'You what?' Alex had been fully caught out by Matt's admission.

'Karen and Arthur, well mainly Karen, have some single male friends and they think you'd like them'

'So I'm going to go on a string of dates with some random men?'

'Well at least they're Karen and Arthur's friends...'

'Ok then'

'What?' he was surprised at her agreement.

'Ok fine. I'll meet these people. Life's short. I may as well. Do any of them know how old I am? And they'd better be attractive, mind you' she went on, getting up to look out of Matt's window.

'Um... well I'm meeting them tonight to talk about it and decide which ones we're going to introduce you to -'

'Well you've certainly got this planned out, haven't you?' she challenged.

Matt looked guilty. 'Karen may have blackmailed me into it'

Alex looked triumphant. 'I knew there had to be a very good reason that you're helping her. She's insufferable with this kind of thing' she half whined.

'Well to be honest, the thing I've learnt from being friends with Karen is that it's better to go along with her plans than try to resist'

Alex sighed, knowing she couldn't back out of it even though Karen didn't know she knew yet. She then decided it wouldn't be so bad, her second marriage had come about all because of a blind date and even though it hadn't worked out at the end, she had her daughter from the relationship so she figured it couldn't be too bad. There was only so much she could do when she was single and being frank with herself, she missed intimacy.

'Right, so I'll join you later then? Or should I wait for Karen to invite me?'

'I'm pretty sure she's bringing a guy tonight and was going to force you to come' Matt chuckled.

'Ooh, even better then!' Alex replied. 'Oh, speak of the devil' she said as her phone buzzed. 'It's from Karen. Inviting me out to our usual spot this evening. Oh and she's bringing a guy she thinks I'll like. Shameful' she said the last bit sarcastically. 'I'm going to ring her'.

'Hello Karen. Yes I'll come tonight. What's he like? Mmm, ok. How old? Ooh, not bad. What does he look like? Sounds ok. He'd better be a nice guy, Karen. He is? Well I'll judge that. So where's he taking me? And have you told him my full name? Oh good, that's better. Much better. Ok. I'll see you at eight. Ok bye'

She ended the call and turned to Matt. 'I've got myself a date' she grinned.

Alex arrived at five past eight, dressed in a long black shirt with a belt to emphasise her waist, black leggings and some red heels to match her handbag and add a splash of colour. She collected herself, then walked into the bar. She spotted Karen, Matt and Arthur straight away and sighed in slight annoyance that Karen's mystery friend was sat with his back to the door. She walked over to the table and greeted her three colleagues. The man turned around and she was pleasantly surprised; he had dark brown hair, greying slightly at the sides, deep brown eyes and a handsome face. He looked relatively fit and she guessed he was in his late thirties.

'Hi, I'm George' he smiled. 'Karen, you have a lovely friend here' he spoke in a light Scottish accent. 'Nice to meet you...?'

'Alex' she smiled.

'And you're also River Song' he smiled.

'Indeed I am. Nice to meet you as well' she replied politely.

'I'm going to get a drink, what would you like?' he asked.

'I'll have a glass of rosé, please' she signalled for Matt to go with him. 'Find out a bit about him' she whispered in his ear as he went and he nodded. She turned to Karen and Arthur and her smile faded slightly. 'So, you two. Would you like to explain why you felt the need to set me up? Don't get me wrong, I'm not angry but I was surprised'

'I don't mean to meddle, Alex' Karen said apologetically. 'I just wanted to do some matchmaking! And George is a lovely guy, I've known him a couple of years now and he'll treat you well' she smiled.

'Is he taking me anywhere or are we staying here?'

'I'm pretty sure he's got something planned in case you wanted a private date'. Alex was impressed. Maybe this would be a good evening.

When Matt and George got back with drinks, Matt was typing away on his phone. George sat down next to Alex and smiled, which she returned. 'So, Alex. What made you accept Karen's offer of a date?' he asked cheekily. She took a sip of wine and thought carefully for a moment. 'Well, she described you on the phone and I thought to myself 'why not?'' she smiled. 'How about you?'

'I was promised a stunning looking woman and great company so I accepted straight away' he smiled back.

'Ah Karen' she teased.

Before long they'd finished their drinks and George asked her if Alex wanted to go for a private drink with him, which she accepted.

She checked her phone and she had a text from Matt. 'He's forty-two. Bank manager. Lives in Woodford Green. Eager to get to know you, be careful but have a nice date :)'

That was sweet of him. She appreciated his friendship a lot.

They went to a Wetherspoon's pub and settled themselves on a comfy setee. 'So Alex, tell me more about you. I'm intrigued' George invited.

'Well, as you know I'm an actress. In my spare time I go for walks with friends, I enjoy eating out and when I'm not in England I'm in LA with my daughter, Salome' she said, knowing she would be honest about everything.

