“Trust me, Laura, there's nothing wrong with having some time on your own,” Sophie advised her. “What about your business? I thought you wanted to concentrate on that for a while.”
Laura owned a gift card shop in town and it was her pride and joy. Nobody ever seemed particularly enthusiastic when she told them about her dream business, but Laura loved her work. She loved spending hours picking out which cards she would feature on her boutique shelves.
She loved chatting with the local girls who made beautiful greeting cards with tiny little bows and crystals, and carefully selecting the most beautiful for her store.
She loved talking with the customers and engaging in conversation. She had been dealing with some of her customers for so many years now, that she even knew whose birthday it was as soon as Mrs. Thompson walked into the store to buy a card for her grandson, or Mr. Davis came to buy another anniversary card for his wife. Laura liked the little insights she had into the lives and loves of the local community and she loved being her own boss.
“I know,” Laura repeated, “and I do want to concentrate on it, but after a long day of seeing everyone else buying anniversary cards, or engagement cards, or birthday cards for their wives, it just feels so depressing to come home to an empty house. Do you know how bad it was in February? It felt like I was the only single person in this whole town.”
Sophie laughed lightly on the other end of the phone. “I don't know why you worry so much,” she said. “I like being single.”
“Yes, but you're good at it,” Laura complained. “You've got that blonde-haired blue-eyed tall model look going on. You've got your pick of men.”
“You could have your pick too, if you realized how hot you are,” Sophie told her. “But you stopped being fun after college.”
“I was working on my business,” Laura said defensively.
“Yes, I get that,” Sophie replied, “but you stopped getting out and about. You lost the knack for it.”
“You think I don't know that?” Laura laughed. “Every time a handsome man talks to me, I get all flustered. I can never really believe that they're interested in me.”
“Then that's your problem,” Sophie told her wisely. “You don't take control of your body. How is a guy meant to know how sexy you are if you don't know it?”
“Well, what do you suggest?” Laura asked her. “Should I just start jumping into bed with people?”
“In my experience, it doesn't hurt now and then,” Sophie chuckled. “I'm not saying that a string of wild encounters is the answer, Laura, but you need to find some way to let loose a little bit and stop looking for this clean cut, sensible man who isn't going to make any waves in ‘the plan.’”
Laura could hear the sarcasm in Sophie's voice as she said the last two words. “The plan” was Laura's life plan, which she'd had in place since she was sixteen. She would graduate college, start a business, and then find a man to settle down with and marry, all in good time. They would date for two to three years, be engaged for another two, and then marry when she was twenty-seven. Of course, she'd just turned thirty now, so was a little behind schedule, but that just made her even more obsessed with getting “the plan” back on track.
“Hey, I like having a plan,” she said defensively. “It's nice to know what's coming.”
“Except you don't know,” Sophie told her meaningfully. “You keep waiting for this guy who is going to fit into this mold you've already made and it means that the perfect guy is going to pass you by because you're too scared to shake things up a little.”
“You don't know that,” Laura replied uneasily. “Besides, if he doesn't fit into the plan, then he wouldn't be perfect anyway.”
“Do you remember Jan and Harry?” Sophie asked her.
“Of course I do.”
“Well, you know they're getting married this year, don't you?”
“Yes,” Laura said. “I was annoyed that I wasn't invited.”
“Forget that,” Sophie said. “The point is, Jan was top of our class. The high-flying know-it-all with impossible ambition. We all thought she was going to end up with Edward, because he was at the top of his class and they used to speak to each other in that weird, formal way that made everyone else uncomfortable, but at the same time it was kind of cute, because they just seemed to fit together. Do you remember?”
“You know I do.”
“Well, who did Jan end up with?” Sophie prompted, before emphatically answering the question herself. “Harry. And you know why? Because he got her out of the library and out of her comfort zones and then she lost the ponytail and finally became bearable.”