squeezed brown piece of paper fell out and she opened it, hoping to find a name or an address. She peered at the writing on the paper. It was definitely not a person's name or address. It was a place she had heard about before. It was "THE RED MATCH."
It took Charlotte and Sheila almost an hour to find his profile and Charlotte was glad they did in the end.
She had driven home silently wondering if the writing on the piece of paper that fell from his wallet meant he had an account with the dating site. But he had subtly rejected her dinner date. What would he be doing on a dating site that probably had twice as much fake people as real when he was out refusing dinner dates from beautiful women in person. It didn't add up. Or had she started to lose her charm? She looked at her reflection in the driver's mirror noticing the little bag steadily forming beneath her eyelids. With one hand on the steering, she removed the band that had kept her hair neatly packed in a bun shape and allowed it fall freely across her shoulders.
"You know its better with the band", Marty said looking straight ahead. She turned and looked at him but he didn't return the gaze.
"You're not being very supportive Marty", she replied.
"No one appreciates honesty again", he sighed and looked out the window.
The rest of their journey back home was relatively silent and as soon as they got to the mansion, he had come down and gone upstairs to his room while she spoke with Sheila over the phone.
"You wouldn't believe what just happened Shei", she said.
"Oh I would, anything can happen with you", Sheila replied at the other end.
"I met a guy...", she started.
"Who met a what?" Sheila couldn't hide her excitement.
"Just come over would you", Charlotte pleaded over the phone.
"On my way", Sheila laughed and hung up the call.
In less than fifteen minutes, Sheila rang the doorbell and Charlotte hurried to open for her.
"So quick?", Charlotte smiled. Sheila eyed her and sat down on the couch.
"You met a guy, that's good news, strange good news", Sheila said.
"Yes, but the thing is I don't know his name yet."
"Phone number?", Sheila asked.
"Nope."
"House address then?"
"Not at all."
"Don't tell me you called me over here for nothing. I was in the middle of a shoot", Sheila complained.
"That's where you come in. Apparently, he has an account on 'The Red Match' or so I hope..."
"Did you say 'The Red Match'?", Sheila asked surprised.
"Yes. Considering you know a whole lot about dating sites and this one in particular, I was thinking you could help me get on this one", Charlotte replied.
"So how do we find your man without a name?", Sheila asked.
"I know how he looks", Charlotte shrugged. "If that helps."
"No it doesn't", Sheila eyed her friend and took her phone from her hand. "But I can't say no to helping you get laid can I?"
Sheila quickly opened an account in Charlotte's name and they spent the next thirty minutes looking at pictures of the good looking and not so good looking men in Manhattan. Sheila commented on every picture they passed, noticing the smallest details and finding lots of faults in them. The nose was too big...The lips were too small...the eyes were too open. Charlotte wondered how open a man's eyes were meant to be and she inwardly prayed that Sheila didn't make a bad comment when they eventually saw him because she might have just denied him and kept scrolling through the other profiles.
Charlotte had found him first and she was waiting for Sheila to criticise his shape of head or beard or something but she kept quiet so she took it as her cue.
"That's him", she said.
"You've got good taste I see", Sheila laughed. Charlotte wanted to tell her that he even looked better in person but she decided against it.
"So his name is Smile", Sheila noted peering closely at the phone. "Weird." Charlotte looked closer and confirmed that the name there was actually 'Smile'. She knew it couldn't be his real name, probably a nickname or something.
"So what do I do now", Charlotte asked impatient.
Sheila didn't answer her. Her eyes were fixed on the phone as she tapped his name and sent him a message.
"Hi, I'm Charlotte Reeves"
Charlotte dragged the phone from her friend upon hearing the sound of the message she sent.
"What did you do that for", she cried angrily.
"You asked what next. This is what's next. You try to have a conversation with the person", Sheila replied.
Before Charlotte could complain her phone buzzed and she hurriedly checked it hoping it was his reply. It was.
"Mrs. Reeves? This is a wonderful coincidence. Lol"
Charlotte waited as three dots on his chat corner showed he was still typing another message.
"How are you doing?" She turned to face Sheila. "OMG, we're actually texting."
Sheila smiled. "Duhh, reply him." Charlotte paused and looked at her phone screen for a long time.
"What should I say?", she finally asked.
"I don't know", Sheila shrugged. "I'm fine...I'm not fine...I don't know if you're fine or not."
Charlotte frowned and started typing a reply while Sheila watched.
"What the hell is that", Sheila laughed. "You're doing excellent? I can't watch you spoil this." She dragged the phone from Charlotte who didn't even protest and she took over chatting with the handsome stranger.
"So what's your name"
"Smile"
"Lol, not your nickname"
"You still haven't told me how you knew I'd be on here."
"Well, you lost your wallet..."
He went offline immediately and came back online some three minutes later.
"Do you have it?"
"Did you open it?"
"What did you find in it?"
Sheila wondered why he cared so much about the wallet which Charlotte had told her was virtually empty but she shrugged and started typing.
"Yes, I opened it. I didn't mean to poke around. I thought I'd find your name or something so I'd alert you that it had fallen."
He read the message and didn't reply for a long time, long enough for Charlotte to assess the situation since all her previous attempts had been met with a brief hush by Sheila.
"How's the chat going?", Charlotte asked unable to contain her excitement.
"Apparently he cares about his wallet more than you", Sheila replied bluntly handing her friend the phone back.
"His wallet? Isn't that normal? Its normal. Guys really do care about their wallets.", Charlotte said.
"Guys hardly even use wallets", Sheila replied. "This one's a weirdo."
"So what are you suggesting?", Charlotte asked lost.
"That he's the perfect match for you of course."
"What do you mean", Charlotte frowned.
"That its best you chat with him yourself", her friend replied. "Goodluck."
Still frowning, Charlotte collected the phone from her friend and just then his message popped up on the screen.
"How about we go grab a drink sometime". Charlotte turned to her friend.
"He's asking for a date."
Sheila looked suspiciously at her. "Didn't you say he refused your dinner offer at Marty's school?", she asked.
"Yeah, but maybe he's changed his mind", Charlotte shrugged.
"I don't know girl, I have a bad feeling about this", Sheila said.
"Remember this was your idea", Charlotte frowned. "Don't tell me you want me to back out now"
"I don't know girl, but let's be reasonable here. He rejects a date with you and requests one after finding out you are in possession of his empty wallet. What do you think?"
"That he just wants a date maybe", Charlotte suggested.
"Where is the wallet?", Sheila asked.
"What do you want with it", Charlotte countered. Sheila sighed before replying
"If my suspicions are right, you're in possession of something of importance to him and if he turns out to be a dangerous person, you may have put yourself in a dangerous position as well."
"Your pessimism is the reason you've never found love", Charlotte said standing up.
"And your optimism, the reason you lose it quickly", Sheila replied standing up. "I'll be on my way now."
Charlotte opened the door for her and watched silently as her friend walked straight to her car and drove out.