"Come on in, we're just waiting for you!" The woman said with slight, and seemingly fake French accent.

As we passed the 'wall' of heavy curtains, a bar-like room opened up in front of us. There was a pool table on the left, which was now cluttered with coats and bags. The tables were small, arranged in the center of the room and... seven in number. Three from one end, three from the other, and right in the middle was the seventh. Only the seventh was empty. At the bottom, right across from us, was the bar. The bartender glanced at us briefly, then returned to his work. On the right side was something like a VIP box.

I eyed at Oliver, he was looking around too, but then our eyes met and we nodded at each other.

He turned to the woman who pushed us into this room, "Excuse me, madam, but we don't understand what's going on here."

"How so?", she asked in astonishment, "You are the seventh couple for our speed dating session."

Oliver and I looked at each other and formed "speed dating" with our lips, and then we got it all - the decorations and everything, and grinned at each other.

"We haven't missed Christmas!" We said at the same time and laughed.

The woman frowned.

"I didn't understand your joke, but it doesn't matter. Sit down at your table already, because soon..." she turned her hand and stared at her watch, "Oh mon Dieu!" She exclaimed, "We have to start in a minute! Vite vite! Take your seats!"

"No, you didn't understand us", I said as I approached her, "We're not here for the speed dating. We're looking for...", I reached into my coat pocket and took out the note with the addresses, looked at it, and read the name aloud, "Melissa Laurent."

"I'm Melissa Laurent," the woman replied, and this time the French accent was more prominent, and it didn't sound fake. Hmm, maybe I got it wrong the first time.

Oliver and I smiled at each other, beaming with joy that we found her.

"Mrs. Laurent, we're coming to ask you," Oliver began, but she raised her hand to interrupt him.

"It's less than a minute, there's no time, we have to..." but then she was interrupted by a thin and tall man in a suit.

"Melissa, darling, your watch is running fast again. Calm down! It's five minutes to 14:07", he said suavely.

She frowned and glared at her watch, then smiled at the man and said, "Thanks Freddy, I would be terribly wrong. We can't start neither before 14:07 nor after. You know it. Merci chéri!"

"Mrs. Laurent," I tried again, "after we have five minutes can you listen to us."

She frowned and nodded reluctantly.

"We're here," Oliver started, "because you bought cookies from the bakery "Sweet moments" yesterday." She thought for a moment, her eyes brightened and nodded, her eyes were filled with curiosity, "but we may have given you a box that was for someone else."

"How so?" Anxiety and curiosity fought in her eyes, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

I took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing, "There may be a smaller box with an engagement ring in your cookie box. We're looking for that ring. It's very important!" I explained briefly, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh, you'll even get engaged, but it's perfect! Magnifique!" She said, clapping her hands happily.

"No, madam," I said, "we just ..."

But Oliver stepped over to me, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me closer to him. I looked at him in surprise, forgetting every thought I had in my mind.

He smiled at me and winked slightly, then turned to the woman.

"The thing is," Oliver smiled guiltily and scratched his neck, but this time it was different, because it wasn't an instinctive manifestation of nervousness, but a fabrication of it. I realized he was up to something and relaxed a little. "Why was I actually tense?" I asked myself, but then I noticed the heat that began to spread from his body into mine, and I answered the question myself. And then another heat wave hit my cheeks and I looked shyly at the woman.

"I wanted to surprise Ashley with the ring, but there was confusion in the bakery and I got a box without a ring, and the one with the engagement ring went to another customer...", Oliver explained, but he paused before continuing, "and my girlfriend and I think it might be in your cookie box."

"Oh, you're going to get engaged!!!" Mrs. Laurent exclaimed again, completely ignoring the rest of the information Oliver shared with her.

"Is the box with you to check for the ring?" Oliver insisted.

"The box? What a box!?", she asked, but then remembered, "Oh, the cookies! I think it's still in my car. Yes, there should be it."

"And where is your car?", I asked.

"At the parking lot behind the restaurant, where else?!", she replied.

