Mr Perfect

Dating proves difficult in this lighthearted short story by Laura Tapper.

Georgie was looking for the ideal boyfriend. Would Dominic make the grade?

NO, it’s fine, really. I understand . . .” Speaking into her phone, Georgie kept her tone light, turning away from the mirror so she didn’t have to face her own disappointment.

“See you later, then.”

How frustrating. This was supposed to be her first proper night out in ages.

She and Dominic had seen each other a few times and she felt she’d got to know him pretty well through texts and e-mails, but they hadn’t yet had an opportunity to spend a whole evening together on what anyone would class as a real date.

Nevertheless, she’d felt there was something special about him ever since he’d needed to share her table one lunchtime in the crowded hospital café, while he was waiting to give his mum a lift home from an appointment.

With no hurry to get ready, she took her time doing her hair and makeup, putting her favourite earrings in and choosing her outfit.

Leaving her heels where they were, she pushed her feet into her fluffy slippers and made her way downstairs.

“That dress looks great on you. Dominic’s going to love it!” Tara leaned against the kitchen counter, licking the shiny lid of her yoghurt pot.

“If I’m still wearing it by the time he gets here.” Georgie’s voice was flat as she flicked the switch on the kettle.

“Please don’t tell me he’s standing you up again.” Brooke, who was sitting at the round table by the window, looked up from her magazine.

“If you ask me, you need to nip that in the bud.”

Georgie winced a little at the stern look her friend gave her.

The three of them had shared a house for a couple of years, since they’d completed their midwifery training, and there were no secrets between them.

When you worked long shifts at all hours of the day and night, experiencing the best and worst that humanity has to offer, you tended to bring it home to share with the people you lived with.

It was why they had such a strong bond; they understood each other, trusted each other and had each other’s backs.

Boyfriends came and went, but the three of them knew that these friendships would last for ever.

“That’s not really fair. He hasn’t let me down altogether; he’s just going to be late.

“His sister’s had some sort of crisis. He’s promised he’ll only be an hour or so.” Georgie felt she should stick up for him, as he wasn’t there to defend himself.

“Besides, there’ve been loads of times when I’ve been late for a date or cancelled at the last minute.”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Tara argued. “Nobody can expect you to leave a woman on the brink of delivery.

“Babies don’t understand shift changes and boyfriends have to accept that.”

“It doesn’t give him the right to leave you standing outside the cinema in the rain,” Brooke continued.

Georgie closed her eyes for a moment, wrapped her arms around herself and gave a small shudder, recalling their last “date”.

How cold she’d been, standing on the steps of the cinema, dodging the drips from everyone’s umbrellas and the splashes from the passing cars.

“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting! You must be frozen.” He’d run up to her breathlessly, hair plastered to his head.

“I promise there’s a good excuse.”

While she had been standing shivering in the dark, Georgie had found herself constantly switching between worried and annoyed, but once Dominic was in front of her, looking like he’d been through a carwash in a convertible, curiosity took over.

“Oh, don’t worry. Let’s

forget the film for tonight. I think we both need to get a hot drink and dry off,” she’d said.

They’d found a lateopening café, where they sat next to a radiator and he told her of his adventures.

On his way to the cinema, he’d rescued his neighbour, who’d slipped on the wet grass while she was running for her bus.

He’d dodged the traffic to gather up the tins, fruit and vegetables which had spilled from her shopping bag into the road and then given her a lift home.

In the face of her distress, missing the movie hadn’t seemed so important.

“I fully accepted his explanation,” Georgie protested.

“The trouble is, you’re too accepting.” Tara’s tone was firm.

“You need to decide what you want from a boyfriend and then stop tolerating less, otherwise you’ll find they just keep disappointing you.”

“Going out with them is supposed to make your life better. If it doesn’t, well . . . it should be ‘ adios, amigo’.”

Georgie thought for a moment. It sounded a little harsh, but Tara could be right.

She’d been brought up to believe that lateness showed a lack of respect.

Besides, since their training days, none of the girls had enjoyed resounding success in their love lives, so maybe all three of them should be choosier.

“OK, I’ll make a checklist and then see how Dominic measures up.” She went to the pinboard on the wall and tore a sheet off their shared shopping list pad.

“You guys can help, seeing as you’ve clearly got plenty of ideas on the subject.”

“Number one – reliable,” Brooke immediately shouted out.

“He’s got to be kind and have a sense of humour,” Georgie said, adding these to the list.

“Good with children.” “Tara!” Georgie exclaimed, frowning at her.

“What?” Tara held her hands out. “I just think you don’t want to waste your time with someone who won’t be right for the long haul. That only ever ends in tears.”

Brooke nodded.

“She’s got a point.” Georgie added it to the list, along with nice eyes, hard-working, never leaves the loo seat up, cares about the environment and knows how to apologise.

