Not A Suitable Boy

I was standing in the courtyard last week, talking on the phone. A lady who was passing by saw me and stopped. She did make as though she’d stopped to talk to me but I couldn’t be sure because, although I’ve seen her around for years, we’ve never spoken to each other. But, it was pretty obvious she wanted to have a word. So, I told the person I was talking to that I would call back and hung up. “Are you interested in alliance?” she asked, as soon as I’d nodded tentatively in greeting. “Oh god,” I thought. “She’s selling insurance!” But, as it turned out, Allianz, the insurance company, was barely on her mind. “Matrimonial alliance,” she said helpfully because the incomprehension must have shown on my face. Er, what? She asked if I’d be interested in meeting her friend’s daughter, an interior designer and, apparently, a very nice person. To say that I was taken aback would be an understatement.

I’m hardly the eligible bachelor and, as far as the marriage market goes, not nearly a good catch. Yet, oddly, this is the third time in the last year that someone from my neighbourhood has asked. Baffling, actually.

Although I told her that this way won’t work for me, she asked me to think about it and left. And, that was that...or, so I thought.

And, as always, I was wrong! She came over a few minutes ago to ask if I’d given the whole thing a thought. Here I am, tearing my hair out in this raging frustration because absolutely nothing is going right with this project I’m working on and there she is asking if I’d like to meet the ‘girl’. Just as I’m starting to see why my cameraman thinks I’m jinxed, she comes in and shows me the woman’s photograph and asks me to meet her before taking any decision.

The old lady is sweet and means well, I know, but I’m really surprised. Obviously, the rules of the game have changed!