Oliver and I sighed in relief.

"Can we go now and check for the ring?" I asked impatiently.

"Of course not! We need to start soon! We can check for it later. Now go! Take your seats!", she urged us.

But I refused to move.

"No, madam, we...", I tried, but Oliver pulled me slightly to stop me.

I looked at him and he formed only with his lips "leave it to me."

"Okay, but can you first explain to us what we need to do," he said.

"Oh, don't you know!?", her joy evaporated, slightly.

"No. Nobody explained it to us."

"Freddy do we have time?"

"Two minutes, darling."

"Okay then. These are quick dates, but in my style. Seven couples, at seven tables, six of them will change seven times, spending seven minutes with each other. And you... You are the seventh couple, but you will not exchange with the others. You are the couple for example."

"A couple for example!? How so?" I asked.

"Yes. A couple we have matched together. You are here to give hope and to help others relax. Those people", she drew our attention to the people at the six tables with a wide hand gesture, "are here for our super successful quick dating session, and they are looking for the one. And you as a couple are here to show them that is possible and they could be at your place next time", Melissa Laurent explained.

Oliver and I looked at each other in amazement.

"Um, but you didn't bring us together," he said.

"Well, yes...", she waved her hand at him, emphasizing that she knew that but didn't really care, "but they don't need to know that! After all, this is the third quick dating session we organize, it's normal not to have real couples we've matched", we looked at each other and then at her questioningly.

"I'm just trying to create an atmosphere full of love, that's it!", she explained.

"Well, that explains the decoration worthy of Valentine's Day", I muttered quietly enough so only Oliver could hear me. A frolic smile was playing on my lips, and I looked at him to see his reaction.

He smiled back, and bit his lower lip slightly to stop the burst of laughter. I did the same.

"And what is expected of us?" Oliver asked.

"Just act normal, like a couple on a date, you know. During the 49 minutes of the other dates, you will talk, drink cocktails from the bar and so on. What you're doing on your actual dates do it here, well, withouth kissing, of course. We don't want to distract the others, do we?", she asked with mischievous smile, and added, "You don't need to do anything in particular. I can spot from a far that you're both in love with each other, and happy to be together. That's absolutely enough!"

A new wave of heat slid across my face, I glanced furtively at Oliver and saw that he, too, blushed. And this time he involuntarily scratched his neck with his free hand. My stomach fluttered. Instinctively, I pressed closer to him, still watching him stealthily, and I liked his reaction - he tightened his grip on my waist and blushed a little more. I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.

"Okay", I said, "We'll be your couple for example, but as soon as the 49 minutes are up, we're going to check for the ring in your cookie box!"

She nodded, "Okay, no problem. Just take your seats already. I don't want to fill the room with my anxiety, that will spoil the whole atmosphere", she furrowed her brows, "Allez! Vite vite! Go and spread you mutual love in the air. Allez, allez!"

I could feel my face burning. I nodded to her, and didn't dare to look at Oliver because I knew my face was extremely red. He pulled me lightly to him and we went for... our table, still pressed to each other. I swallowed hard, and my stomach fluttered again, and again.

We got to the table in the middle. He held my chair and pushed it lightly as I sat, like a perfect gentleman.

"What do you want to drink?", he asked with a peculiar smile.

"Water. Just water", I barely said, slightly embarrassed by I felt my mouth really dry, and the spark in Oliver's eyes didn't help at all, on the contrary, it made my stomach fluttered again, and heat wave spread all over my body.

He went to the bar to get something to drink for both of us, and I pressed my hands on my cheeks.

"Gee! I was burning!" I should've told him to get ice.

***

Author's note:

*This is the meaning of the French phrases here and there in the text.

Vite vite! - Hurry fast! 

Oh mon Dieu! - My goodness!

Merci chéri! - Thank you darling!

Magnifique! - Wonderful!

"Allez! Vite vite!... Allez, allez!" -  "Come on! Quick, quick!... Come on, go!"