by Claire Hitch

Created on: April 17, 2008

"That'll be the taxi," thought Jane as the door bell rang rather longer than was necessary. Fixing her earrings as she ran downstairs, she grabbed her coat and checked her hair. The doorbell rang again, this time more urgent and demanding than before.

"All right, all right, give me a chance," yelled Jane, annoyed at having to rush those all-important finishing touches. After one final glance in the mirror, she flung open the front door ready to give the taxi driver a piece of her mind but her irritation evaporated instantly as she saw an unexpectedly handsome face grinning back at her.

"Sorry, love, but I need to put my foot on it", the driver explained. "I've got an airport pick up at eight".

A few minutes into the journey, Jane found herself wondering just how closely related her taxi driver was to the Schumacher brothers. On the other hand, she had to admit it was a very appropriate way to arrive at the Flirty Flamingo for her first ever attempt at speed dating.

Jane was nervous as she entered the tacky pink bar edged with signature fluorescent flamingos winking flirtily from every wall. Lucio, dressed in unbecoming drainpipe leather trousers and a loose blouson-style shirt, was on hand to greet her. "Drink?" he asked handing her a glass of wine without waiting for an answer. "Might help to oil the wheels of lurve," he schmoozed.

The first taste of the lukewarm Chardonnay made Jane wince. Oblivious, Lucio rattled through the rules. "You're table 7. You have five minutes with each date. When the bell rings, guys move round, girls stay seated. Fill in the scorecard as you go. If you both tick the 'see again' box, we'll put you in touch. Now, go, go, go." he implored, shooing Jane to her seat before striking the starting bell with gusto.

For Jane, the thought of just one date was frightening enough, but the prospect of meeting up to ten new dates in one night was overwhelming. Single since the breakdown of her twenty year marriage two years ago, she was out of touch with the dating scene and didn't know where to start. In her younger days, she'd known exactly where to hang out but these days, it all seemed so business like. Jane had plucked up the courage to try the Internet but was disappointed after being instantly 'deleted' by several so called perfect matches. If speed dating didn't work, she didn't know where to turn. She was fed up of being on her own and time seemed to be running out.

Jane tried to control her nerves as her first hopeful approached.

"Hi,

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