“What about ‘gets along well with your friends’?” Brooke sat back in her seat.

“I mean, there’s nothing worse than a guy who’s jealous of your girlfriends. Remember Wayne?”

All three of them groaned.

Brooke had dated Wayne for a short while a few months earlier and he had made it blatantly clear that he thought women only had female friends to fill the time while they were between boyfriends.

It was the pressure he’d put on her to pull out of a celebration dinner they’d been planning for Tara’s birthday that caused Brooke to give him his marching orders.

“Fair enough,” Georgie agreed, scribbling it down.

“And he’s got to be an animal lover.

“I know we can’t have one in this house, but at some point I’m going to want a dog.”

She held up the piece of paper.

“This is starting to look like a lot for anyone to live up to. Do you think we might be too picky?”

Brooke shook her head vehemently.

“Not at all – it’s good to be discerning. In fact, I’m beginning to think we should all use this list from now on.”

“Good idea. In which case, add sport watching only acceptable within reasonable limits,” Tara chipped in.

“You know, like we all enjoy a bit of Wimbledon or the Women’s World Cup or whatever, but those guys who watch every sport invented, up to and including the World TiddlyWinks Championships . . .”

She raised her eyes to the ceiling and mimed yawning.

Brooke stood up and came over to where

Georgie was writing, tapping her forefinger firmly on the counter.

“And gym-going: twice a week is fine. Twice a day, no way, José!”

All three girls laughed because they knew exactly who she was thinking about.

Tara’s last boyfriend, Luis, had been blessed with the kind of physique that most women would go wild over.

Unfortunately, she soon found out that keeping it that way took up almost all his time.

When he wasn’t in the gym, he was grooming, self-tanning or simply admiring himself in the mirror.

She’d quickly decided that there wasn’t room in their relationship for the two of them.

“And let’s add limits himself to sickly fruit centres and Turkish delights,” Tara suggested, when they’d calmed down.

“There’s nothing more annoying than a man who buys you a box of Milk

Tray and proceeds to scoff all the hazelnut whirls and caramels himself.”

Just then, a bell rang and Georgie gasped.

“That’ll be him!”

She held out the list and her pen to Brooke and smoothed her dress before answering the door.

“Wow! You look fabulous.” Dominic beamed. “These are for you, by way of apology.”

He handed her a box of chocolates and a bunch of supermarket flowers.

“I think the concert might be a write-off: it will be half over by the time we get there and the box office must be closed by now, anyway.”

“That’s a shame, but these should help ease the pain.”

Georgie shrugged and led the way down the hall to the kitchen, gesturing towards the table where her two friends had made themselves comfortable.

“This is Tara and this is Brooke.”

“Hi, Dominic. Come and join us.” Brooke smiled.

“It’s time we got to know you.”

Georgie put the kettle on again, listening as her housemates gave her new boyfriend a grilling, and she couldn’t help smiling.

His lateness might count against him, but that should be balanced out by the fact that it was because he’d looked after his sister’s two young children while she dealt with a problem at the care home where she worked.

It was clear from the way he spoke about Max and Holly that he was a doting uncle, especially when he got his phone out and showed off pictures of them doing all sorts together.

“I’ll open these, shall I?” Georgie put the coffees down and took the Cellophane off the box of chocolates, placing them in the middle of the table.

The girls all took one and then Tara slid the box towards Dominic.

“Oh, I shouldn’t,” he said, looking at Georgie. “They’re for you.”

She signalled to him to help himself, her mouth busy with a caramel.

He peered in the box and considered.

“Would anyone mind if I have a strawberry cream?

“They’re my favourite, but I don’t want to steal it if you’re saving the best till last.”

Georgie could almost hear a pencil ticking off another item on the list.

For once, it looked like her head and her heart could be in agreement, despite all Tara’s warnings.

As the evening was

“You need to decide what you want from a boyfriend”

slipping away and Georgie was on an early shift the next day, they decided to give up on the idea of going out, and instead watched an old episode of “Friends” on the television.

Georgie changed back into her jeans and joined Dominic on the sofa, while the other two took the armchairs.

They were soon all laughing, recounting their favourite scenes from other episodes.

It turned out Dominic used to watch it with his sister and knew as many of the lines as they did.

“I’m sorry I was so late and spoiled the evening,” Dominic said as Georgie walked him to the door when he was ready to leave.

“Don’t worry – I’ve had a lovely time. It was great for you to meet my two best friends.” Georgie stood on tiptoe for their goodnight hug.

“I think they like you,” she whispered in his ear. He squeezed her tight. “I hope so. They seem really nice and I know the importance of the sisterhood, so I was nervous about meeting with their expectations.”

“Well, I’m not sure that’s a done deal, yet, but I’d say you’re definitely on your way to getting the seal of approval.” Georgie laughed at his worried expression and gave him a kiss.

“Can I see you on Sunday? That’s your next evening off, isn’t it? Say seven-thirty?”

