Writing for Fun
January 2016
Anticipation - Sue Barker
Claire sat gazing vacantly at the computer screen, she had logged in half an hour ago, but the butterflies in the pit of her stomach stopped her going further onto the website.
It had been three months since she had joined lovefinders.com, the site that guaranteed matching her to at least ten eligible males, who would have like minds and interests to her own. If only she was brave enough to actually access the site.
Claire was forty three and had been single for two years, her husband had left her for another woman and Claire had been devastated, in fact just the thought of him made her feel nauseous, he had humiliated and debased her in every imaginable way, and when he left Claire felt like she had never known him at all. She had been unable to work for two months as the depression was like a plastic bag over her head, suffocating and panic inducing. At that time Claire could not imagine ever having any interest in another relationship.
Recently her friends had been encouraging, bordering on pushing, her into dipping her toes into the dating water again, Claire was still very unsure whether she was ready or not to consider trusting anyone again. On a very drunken night with the girls they had cajoled her into registering with lovefinders.com; they had spent two hours writing her profile for her. According to this she was 35, 5ft 8 tall, fun loving and after an adventure, looking for a man under 40 years of age with no children, who was looking for adventure too.
Claire had looked at her matches, they all looked like male models, she was not sure that she wouldn't be a disappointment as she was so ordinary. So far she had done nothing about contacting anyone on the site. The trouble was her subscription was only for six months and she'd already wasted three of them.
Claire logged off and went to bed; maybe she would be braver tomorrow.
Two weeks later Claire heard that her ex and his new wife were having a baby, this was the last straw for Claire, she'd always wanted children and he hadn't, now he had impregnated that bimbo, it was too unfair.
This seemed to be the impetus she needed, rushing home from work she logged onto the computer, and finally contacted two of the suitors to arrange dates. After meeting the first man she realised that maybe people weren't too honest about themselves, conveniently forgetting she'd shaved eight years off her own age. Instead of looking like a model, he was short, fat and so boring she invented a migraine and went home.
The second applicant was quite a bit older than her and after a drink talked about women in a very spiteful way, he had a bitter divorce and wanted to talk about it at length. Very worryingly, he talked about very strange sexual preferences which made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Claire decided to notify the agency about him as soon as she got home.
She left it another month before going back to the site. After another drunken evening with her best friend they looked at the website again, her friend noticed a man had registered who honestly ticked all the right boxes, Claire could not believe her luck, the anticipation was almost palpable, she wanted to play it cool but didn't know how to. She quickly arranged a date before he was snapped up. For this date she pulled out all the stops, she was waxed, washed, and pampered, dressed up in a fantastic Karen Millen dress and her brand new Jimmy Choos and felt totally confident. She knew she had never looked better.
She arrived at the restaurant five minutes late, the waiter escorted her to the table and there he was. He was completely different from the photo online. Instead of smart and groomed, before her sat a man who looked like he hadn't slept for a month, he was slightly unkempt and he definitely needed a haircut.
She sat down and read the menu, then she listened to him tell her how wonderful she looked, and finally the most exquisite moment arrived he begged her to come back to him, and even more predictably that he had made a mistake. Claire couldn't help herself she leant forward and laughed, right in his imploring face. She thought to herself, it's true, revenge is definitely a dish best served cold. Would she come back to him? Not if he was the only man in the universe. The two years had certainly changed her ex-husband physically. But characteristically he was the same cheating scumbag; the tart he left her for was welcome to him, for as long as he stayed with her.
If it hadn't been for her friend; Claire may never have realised he had joined the dating agency, but as soon as she knew it was him, she wanted to prove to herself she was over him, then she could start living her life again.
Claire was satisfied he no longer held any power over her. She knew she was too good for him and looked a million dollars; she didn't need him or any other man. Claire knew that she would never see him again and that was a wonderful feeling.