“My name is Jessica...”

She wasn’t coming back. It was clear that our paths lay in different directions, different cities, different dreams. I was on my own again. I re-read the message in case I had misunderstood the meaning. No. There was no other interpretation.

I laid back on the pillow and tried not to cry. Single AGAIN!!! “Oh God, why?” I shouted out. I took a deep breath to regain control of my emotions.

“So what do you want?” the voice in my head challenged me to ask for exactly what I wanted.

So I prayed...“Dear Lord, thank you for [name], but PLEASE could I have a long-term girlfriend? Honest, trustworthy, compassionate, caring, intelligent, easy-going, good sense of humour, beautiful - oh and long hair and a fringe.” I added with a smile. I know I was being greedy, but, heh,why not go all-in!

I fell asleep with a smile on my face at the idea of asking God for a girl-friend (again!) - crazy, right? I had only once prayed for a girlfriend before - just before [name] turned up at the singles night I organised, so it worked before, why not now? Last time, I had just prayed for a girlfriend - any girlfriend - no additional characteristics and ended up with [name], but I thought this time I needed to be more specific. Better to be single than end up with the ‘wrong’ person.

A week went by, still no sign of any possibilities. Then I went to my English Corner in the local coffee shop. There were a number of regulars there and I started the discussion - I cannot remember what the topic was - two women turned up a little after we had started and I looked up as they opened the door. One of them was beautiful AND had long hair, but no fringe and she said, “Is this the English Corner?” and I smiled back and said, “Yes, you’ve found us! Welcome to my English Corner. Please could you introduce yourself?”

“Hi everyone, my name is Jessica...”