Alice Brown's Lessons in the Curious Art of Dating Read Online Free PDF

office.
    ‘Coffee?’ Her breath was unsteady as she self-consciously put Audrey’s letter on her desk. ‘I’m nipping to the shop . . .’
    Audrey grunted but didn’t look up. Alice hovered expectantly. She’d put the handwritten envelope tantalizingly close to Audrey’s line of vision. The envelope was thick and cream, and was addressed in swirly gold calligraphy. Alice had been sent one too, and she had an idea what it might be. She paused, telepathically urging Audrey to see it. Audrey’s eyes were fixed on her computer.
    ‘Looks like you’ve got an invitation to something,’ Alice prompted. ‘It’s a handwritten envelope . . . with gold pen.’
    Everyone at Table For Two had a keenly developed ‘wedding radar’, and gold pen could only mean one thing . . . nuptials! Weddings were the holy grail of the dating agency. To set up a match that ended in a wedding was the golden goose of matchmaking. It was what all the staff – and all the clients – wanted most. It was the stuff that sent the company brochure to the printers for a revamp, and it was what prompted Audrey to hang the expense and take out an ad in the local gazette – not just to lure in new clients, but to lord it over the rival agencies too. In this age of one-night stands, virtual relationships and text sex, a wedding was a modern miracle.
    Audrey snapped her head up and gazed penetratingly atAlice. Alice could almost see the words ‘gold pen’ sinking in.
    ‘Yes, well, get along now.’ She shooed her away.
    Alice scuttled back to her desk, coat still on, and tore open her own handwritten envelope whilst simultaneously trying to spy on Audrey through the glass wall. Her heart beating fast, she yanked out the card. Her eyes danced along the words hurriedly, trying to take them in before Audrey could do the same . . . ‘Mr & Mrs Derek Whitworth’ . . . ‘request the pleasure of’ . . . ‘wedding’ . . . Yes,
wedding
!
    Alice’s eyes flew up to Audrey’s office. She could see Audrey’s eyes making their way across the same card, her hand creeping up to her bosom in excitement as she read.
    ‘. . . of Jason Christopher Lee to Jennifer Lesley Whitworth.’
    Jason and Jennifer! They were one of hers! Alice cried out in happiness. How fantastic! They were such a great couple. She’d set them up herself, and now they were getting married! She’d done it! She’d matched a marriage!
    Suddenly Audrey shot out from her office, waving the invitation aloft.
    ‘Ladies,’ she declared loudly, a wobble in her voice and a flush on her neck. ‘We have a Table For Two wedding!’
    The office erupted in squeals. Cassandra and Bianca hugged each other with delight. Hilary – wedged in her seat – wolf-whistled loudly. Audrey kept waving the invitation whilst triumphantly declaring, ‘
A wedding, a wedding!
’ Only Alice was quiet. She was staring at her own invitation, rereading it to make sure it was real.
    Mr & Mrs Derek Whitworth
request the pleasure of
... ... Alice Brown .....
at the wedding of
Jason Christopher Lee to Jennifer Lesley Whitworth
Bramley Church, Honey Blossom Lane
Saturday April 6th, 3 p.m. Followed by dinner & dancing at The Rectory
RSVP
    It was there in gold and cream. She’d done it. Another one of her matches had made it all the way to the altar! Jennifer had been her client for a few months, and as soon as Jason joined the books Alice had known they’d be a perfect match. And now they were getting married! Her eyes prickled with tears of happiness. She looked at her celebrating colleagues, a beaming smile on her face.
    ‘Of course, I always knew Jason and Jennifer were the real thing,’ Audrey said as she sank into the nearest seat and fanned herself with her invitation.
    Bianca was rummaging in the office fridge for the bottle of cava kept for special occasions.
    ‘I knew it the moment I set them up. I said to them, “Mark my words, I’ve got the perfect partner for you.” A matchmaker gets a sixth sense