ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13) (5 page)

              “Well what do you know, so am I!”

Three coffees and one shared croissant later and Melissa realized that she had completely forgotten about her mission for the day. She thought of flirting with the barista but he looked to be about seventeen.

Oh well, I’ll just count this one as experience then.

“What exactly is wrong with Matthew then?” Carol was saying to her later that day. She’d stopped by to get some gossip on her way home from work.

              “Nothing is wrong with him.”

              “Hmm… and yet you refuse to admit that you like him. You really do drive me insane sometimes you know.”

              “He’s just too perfect, Carol. And I refuse to fall for him and discover all his nastiness later. No, we’re just mates. Actually we’re just acquaintances. I have no plans of seeing him again, and tomorrow I have a date at the bar!”

              “Alone?”

              “All alone!”

              “My oh my! How far you have come little grasshopper.”

Chapter Four

Melissa hadn’t been to a bar in years. She actually didn’t realize that until she walked in and felt completely out of place. She tried to remember if she had ever felt at home in a bar the way some people did but she didn’t think so. Even when she was young and naïve she still craved the comfort of home and pajamas.  Back then, though, she would never actually admit that to anyone. It wasn’t cool to stay at home in your early twenties. So she’d put on clothes that were too tight, wear too much make up and try to sound at least somewhat intellectual about world matters. Then she’d realize that the only thing the boys wanted to hear was her telling them that she was ready to put out and she’d make some excuse and go home. Then, she’d put her pajamas back on, grab a tub of ice cream and sigh with relief. Today she was wearing tight black jeans, an emerald shirt and heels and looking around she noticed that she was probably the most dressed out of the women in the bar. She’d tried to go for ‘classy’ but now she wondered if she didn’t just look old. Short skirts and cleavage seemed to be all the rage in this part of town. She considered leaving but remembered her promise to herself for seeing the night through and made her way to the bar.
Just two drinks and two hours – if nothing happens then I’ll go.
That was the promise she had given to herself. Two hours seemed doable and if she didn’t meet anyone than at least she’d have two hours to people watch, one of her favorite past time activities.

              “What can I get you?” the barmen asked. She suddenly had no idea what to order. The only thing she ever drank was red wine or home-made cocktails with Carol. They gave their own names to the cocktails too and she knew that if she ordered a ‘red danger’ or a ‘blue floozy’ the barmen would have no idea what she was talking about. She wasn’t even sure what went into a red danger or a blue floozy anyway, because her and Carol changed their cocktails according to what Melissa had in her fridge that day.

              “Uh… what do you recommend?”

              The barmen looked at her again and laughed, “Don’t come to a bar often?”

              “You got me.”

              “Well what do you normally drink?”

              “Red wine.”

              “Then red wine it is. Why change yourself?”

              And just like that Melissa wanted to marry the barmen. Of course, he had one eye on the drink and another on a very scantily dressed bar lady next to him, but nevertheless she felt grateful that he hadn’t made her feel even more out of place than she already did. He handed her the glass and she took a grateful sip. She was just about to say something to him when she saw that he was already lip locked in with the bar lady. She quickly looked away – public affection had always made her feel uncomfortable. Instead Melissa sat watching the crowd grow larger and increasingly more drunk. Watching from an outsider’s point of view actually made her feel ill and she put her glass of wine down, suddenly not in the mood to drink.
What am I doing here? This is so not me.
She got up to leave and decided that this was just not the type of place she wanted to meet a man. But as she got up to leave she bumped straight into someone.

              “Ow.” She said, rubbing her nose.

              “Melissa?” She looked up in surprise.

              “Matthew!”

              “You’re going to think I’m stalking you! What are you doing here? I didn’t peg you as a bar going type of person.”

              “You’re right. I’m not. I was actually just about to leave to be honest.”

              “Well you can’t leave now. Please, I need you! I’m here for a friend’s birthday and the night will be so much better if I have you to talk to me. Otherwise they’re going to try set me up with someone that I really don’t want to be set up with. If I’m with you they will leave me alone.”

              “So you want to use me as a prop, is that it?”

              “Exactly. A very cute prop too.”

              “Oh flattery will get you everywhere. Okay, I’ll stay for a bit longer.”

              “You’re my life saver.”

After that Melissa was introduced to all his friends who looked at her with huge smiles on their faces and high fived Matthew when they thought she wasn’t looking. It was quite nice spending time with Matthew and his friends without thinking that something would happen between the two of them. It meant she could be totally herself around them all instead of constantly worrying about how she looked or what she said. When they suggested a game of snooker she eagerly agreed – it was far better than just sitting and drinking. And when she won four out of five games she was declared the ultimate champion and was promised that she wouldn’t have to buy a drink the rest of the night.

              “You’re good!” Paul, the birthday boy, said to her.

              “Thank you. I have a table in the complex I live in and I practice all the time. Sometimes even all alone, which is quite a sad little sight. But totally worth it now that I thrashed you all!”

              “Well, you could’ve just said you were a natural and left it at that. But now, I see you had a sneaky plan all along. I like it. And hey, talking about like… Matthew seems to like you a lot.”

              “Oh… uh… well we’re just friends.” She wondered why her voice had come out so high.