His hazel eyes sparkled with hope and, as much as Tara was always advising her to make them wait and keep them hanging, she couldn’t do it.

“That would be great.” Georgie treated him to a bright smile before adding, “Don’t be late, though,” with mock sternness.

Shutting the door, she turned to see Brooke coming down the staircase.

“Well, I just used the bathroom after him and I can confirm another big tick on that list.” She grinned.

“If he could only up his game on time-keeping.”

“He’s got another chance to prove himself next week.” Georgie held up her hand, showing her crossed fingers.

Throughout the next few days, a stuttering, timedelayed text conversation continued between Georgie and Dominic.

One feature of midwifery was that breaks didn’t always come at regular times, given how unpredictable babies tended to be, and shift work also made communicating with the outside world quite difficult.

That might explain why so many nurses ended up dating and marrying other people in the hospital.

At least they understood the pressures and the weird timetable of it all, rather than assuming they were being ignored or given the runaround.

To his credit, Dominic didn’t seem in the least perturbed, whether he got a reply after 10 minutes or 10 hours.

Sunday evening found Georgie back in her bedroom, deciding what to wear for her date.

Dominic hadn’t revealed where he was taking her, so she decided on smart casual: a pair of black jeans coupled with her favourite shirt and a soft sweater.

Tying her hair back out of the way, she headed downstairs for a quick cuppa before Dominic arrived, almost colliding with Brooke, who’d just come in, dripping wet, having spent the day at her mum’s.

“I assumed you were going straight to the hospital. What have you been doing?”

Georgie got a second mug out for her friend, who was busy stripping her outer layers off and hanging them over the clothes airer next to the boiler.

“Mum’s looking after my sister’s two boys and their dog for a few days.

“Liam and Tom decided to bath Lester in the downstairs bathroom, but they let him out in the garden without checking that the gate was shut.”

Brooke had a towel and was rubbing her hair dry.

“He shot away before anyone could get hold of him and we’ve all spent the last two hours trying to track him down.”

“That’s terrible,” Georgie sympathised, putting a hot drink on the counter.

“I’m sure someone will find him and take him to the police; he must be microchipped.”

“I kept telling the boys that, but they’re in such a state.

“When it started to rain, Mum took them home to give them something to eat.” Brooke glanced worriedly at the clock.

“Look, if you tell me where you’ve already searched, I’ll go out and see if I can spot him.” Georgie got her phone out.

“I’ll ring Dominic so he can meet me and join in.” Brooke laughed.

“Some romantic date that’s going to be!”

Georgie pulled a face.

“To be fair, he’s already late, he hasn’t messaged me, and he’s not even answering his phone now, so that might have been another fail, anyway.”

Quarter of an hour later, Georgie was walking the streets in the area close to where Lester had escaped, thankful that the rain had eased to a light drizzle.

She’d called the police station to make sure that he hadn’t been handed in and tried to think where a frightened dog might go to hide.

Heading to the park, she began looking either side of the path and wished she’d thought to bring a torch.

Pausing for a moment, she tried ringing Dominic again and heard a familiar tune coming from behind some bushes to one side of the park.

“Hold still . . .” The voice was strained. “Calm down, fella.”

“Dominic? Is that you?” Georgie followed the sound of the ringtone and found her date kneeling on the ground, struggling to keep hold of a muddy, wriggling, black and white dog.

“Georgie! I’m sorry I’m late again, but it’s not my fault.” He looked wet and completely harassed. “How on earth did you find me?”

“To be honest, I’m not here for you – I’m on the trail of this rascal,” she said, holding her hands out to the dog.

He wagged his tail and licked her palm.

“If you’re Lester, there are two little boys desperate to see you home safe and sound, you silly old thing.”

She quickly explained what had happened at Brooke’s mother’s house.

“He ran across the road in front of my car and I couldn’t just ignore him, with no owner in sight,” Dominic explained as he accompanied Georgie back to the park entrance with the dog.

“He’s got no collar on, so I assumed he must have escaped from somewhere, and I know how heartbroken anyone would be to lose a pet.”

“Brooke messaged me. Seems her mum can’t find enough good things to say about Dominic.

“Shame about your night out, though.” Tara came into the kitchen just as Georgie was unwrapping some fish and chips.

“It’s a long story, but this time he’s definitely the hero.” Georgie grinned.

“And we can safely say he’s an animal lover, so I reckon he’s a keeper.”

At that moment Dominic’s voice came through from the lounge.

“Is it OK if I put the darts on, Georgie? It’s a big match . . .”

Georgie turned to Tara, her eyes wide with alarm, but her friend shrugged, helping herself to a chip.

“We all want to find Mr Right, but Mr Perfect would really get on your nerves.” Tara wrinkled her nose.

“In that case, I think it’s time we tore up that list,” Georgie replied with a smile.

The End.