Who Knew?

Being stood up might just be the best thing that’s ever happened to unlucky-in-love Carole

- KAYLA STACEY

CAROLE shuddered. Another atrocious blind date. She wasn’t asking for much. But a man who tried to impress her by burping out the alphabet after a few beers was not on her list of top 10 favourite evenings.

Atrocious indeed. Carole let out a frustrated sigh as she folded away the last of her neatly pressed ironing.

She was a simple woman. Her life revolved around work, her pet goldfish and more work. As the personal assistant to the CEO of a prominent branding company, she was always kept on her feet with little relaxation time.

What was the point of going on date after date when she couldn’t find what she was looking for? What was she looking for?

A man who was gentle and kind. A man she could trust and with whom she could be completely vulnerable. A man who’d love her with and for her faults. A gentleman, she concluded to herself, that’s what I desire, a gentleman.

As a woman in her early 30s, she’d often wondered whether she’d find “the love of her life”. Did the notion actually exist? If it did, that guaranteed her her soulmate, right? Perhaps she’d missed that stage of her life?

Carole laughed and dismissed the thoughts from her mind – how silly she was being.

THE next morning, as she was leaving for her typical work-day, she stopped to admire her neighbour’s abundant rose garden. It was coming into summer and the roses had started to bloom and share their gentle beauty with the world.

Her favourite cherry-red rose bush was on full show, the delicate petals ruffled only slightly by the morning breeze.