Operation Soulmate by Diane Hall

meet you Toby, enjoy the rest of the seminar, take care, keep up the good work, yada yada yada, goodbye . Then you turn on your heels and leave... without. Looking. back.”
         “No! Oh, no... No way ” Geraldine almost hissed into the phone. She could feel Toby’s eyes burning into her back. This was all very uncomfortable!
          "Geraldine, are you going to trust me on this?” Geraldine’s natural impulses were interrupted once again by the annoying recollection of her promise to trust Ben, no matter what. But all this subterfuge and artifice, all these plots and subplots and counter-plots were just making her head spin. She just wasn't cut out for all these games. Surely, a good old-fashioned rejection was easier to manage! She glanced around at the packed room, literally teaming with possibilities. Who knew there were so many great guys out there?
         “Okay then, fine,” She said, ending the call decisively and somewhat petulantly.
    She turned back, just in time to see Toby being finessed by a small, but determined-looking woman, called Indira who was wearing a light, Summer pashmina and smelling of rich and exotic fragrances. Toby made eye-contact with Geraldine again and moved closer to her, as she nervously shoved her phone into the pocket of her summer dress. Eye-contact had to be a good sign, surely!
         “Toby, I’m so sorry; it’s been lovely meeting you but er...something has come up. I have a friend who really needs me at the moment. I can’t really explain just now. I’m sorry. Enjoy the rest of the seminar.” Well.... it was sort of true. Ben was her friend and he needed her....to leave...now... for some reason. She smiled weakly, before mustering every ounce of discipline in her irate little body, and turning towards the exit. But before she even had a chance to walk away she heard Toby’s velvety tones, travelling into her consciousness in a dangerously evocative way.
         “Perhaps, you’d like to explain some other time.... over dinner ...” He said, with exactly the kind of calm self-assurance she’d been trying to conjure up all morning. She was stunned. Ben was a genius; It was official, and there was just no doubt about it. Geraldine promised herself, once again, that from now on, she would absolutely and definitely do whatever Ben asked of her, without hesitation. After quickly giving Toby her number and waiting while he insisted on calling her straight away to make sure she also had his, she very calmly and elegantly shook his hand before gliding out of the room, looking every bit like someone who was not at all ruffled in a crisis. In a flash, Brogan was by her side, like a flaming, red super-heroine and Ben, lovely, wonderful, genius, Ben stood waiting in the hotel lobby, holding the door open for both of them as they skipped lightly out onto the pavement.
         “Wow! What just happened in there?” said Brogan, happily. “That was wild !”
         “Oh my God, I think I’ve got a date,” said Geraldine, unable to contain her sheer amazement. “Oh thank you Ben, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she added, squeezing his arm for good measure and then reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek, when arm-squeezing just didn’t seem enough to express her gratitude. Ben blushed, ferociously but Geraldine didn’t see it. She was too wrapped up in all the excitement about her date with Toby. But Brogan saw it... and Ben saw Brogan seeing it. Brogan smiled a slightly, irritating lop-sided smile, while Ben collected himself quickly and slipped, almost seamlessly back into professional mode.
          “Okay, that’s just the first step.” He said. “Welcome to the wonderful world of dating...”
          “Oh Ben,” said Brogan, grinning mischievously, “That was such a great day, thank you! And it’s so nice of you to come along with us... all this way...and on a Sunday.” Ben smiled, nervously.
          “That’s okay,