'That's good. I'm a manager at Santander and I enjoy my job' he smiled.

'That's good' she encouraged. 'What do you do in your spare time, then?'

'Well, I enjoy cycling and I exercise in my local gym a couple of times a week. I also play the guitar and play with Arthur and his band sometimes'

'Ah, I haven't cycled in ages! I miss it a bit, actually'

He chuckled. 'I should take you for a ride sometime then' he said suggestively.

'Cheeky' she joked.

'I didn't mean to be too cheeky, it was too tempting to say' he teased.

Alex decided that she quite liked George. He was a nice guy.

After talking more about cycling and walking and their favourite routes, they decided to call it a night as Alex needed to be on set in the morning.

George walked her back to her flat and she found her keys. 'Thanks for a nice evening, George' she told him.

'Well thank you, Alex. I was unsure of it but to be honest, when you walked in it was worth it. Cheesy I know' he admitted.

'Well it's nice to spend time with someone on a date, I've enjoyed getting to know you even if only a little bit' she replied.

He stepped closer. 'I'm going to be cheeky now' he warned. 'Is there any chance you'd want to go on a second date with me?'

She pretended to think deeply about it for a few seconds. 'I suppose it would be nice' she stated casually.

'I'm taking that as a yes then' he grinned. Stepping closer still so that Alex wouldn't back away, he spoke again, quieter this time. 'Now I'm going to be really cheeky' he told her. Gauging her expression, he brushed a stray curl out of her face and cupped her cheek. Slowly, he brought his face closer to hers. She was breathing heavily but didn't say anything. She knew what he was going to do and was happy with that. He softly brought his lips to hers and she responded, wrapping her hands around his waist. They kissed slowly, and George didn't dare try his luck with tongues or move his hands. Alex respected that and was glad of it.

When they broke apart George whispered 'Was that too cheeky?' with shaky breaths.

'I don't think so, no' Alex replied quietly, smiling. She unlocked her door and turned to face him. 'Goodnight'.

'Night, Alex. I'll call you' he smiled.

She got to her flat, smiling. She couldn't shake the fact that Matt had personally gone out of his way to find out about George for her and knew their friendship had become stronger in the last couple of days alone.

Her phone buzzed, telling her she had a text from Matt. She realised George didn't have her number, how was he going to call her? 'Well' she thought to herself, 'if he wants to go on a second date enough then he'll get it from Karen'.

Matt was asking how the date had gone. She sent him a quick reply to tell him George was nice and that he'd asked for a second date, and that she'd see him on set tomorrow when Karen and Arthur would no doubt be grilling her on the subject anyway.

Another text from Matt. 'Are you still up?'

She replied that yes she was but didn't they both have to be on set in the morning?

'Yes but it would be good to have a chat'

That had her curious. Did he know something? He was certainly being a good friend.

She accepted and he was at her door five minutes later. She made him a cup of coffee and they sat on her sofa.

'So the date went well?' he asked.

'Yes, quite well. We talked about cycling and walking and a little bit about our jobs'

'Cool'

'So, how come you wanted to have a chat tonight then? What couldn't wait until tomorrow?'

'I may know something else about George that I didn't want to tell you until after your date...'

'What is it, Matt?' she asked, worried now.

'Um. ok. Well it's not terrible. But I thought you should know before you see him again'

'Just tell me, please'

'Ok. Well when he was paying for drinks, I saw a picture in his wallet, of a woman and a child. Now I don't want to make assumptions but I just thought I'd tell you'

'Do you think I should ask him about it? It could be his daughter, or his sister and niece? It could just be his family, Matt. Why are you so concerned about this?'

'Alex, please. I'm sorry. I feel stupid now. But there was something else too'

'Really?' Alex looked doubtful.

'Yes. He's bisexual'

Alex was quiet for quite a few seconds. 'Ok... well I suppose – wait, he told you that?' she rather doubted it.

'Well I know when a guy is gay or bi, Alex. And he was telling me how much he wanted to get to know you and told me you looked gorgeous. And then he mentioned that he needed an eyebrow wax and...'

'And what? An eyebrow wax doesn't mean a guy likes men, Matt'

'Let me finish, Alex'

'Ok'

'He told me I was pretty good looking too. Like he was hitting on me. So I asked why he was saying that and he just told me he was innocently flirting. So I asked why he was hitting on me and he told me he was bi'

'I'm going to have to ask him about this, you know' she sighed. 'It doesn't really bother me at the moment, but I guess it depends. If he was seeing a man as well then I'd call it off' she sighed again. 'I knew he was too good to be true'

Matt hugged her and smiled.

Chapter title from 'Jump in the Line' by Harry Belafonte again :)