              “Sure.” Paul winked at her and then walked off, leaving Melissa feeling completely confused.

              “What was that all about?” Matthew asked only seconds later, “Was Paul giving you a hard time. I think he’s embarrassed that a girl beat him.”

              “I was just telling him that I practice quite a lot. Normally alone. I didn’t think I’d actually be any good when playing with actual people. I’m quite impressed with myself.”

              “You normally play alone?”

              “Yeah, I’m sad like that.”

              “And you come to bars alone?”

              “Yep, another bit of insight into my life.”

              “Do you always come to bars alone?”

              “Uh… no. This is a first.”

And with that Melissa ended up telling Matthew all about her 30 day plan. She had never intended to tell him the full story but somehow it all came out now and she wondered what he’d think about it. More than likely, he’d think she was nuts and just run away. This is probably what she would’ve done if a guy had just told her he had a plan to meet a girl in a month. Actually, talking about it out loud made her see just how weird it actually sounded. But thankfully he was just smiling at her.

              “Oh, I like a girl with a plan! So… was I part of the 30 day challenge?”

              “You were day 1 in fact.”

              “Ah… and you’ve been avoiding me since. I guess I didn’t make the final cut, did I?”

              “Actually, Matthew, you did. But you were too perfect.”

              He burst out laughing, “What the heck is that supposed to mean?”

              “You’re too perfect. There’s nothing wrong with you. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”

              “Uh… so you want me to be imperfect?”

              “Well, yeah. I mean, it would make me feel a whole lot better. Otherwise I just don’t buy it. If you were really as great as you seem to be then why were you on a dating site? And why aren’t you already married with kids?”

              “I could say the same thing about you, you know.”

              But just as she was about to protest Mark came bounding up to them. “Okay, so can we go back to your place to watch the game dude? Look how small the TV is here. There’s no ways we’ll see a thing. I tried to squeeze into the crowd but this massive group is hogging the front and they do not look like they are going to move.”

              “Sure, sure. Let’s do that.”

              “Melissa, are you joining us?” Mark was asking her.

              “Oh… I…”

              “That’s a yes.” And Mark pulled her to her feet and winked at Matthew. This time he didn’t even bother to see if she was watching or not. She felt herself starting to blush and quickly ran out to join them.

When they arrived at Matthew’s house Melissa noticed his eyes widen and then he quickly pulled a sympathetic face. “Uh… I’m sorry Melissa. I didn’t know I’d be having company tonight. Please excuse the mess. It’s not normally as bad as this.”

              “Yes it is.” Mark shouted, clearly enjoying all of this.

But Melissa was grinning as she took in the mess around her, “So you’re NOT perfect then.”
Yes! He’s not perfect!

Two hours later and the game was finished and everyone was starting to leave. Soon, it was just Melissa alone with Matthew in his apartment. She saw him shuffling his feet. The night had been easy when they were surrounded by people and a blaring television screen. But now that all the distractions were gone they were both nervous.

              “Uh, would you like some coffee? Or are you in a rush to go?”

              “No rush at all. Coffee sounds great. Oooh, fancy machine.” She was pointing to the big red machine in the kitchen with far too many buttons.

              “I know! A present to myself. And let me say, it makes the best cappuccinos ever. Care to test it out?”

              “Yes please!”

The two of them sat together drinking coffee and talking. Again, it was far too easy to stay in conversation with him and Melissa realized that she was having the best night ever.

              “So, tell me about your other dates.”

              “Well, there was you. Mr. Perfect. Then, there I went to the park to try chat up a man with my dogs. I have two very charming and very energetic little dogs that I was sure would help me bag the right man. I ended up getting pulled by them so violently that I fell to the floor. That’s when I met Ryan. He was good looking and oh so lovely and didn’t seem to mind the fact that my face was covered in wet grass. Oh and he was also gay and married.”

Matthew burst out laughing and looked relieved.

              “Then Ryan set me up with Bryan. Bryan was also lovely. However, he turned out to be quite the alcoholic. So, of course, that was a no go. Then I was meant to chat up a guy at a coffee shop, but I ended up bumping into you and having coffee with you instead. Tonight, as you know, I was meant to meet a guy at a pub. Instead, I’m here with you.”

              “I’m messing up your plans quite often it seems.”

              “Yes you are.”

              “Mind if I mess them up even more?”

              “What do you mean?”

But instead of answering Matthew came forward and kissed her. Soft, sweet and completely surprising, it just made Melissa go in for more. And more, and more. She couldn’t get enough. She had not expected the night to turn out this way, and Matthew was right – he was messing up her plan completely. But every time she thought about pulling away she ended up going in for more.

              “You taste like coffee.” She murmured.

              “Don’t you mean I taste like the best cappuccino in the world?”

              “I don’t know. Let me taste again.”

It didn’t take long for things to progress any further and Melissa secretly high fived herself for wearing her new lacy underwear. Matthew was even better looking without his clothes than with his clothes, and Melissa had the time of her life exploring him this way. He pulled her down on the couch and kissed her and then gently entered inside of her. She gasped and pulled him in closer. Melissa wasn’t a virgin but she also had not had sex in a very long time. She just wasn’t the type of girl to have sex with any man. And the older she got the more she wanted it to be with the right man. And this felt right. This felt so very very right.