"Robyn do I have to come to this thing with you?" Max asked miserably as he and his sister were getting sorted after their shift and getting ready to head speed dating.
"Yes, I know you haven't said anything but you can't let this girl damage your confidence. You need to get out there and back on the horse." Robyn replied as she pulled her denim jacket on and picked her bag up.
"Fine, you're getting the drinks in then."
"I can just about manage that." Robyn giggled more than she should have done.
"Come on then."

The two siblings walked through the ED waiting room and out in the direction of the pub where the speed dating was taking place. The whole way across Robyn had a suspicious smile across her face, it wasn't that Robyn wasn't a smiley person it was more that this was her smile that only appeared when she was in on a secret that he wasn't. This hadn't escaped Max's notice.
"What is it?" He asked suspiciously.
"What?" Robyn asked faking innocence.
"That smile, what are you hiding?"
"Nothing, I'm just glad you agreed to come and I get the feeling that you'll find Mrs Right in there." Robyn giggled.
"Well then you're deluded."
"We'll see."



"You go and sit down and I'll bring your pint over." Robyn said to Max as she wandered over to the bar.

"Each of the women have been given a number and are at a table, men you will rotate around when I tell you." The bartender told the group of men in front of him. "Okay, go."

Each male found a table and sat down waiting for the timer to start.
"Hi, I'm Max and I play the guitar." Max told the first girl in front of him, she was pretty enough and not too far off his normal type, however she wasn't the woman that Max wanted now.
"Hi, I'm Nicole, are you in a band?" The woman replied.
"No, I used to be. So what do you do?"
"I'm a vet."
"You've finished veterinary school already? You don't look old enough." Max began sweet talking although he wasn't sure why, he didn't want anything to do with the woman in front of him who was now laughing softly at him.
"That's your first date over." The bartender shouted and then there was the noise of movement as the men evacuated the table they were sat at and moved on to the next one.

Several unsuccessful dates passed until finally Max was ready to move on to the last girl. In his head he'd already proved Robyn wrong, no one that he had met had showed any sign of being Mrs Right, he'd given up on the idea of getting anything out of the night and instead was looking forward to getting home and to bed to mope.
"Move on."



"Hi, I'm Max and I play the guitar." Max began as he moved onto the next table, without even looking at the woman in front of him.
"That line has clearly worked well for you tonight." Came the girls sarcastic reply, she wasn't being mean with it as she laughed as she spoke. Somewhere deep inside his brain alarm bells began to start ringing, he dismissed them though. Yes, her voice was extremely recognisable but he'd convinced himself that he was hearing things.
"Yeah, look at all those other girls all lining up to get with me." Max replied, he wasn't meaning to be blunt but he was fed up of this night.
"And there's the Max that I know." She replied, this time Max did look up, he almost had to pinch himself because he was sure that he had fallen asleep on one of his previous 'dates' and that he was now dreaming.
"Hello Max, I missed you." Zoe smiled at him, he still wasn't convinced that this was real but the dream of Zoe was much better than reality.
"I missed you too, how come you're back so soon?" Max asked trying to establish if she was back for good.
"I just told you, I missed you and I forgot to tell you something."
"What?" Max asked as he watched Zoe get up and come across to his side of the table.
"I love you too." Zoe told him as she placed herself on his lap and kissed him. This was the moment that Max realised that this wasn't a dream and that Zoe Hanna really was right in front of him.
"Well then I propose that we leave here, after all you don't want that queue of girls beating you too it." Max laughed as Zoe removed herself from Max's lap and pulled him to his feet as they ran out the doorway, stopping to kiss just outside the door before heading towards her car.
"I'm staying Max, I couldn't even bear a couple of weeks without you. You said that the ball was back in my court, so now you know what I want." Zoe laughed as she drove after she'd clocked Max's expression.
"That's the Walker charm."