Everything in our family was.
After that, the setup dates became relentless.
Elegant women with polished smiles and rehearsed personalities sat across from me at expensive restaurants, asking questions that sounded more like financial interviews than conversations.
Every encounter felt empty.
One night, after another unbearable dinner, I escaped into a tiny café downtown.
That was where I met Claire.
She moved through the restaurant with effortless warmth, laughing with customers, remembering everyone’s orders without writing anything down. She teased children, joked with exhausted office workers, and somehow made the whole place feel brighter.
When she reached my table, she topped off my coffee and smiled.
“You look like you’ve had a terrible day.”
“You have no idea,” I admitted.
“I’m Claire,” she said.
And before I even realized it, an impossible idea had begun forming in my head.
