Free Imperfectly Perfect by AE Woodward Page A

because I knew that once I got home the boys wouldn't give a shit that I'm not married. I was also relieved because I actually knew what direction I wanted my life to head in. I had a plan. I needed to find me a man, and not just any man; I was going on the search for the perfect man.
    Everyone was supposed to have a soul mate right? We saw it in movies and books all the time. There was one person for everybody-I truly believed that-and surely it was only fair to think that there was that one person out there that had been created just for me. I just hoped he wasn't hiding. I had nine months before I turned thirty so I gave myself a deadline; I wanted to be headed in the direction of my 'happily ever after' by then. I had serious work to do.
    I could picture him easily. Tall, dark, and handsome, he would have the most wonderful smile, and piercing yet loving eyes. He would shower me with love, and place me on the pedestal that I deserved. Not only that but he would be a terrific father one day. I wanted to marry a man that would be the type of dad who took a vested interest in his children.
    On the airplane ride home I decided I needed to seriously consider the options a woman had to find a decent eligible bachelor in New York. Being the control freak that I was I decided to make a list of all the possible places and events I might find him.
    1. Work
    Probably not. I worked in the cruel hard world of advertising and most of the men at my office were complete slime balls. They were the type of guys who tended to talk to your chest rather than your face. I crossed this one out.
    2. Bars
    Upon further thinking, I decided this was probably another dead end. I'd already spent the last eight years of my life in bars and knew that single guys at bars are on the prowl. I should know because I had been too. Those men are not looking for a wife. The saying "why buy the cow, when you can get the milk for free" popped into mind. Another scribble.
    3. The Boys' friends
    I wrote this down and immediately scratched it out. The guys' only friends are each other and me. They occasionally hung out with a few of their coworkers, but they were hardly friends. Plus there was always the chance that I could put them in an awkward position if anything were to go wrong in the relationship and I would never want to do that to them. Aaargh! This was proving to be harder than I thought it would be.
    4. Online
    Eh, this one sort of creeped me out. Anyone could pose as anybody, and that just didn't sit well with me. I heard about a girl in college who did this. Granted it was relatively new at the time but she got totally duped. The guy was supposedly this big hunky college jock but...well let's just say she was immensely disappointed when she finally did meet him. Online dating never turned out to be a good thing; I've watched the show Catfish, and they're never who they say they are.
    5. Speed Dating
    I hated that I even wrote this down. All I could picture were these hairy forty-year-old men who lived in their mother's basement, sitting at a table with me, talking about World of Warcraft. But-as bad as it sucked-it seems like my only viable option.
    Shit.
    I sucked back my rum and coke and contemplated my less than favorable options; it wasn't looking good. But call me crazy-or stupid-by the time the plane landed at JFK I was giddy with excitement because I had talked myself into the whole speed-dating thing. I had to or I knew I wouldn't actually go through with it. I was absolutely sure that I couldn't go alone, so I decided I was going to trick the guys into going with me. I knew that if I told them where I was going to take them that they would refuse. But I also knew that ultimately they would enjoy themselves because we always had a hell of a time when we went anywhere together.
    I walked towards the carousel with my head on a swivel, looking for Tyler and Shane. I started speed walking when I spotted Shane next to the arrival/departure