Anna finished the final touches on one of her newest creations as Mary, her favorite model and best friend, stood impatiently on the riser in front of the full-length mirror. With her first fashion week quickly approaching, up and coming designer Anna Smith was under the gun to get her new line complete and ready for her very first show.
Anna's dream was slowly becoming a reality. From her humble beginnings of sewing the most simple of dolls clothes as a little girl to head of the class at London's most prestigious fashion institute, she was finally reaping the rewards of all her hard work and sacrifice. While most young women in their early thirties were settling down with their handsome husbands in their perfect homes with dreams of 2.5 children and a dog or cat, Anna spent almost every waking hour in her modest home studio toiling over sketches, fabric swatches and half completed dress forms. Dating was not high on her list of priorities when her lifelong dream was so close to coming to fruition. Sure, she wanted to settle down with a handsome man. Eventually. When she could find the time. But honestly, who had time to date? So lost in her thoughts was Anna that she didn't realize she'd pricked her very fidgety model until her gasp of pain reached her ears.
"Ouch, Anna! Watch what you're doing unless you want me to bleed out all over this gorgeous chiffon!"
Anna quickly pulled her hand back muttering her apologies through the pins perched precariously from her lips.
"Where were you off to anyway? You seemed completely lost in thought."
"Oh nowhere in particular," Anna sighed out. "Just thinking of where I am compared to other women my age."
"And where might that be?"
"I was just thinking how most all my friends are already starting their lives. Getting engaged, married, having kids, and I'm still here finally getting my career off the ground. Completely single. With no prospect of a date, or good lord, even a good shag on the horizon!"
Mary stood thoughtfully gazing at Anna through the mirror as she continued pinning the back of her dress, extra careful not to prick her fair-skinned model and friend once again. "Anna, so what if you haven't gotten married yet. So many of those other women gave up on their dreams in order to settle down and start a family. But you've been working tirelessly toward your dream of becoming a big name fashion designer for as long as I've known you. I've never known for you to give up on something without giving it everything you've got. If you want something, I have no doubt you'll get it."
Anna huffed in disagreement. "Well the problem is when am I ever going to find the time to date? I rarely ever see the outside of my studio, let alone my flat! My last serious boyfriend dumped me because I didn't have enough time to spend with him. Unless one of these mannequins comes to life and turns into an eligible and handsome man, I'm afraid I'll die alone."
"So why not try Internet dating? I've heard some good things about it. Did you know Edith met her boyfriend Michael that way?"
"I didn't know that, no. I always thought the men on those websites were hopeless losers living in their parents' basements."
"Well, some very well might be," chuckled Mary, "but I'm sure there will be one or two handsome, available men for you. You'll never know unless you try it."
"I'm not really sure Mary. Even if I do meet someone, when am I supposed to find the time to date?"
"For the right man, you'll make the time. How about I come over tomorrow night. We can open a few bottles of wine, I'll help you choose a site and create your profile, and we can go from there."
Anna couldn't contain her skepticism over the whole process. What were the odds of meeting the love of your life over the Internet? However, she knew once Mary got hold of an idea, she wasn't one to let it go. Anna would have no choice but to agree. And at least she'd get a girls night out of it. "Fine I'll do it. But I'm only giving it a month. If I don't meet someone after a month, I'm deleting my profile."
"Fair enough. I'll come over tomorrow night around 8. I'll bring the wine and you can order the take-away. Now, are we almost done with this dress fitting? I have a date with Matthew tonight and I still need to decide what to wear."
Anna pondered over Mary's parting words once left alone in her flat. Would she really be able to make the time for a relationship for the right man? The last thing she wanted was to sacrifice her career for her love life. But then again, what good was professional success without someone to share it with? She'd thought her last serious boyfriend, Ryan, would be the exception to that rule. He was always kind and considerate and treated her with respect, but the more her work commitments grew, the less time she was able to spend with him, and the more he drifted away from her. He supported her dream. At first. But a dinner out, or a movie night once a week, and if she was feeling particularly caught up with her tasks, a sleepover at the end of the date was no longer enough to sustain their relationship. He broke up with her in her very own living room, sitting close to her on her sofa with what felt like the eyes of her mannequins boring into the back of her skull. Judging her for not being enough. They parted with an awkward hug and best wishes for the future, even an empty promise to remain friends before she broke down in tears at the gentle closing of her front door.
