‘I don’t think you’re telling the truth, Mark, so don’t treat me like a bloody fool. Do you know who I am?’
He nodded.
‘Then you’ll also know just how far I’ve travelled to be here to meet your brother. And if he’s told you anything about me then it’s that I’m no pushover and I don’t like being taken for a ride. So I’m not leaving here until he’s had the guts to talk to me face to face. I don’t care if he has a wife or a girlfriend, I want the truth from him. And I’m not setting foot out of this house until I get it.’
Mark looked baffled and he again began to mumble unintelligibly.
‘It’s OK, Mark,’ came Kevin’s voice from the doorway.
She turned her head quickly to face her DNA Match, and her mouth fell open at his appearance.
‘Hi Jade. Not quite what you were expecting, am I?’ he asked.
Chapter 24
NICK
The midday traffic was at a standstill and frustrated drivers were blasting their horns as Nick and Sally arrived at Birmingham’s Colmore Circus.
An accident in the Queensway tunnels had reduced four traffic lanes down to one, and there were ceaseless drilling and thumping sounds coming from construction workers who were erecting a new multi-storey building on the concrete ashes of a recently demolished office block.
Nick raised his head to look at their destination and spotted the name emblazoned in red-and-black lettering across two third-floor windows – ‘One-2-One Physio’. With his advertising and marketing background, he mentally ripped apart the dated choice of font and graphic.
‘Why am I doing this?’ he asked Sally again.
‘Because we both need to know if there’s any spark between you and this man.’
‘That’s ridiculous,’ Nick argued, as he had frequently since learning he’d been DNA Matched with a man. ‘I’m a heterosexual bloke who isn’t physically attracted to men. First off, there will be no spark and, secondly, in the remotest chance possible there might be, how can one even fucking measure or quantify what a spark is?’
‘You told me the night we first met in the bar that you knew there and then that we’d end up getting married,’ she said. ‘You said that you felt your heart flutter. Now, for my own peace of mind, I need you to meet this guy to find out if your heart flutters for him too. Otherwise you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering.’
‘No, babe,youwill spend the rest of your life wondering. I will spend it wondering why on earth I’ve apparently been Matched with a guy when it’s a woman I’m head over heels in love with.’
‘There’s no “apparently” about it, Nick. It’s science and science is based on fact, whether you believe it or not. You have to do this.’
Nick took a deep breath and took Sally’s face in his hands and kissed her deeply on the lips. While outwardly he was giving the appearance of not caring to meet his Match, inside Nick had a growing curiosity about the man he supposedly shared a link with.
‘Well, let’s get this over with.’ He sighed.
‘I’ll be in the Costa over the road when you’re done.’
Nick gave her a half-hearted smile, pressed the buzzer on the door, and once it opened, made his way up three flights of stairs to the reception desk.
‘Hi.’ He smiled nervously at the young receptionist who had a tattoo of a rose on her hand. ‘I’ve got an appointment with Alexander at 2.30.’
‘David Smith?’ she asked, glancing at the schedule on her screen. Nick nodded, pleased he’d changed his name. If Alexander had also requested the contact details of his pairing, Nick hadn’t wanted to forewarn him they were about to meet face to face. ‘You need some physio on your neck and shoulder, is that right?’ she continued.
‘Yes.’
‘OK, just fill out this form and Alex will be with you in a few minutes.’
Nick sank into an armchair and began to complete the brief questionnaire about his bogus ailment. Along with his name, he’d also made up the whiplash he’d received in a recent non-existent car accident.
‘David?’ A deep but friendly voice with an accent Nick couldn’t quite place came from behind him. Nick turned to find a smiling Alexander standing in the doorway.
‘Y-yes,’ Nick stammered.
‘I’m Alex,’ he began and held out his hand to shake Nick’s. ‘Come in and let’s take a look at you.’
