"Hmmm…" He uttered as he looked at his screen.
"What is it?"
"It's your future husband. He’s applying!" A satisfied smile came over Nick’s face, and to be honest, a similar one stretched over mine as well as we went back to hugging each other.
If it wasn’t for my cellphone ringing, we would never have broken off our emotional hug. The uniquely defined ringtone revealed that it was Sam, my agent, even without me having to look at the screen to verify it.
"Here we go…" I said to Nick while releasing a sigh of frustration and then answered my agent's call.
"Naomi?" For some reason, I wasn’t able to say anything to him. "Naomi, can you hear me?" Still, not a sound came out of me. "I don’t know how you came up with this, but it's absolutely ingenious!" I tilted my head and shared a confused gazed with Nick. "I mean... If it's really you that initiated this public search for love... I mean... Was it you? Naomi, say something! Did anyone hack into your computer? Are you there? Naomi?"
"I…" I cleared my thought. "Listen, I…" Again, I had to clear my thought.
"Oh, no! It wasn’t you! Don’t worry, we'll sue! This can still be good publicity for you, even though I wanted to hear that you're a marketing genius, but—"
"Answer him." Nick tried to rush me using one of his threatening looks.
"Tell him what? What can I possibly tell him, Nick?" I asked after muting the microphone on my side of the call while Sam, my agent, went on and on and on.
"Anything is better than this silence treatment of yours. I hate it when you get quiet. It's nerve-racking!" Nick scolded me.
"Naomi? Dear? I know you can hear me. Get me off mute!"
"Okay, Sam, I'm here." I turned the microphone back on and admitted I could hear him loud and clear.
"Dear, this could be exactly the kind of publicity stunt to make you huge! Are you here? Can you hear me now?"
"Sam, I'm here, but you should know that—"
"Here, she is! My superstar! The future bride to be, Naomi Sloan!" He tried to sound like a TV host, and I could already imagine what a media circus he was going to make of Nick’s project.
"Are you done, Sam?"
"Well, that depends. I'm waiting for you to explain what's going on. Is this your doing, or are we going to sue someone for this?"
"It's my doing, with an emphasis on mine and mine alone."
"Meaning?" Sam asked for clarification.
"Meaning I want to do this in private."
"Private? You posted your search for love online!"
"Nevertheless, finding my true love is not going to be used as a marketing stunt."
"Naomi, you can't make such a move and expect people not to talk about it."
"Oh, I'm sure they'll talk about it. We're just not going to respond."
"Not going to… I mean… So what's the point of putting yourself out there as a—"
"Sam!" I raised my voice in the hopes of interrupting him before he'd finish his sentence. "We're not responding to any questions from the media on this matter. Am I clear?"
"But maybe we could just explain that you're trying to—"
"No. No explanation whatsoever, Sam. The only thing we have to say on this matter is 'No response'."
"Naomi, please…" Sam sounded as though he was in distress.
"This is not up for negotiation, Sam. I need to hear you say that you understand that."
"Ugh! You'll be the end of me, Naomi Sloan! You're sure to be my bitter and unbearable end!"
"I might just be, but this thing I took on is going to be my brand new beginning."
"If this is not for PR purposes, then I can't for the life of me understand what you're trying to achieve."
"I'm not trying to achieve anything. I'm going to achieve it, Sam."
"What is this 'it' you're referring to if I may ask?"
"It's everything I ever wanted. I'm not hoping to get it, I will get it. I'll get it all!"
"You tell him, sister," Nick whispered in the background.
"Please, Naomi. Humor me." Sam really did sound miserable. "What is it that you want so badly to get from this?"
"A wedding ring," I answered with a single exhale that said it all.
I never wanted to be famous, but I got there. Neither did I wish for a splendid apartment or a well-padded bank account, yet these two goals that weren’t mine, to begin with, somehow got within my grasp.
All I ever asked for myself, ever since I was a young girl, was true love.
I asked for someone I could cook a romantic meal for. Someone who would keep me warm at night and leave me so filled that I’d leave Mike in a drawer for lack of need.
All I ever wanted was someone who'd laugh at my jokes and make me laugh at his. Someone who would be mine and I would be his.
All I could do is hope that maybe after declaring myself as the bachelorette, I’d finally find him.
I, Naomi Sloan, was holding out for the brave candidates to dare to say they'd be my match made in heaven. I just hoped that they would.
"Oh God, please let there be at least one..." I hissed after hanging up with my disappointed agent, Sam.
Chapter 5
Saturday morning arrived after the two craziest days of my life. I couldn’t concentrate on anything except the list of questions that Nick didn’t answer. We talked in length about his precious plan, yet he drew a very clear line where my hunger for information was going to have to be satisfied and said nothing more than he wanted to. I agreed to lay off him in regards to most of my queries but one. I begged him to tell me how many men applied as my match, yet he strongly refused to give me a ballpark figure, even though I asked, and I asked, and I asked about it. All he was willing to say is that I no longer had to worry about nobody daring to step up, and if I'm being honest, that was all I needed to know to be at ease.
"Morning, sunshine. I know you're anxious about tonight, but as I said, there are men (and if you must know quite a few women) who thought they could make you happy for the rest of your life. All you have to do is decide who will be there tonight for the man screening and picking party, and make sure that I leave your apartment with a full stomach."
I read Nick’s text message right after opening my eyes, and I could easily see how pleased he was with himself.
I had to hand it to him. He was right.
That landing page was live for twenty-four hours, and after a little attention from the media about the meaning of it, it seemed as if people thought it was a joke.
I got out of bed and took a deep breath, knowing that later that evening, I would be hosting the Man Screening and Picking Party, which Nick demanded. He said he would be in charge of the process and asked me to invite two of my friends.
He said they needed to be friends I believed would want what's best for me and demanded that I prepare some of his complex favorite dishes as our refreshments for the party.
According to Nick’s request, I invited my good friends, Maya and Dolly.