Mismatched

Ch. 3

By opening the next morning, I was expecting the worst-case scenario. I was ready for complaints with the Better Business Bureau. Hell, Riley was a writer, maybe he'd already published an article bashing the business, and the Google reviews would start tanking.

At the very least, I was expecting an angry voicemail and a slew of emails. I'd even contemplated the possibility that he had asked around town and gotten Judy's personal number, and I'd be greeted by her in the store this morning, welcoming me to my own funeral.

I'd happened to wear all black, so I was even dressed for the occasion.

To say I was shocked by how eerily perfect everything seemed to be when I walked in was an understatement. The voicemail was empty, the Google reviews untarnished, and the email inbox did not include any emails from him.

I couldn't let the shock fade to relief, though, because I'd had the displeasure of meeting Riley. And I thought I knew him well enough to know that this just meant he hadn't plotted his next move yet.

There would be a move. I just still didn't know what it was.

I spent the morning uneventfully, inputting questionnaires and answering phone calls. When I ran out of things to input, I started planning dates and making reservations. I made a list of people to call for the afternoon, and it was looking like I may even finish early.

I was just filing some paperwork away into the cabinets when the bell over the door rang, signaling someone was here. I turned to see my sister, Lesley, walking in.

She was the youngest of my older sisters, and everyone always said we could be twins, with the same messy, dark blond hair and green eyes. She was also tall, which she was accentuating today with heeled knee-high boots.

"Hey, I'm surprised to find the place in one piece," she joked with a wink.

"You sound like Mom," I replied, closing the cabinet and turning back to the desk. I still had ten minutes before I was allowed to close for lunch with Lesley, so I settled into the desk chair as she sat on an antique loveseat across from it.

We were probably the closest of all my siblings. I'm sure in part it was because of our age, but I think it was mostly because of how unimpressive we were.

Lesley was far more accomplished than me, working as a kindergarten teacher in the town school. But she wasn't Grace the doctor, or Jenna the physicist. No, we were the unequivocal failures of the family. On top of that, Lesley was also my only unmarried sister.

With me, marriage was the last thing on my parents' mind. They were just desperately trying to keep me from moving back into their basement. But Lesley had her life together just enough that they were starting to remind her that she "wasn't getting any younger" and that her standards were "just too high" and "what about that guy Jeff who you used to go to swimming lessons with when you were eleven? I heard his wife just died of cancer".

I wanted to laugh, but I knew it would be my future soon enough. In fact, I hoped Lesley stayed single, just so it took some of the pressure off me. Maybe if I got lucky, she'd even get fired.

"Does helping all these people find love make you want to date at all?" she asked, and I violently shook my head.

"Are you kidding? It all feels so pathetic. Like, really, would you trust Aunt Judy to set you up with someone?"

"I don't know, I was thinking about it. Prospects have been slim recently, and cuffing season is going to be here soon," she said with a small smile.

Lesley hadn't been in a relationship in over two years, since she found out her boyfriend of four years was cheating on her. Everyone, including Lesley, thought that they were going to get married. She handled it shockingly well, but she'd been alone ever since. I'd assumed she was happy that way.