She allowed herself a week to mourn what might have been before throwing herself back into her designs with a fiercer dedication than before. She had a world to conquer and no man was going to make her feel inferior for striving for her goals.
True to her word, Mary came over to Anna's flat the next night bearing Indian takeaway and several bottles of wine. Any hopes of Mary forgetting about their plans were dashed immediately as Mary took Anna's laptop hostage, quickly logging her into one of England's most successful and reputable dating websites. Once finished answering the hundreds of "getting to know you" questions meant to narrow down the list of potential matches and completing her own profile of her romantic goals and ideal traits in a potential mate, the girls were ready to get down to the fun part: window shopping for her potential future husband.
By this point in time, the girls were well into their third bottle of wine, Anna needing the majority to make it through some of the more…intimate questions.
"Really though," Anna asked, "why do they need to know how often I want to have sex in a relationship? Can't I just answer 'whenever I feel up to it?' or how about 'whenever I can stay awake long enough to not want to fall asleep during it?'"
"And that is precisely why we're doing this! Perhaps you'll find a man who is so good at it that you'll want it all the time and won't be able to keep your hands off each other and will wind up shagging like rabbits all over your work table!"
Anna could only shake her head in disagreement. "I find that highly unlikely. The only thing my worktable is for, is working. There will be no shagging! It's a shag free zone!"
"Anna, for the past year this ENTIRE flat has been a shag free zone! You need some relief! I saw you gawking a little too lustfully at the David Beckham Calvin Klein underwear ad last week. Granted, it's a very sexy ad, but Anna, YOU WERE DROOLING! And I swear I heard you moan, don't even try to deny it! Now can we please get back to window shopping?"
"Fine. How about this man?" Anna asked while hovering her mouse pointer over a picture. The man in question was in his late 30s, decent looking, but by no means classically gorgeous.
Mary perused his profile looking for red flags. "No, you won't like that one. He says he most likely doesn't want children and I'm pretty sure those pictures are photo-shopped. You can do better. Next!"
Anna scrolled down a little further, scrolling past men she felt were too attractive, or at least too vain to focus some of their attention on her instead of solely on themselves before halting her scrolling as the most enchanting pair of hazel eyes jumped out at her from her screen. 'John' the profile said his name was. She clicked on his name to go further into his profile so she could learn more about him.
According to his profile, he worked in television, loved to read, cook and considered himself a romantic. He was also in his 40s and listed his marital status as 'separated.' "What about this one, Mary?"
Pulling herself away from opening their fourth bottle of wine, Mary looked over Anna's shoulder to see which profile she was referring to. She immediately recognized the photo as that of John Bates, her father's best friend and personal assistant. She knew John very well, and though she knew that he and Anna would more than likely get along, she could not in good conscience encourage them to date. At least not yet. Judging by the doe eyed look that had passed over Anna's face while reading the contents of his profile, she knew she needed to act quickly.
"I don't know about him Anna, isn't he a little old for you? I mean you're in your early 30s and he's already in his mid 40's! What kind of match is that? I thought you wanted children too, and wouldn't you want your husband to be able to chase after the little ones and not be confined to a wheelchair by the time they graduate? And look, he's separated! There could be a crazy almost-ex lurking about waiting to come after you! No, I don't think he's a good idea at all."
Though she knew she was being a little too harsh on John, a man she really did love like a member of her own family, Mary knew she had to do whatever possible to discourage Anna from pursuing him. At least for the time being.
On the other hand, Anna couldn't see why Mary was so vehemently discouraging her from even contacting John just to get to know him better. Sure, he was a little older than her typical type, but maybe that was her problem. Maybe she needed to branch out and broaden her horizons as dating her usual type was getting her no closer to the family she desired.
"Fine, even though I feel we'd get along splendidly and have many things to discuss, I'll pass…"
"I'm sorry, Anna, but I think it's for the best. And with that, it's past my bedtime. I've got an early fitting tomorrow so I really should be getting my rest."
The two friends said their goodbyes as Anna placed Mary into a cab to get her back to her place safely, shutting the door behind her.
After cleaning up the take-away remnants and placing their dirty dishes in the dishwasher, Anna turned out the lights and headed to her bedroom, picking up her laptop on the way. There was one last thing she needed to do before passing out into a wine-induced slumber. Mary would not approve.