Chandni the Matchmaker

The possibility that I might be being set up for robbery and a beating hadn't occurred to me until that moment. More fool anyone that was going to put this much effort into an attempted theft, though, because there were far better targets than me.

I was nervous, more nervous than I'd like to admit, so rather than dawdle any longer, I just went inside. I went to the gaming room, found the sign that Chandni had told me about, and a chair upon which a woman in jeans and a red top was perched, disinterestedly playing the pokie machine.

A good portion of my day had been spent wondering what my date might look like. I didn't know how old she was, or if she was thin or fat, attractive or not, and what her personality might be like.

But as I approached the woman, I had the gut feeling that I already knew her. Del, it was Del the cricketer, who was helping out Gary the groundsman. Dalaja must be her first name, but I was very confident it was her, there was something about the way she moved that was unique to her. The closer I got, the more my suspicions were confirmed, but I kept walking. I was either being set up, or we were both being set up, or there was something weird going on, but in some odd, fucked up way, I was actually glad it was Del. I'd had conversations with her before. She was attractive. At the very least, we could talk about cricket.

She could see me approaching, her eyes kept flickering over to the side, but she didn't turn her head until I was standing directly beside her. She was very pretty all made up, and the style of clothes she was wearing was very typical of what an Australian woman in her age bracket would wear out, with the exception of her earrings. Her earrings, and the matching necklace, were a bright, shiny, high-purity gold.

'Hi,' I greeted. 'Were you expecting me, or someone else?'

'You,' she confessed.

I licked my bottom lip and pulled up a stool. I reached over and pressed the button to play three lines on her machine, and Del and I watched as she won a grand total of twenty cents. She was playing two cents a line, so proportionately, it wasn't terrible.

'I hate the pokies,' she blurted out. 'They're boring.'

She was so anxious it jolted me into a protective sort of mode. I didn't want her to be scared. No one wants a woman to be scared when they're with them, though, do they?

'No?' I asked. 'I love them. Can't play them too often, though, or I'd end up addicted.'

'Really?'

'Yep.' I pressed a button to play five lines. 'But I tell myself I'm only allowed one vice, and I like smoking too much to give it up.'

We didn't win, so this time I played two lines. Again, no win, and Del wasn't speaking, just sitting there nervously. She was normally fairly chatty, so I picked up her hand and led it to the buttons.

'Your turn,' I said. 'It's your money.'

She flashed me a nervous smile. 'I'm sorry.'

'Why are you saying sorry?'

'Because you're... angry?' she guessed.

'I'm not angry. Just surprised. Did you recognise me when Chandni told you about me? Or is the whole thing a set up?'

She pressed the button, playing seven lines.

'The whole thing was a set up,' she admitted. 'I wanted to ask you out, but was worried that if I did it directly, you might laugh and tell everyone. Chandni - who is a friend of mine - and I hatched a plan. She was actually supposed to drop by and see you at work, but she saw you in the park, when she was out going for a walk, and thought she'd take advantage of the moment.'

'Wait, how did she know who I am?'

'She's the mother of one of the men in your team.'

'Oh. I didn't recognise her.' I shrugged and pressed the button to play one line. 'That's not surprising, though. I'm terrible with remembering names and faces.'

'To be fair, I doubt you two were ever introduced.'

Another question occurred to me.

'Do any of your family know about this?' I asked.

'Fuck no,' she exclaimed, horrified at the mere suggestion. 'They'd be mortified.'

The language made me smile.

Del blushed and apologised for it before continuing. 'Chandni just saw me talking to you, and staring at you, and she realised I liked you. We discussed my situation. I'm a dark skinned Indian woman who left her husband. She wasn't really thrilled that you were a divorced Australian, but she understood that owing to your situation, you might be more likely to overlook my faults...'

'Leaving your husband makes it impossible for you to find another Indian husband?' I asked. I didn't mention the skin colour, there was no way I was touching that kettle of fish.

'It makes it very, very hard,' she said. 'Unless I was marrying someone who wanted citizenship, but that's not what I want, I don't just want to find another husband. I don't want another bad relationship.'

'Did you get a lot of grief for leaving your husband?'

'Tons. Absolutely tons. But I'd tried for so long to speak to him. I wanted him to do something. I hated working, then coming home to cook and clean, or even worse, coming home from work to find out my mother-in-law had done everything and was upset with me for not having it all under control. All the while, my husband would have been sitting around doing nothing.'

'Sounds tough,' I said. 'You've not getting any judgement from me. I left my wife. Sometimes the person who ends things legally isn't the person who ended the actual relationship.'

The expression on her face was one of gratitude mixed with an emotion that suggested I'd never fully be able to understand her situation, and I accepted that, I truly did. The whole idea of a family member arranging my marriage sounded, quite frankly, fucking horrifying. Maybe it was useful in another culture, where wealth and connections needed to be grown and shared in order for people to survive, but that wasn't the case in Australia, and we were in Australia, not India.

'So,' I said, wanting to lighten things up a bit. 'Why are you going out on a date if you're playing tomorrow?'

Del cracked a smile. 'We have a by.'

'Damn. The men's social side doesn't. You better not get me too drunk.'

She laughed. 'Is that one of the rules? I can't get you drunk, and I can't let you play the pokies too much?'

I grinned. 'Pretty much. What are your rules? Do you turn into a pumpkin at ten?'

'No, but I've never been on a date before, I'm vegetarian, and I'm shit scared of being spotted by someone I know.'

'You also have a potty mouth, which is hilarious because you look really innocent, and if you're scared of being spotted here, is there somewhere else you'd feel more comfortable?'

'Wait, so you're happy to do this? Because I don't want you to feel obliged.'

'I don't feel obliged,' I replied truthfully.

I thought of Del belting down the wicket at lightning speed, always beating her batting partner to her crease by a good couple of metres, and the way she'd carefully watch batters when she was in the field, scoping out their style before it was her turn to bowl, and how she was always so careful with the club's equipment when she was helping out Gary. Not over cautious, just careful. All that time I'd been watching her, and if I'm to be honest, I hadn't watched another woman even a quarter of the time I'd watched her, and I'd just assumed my interest was in her skill range, not in her. But that can't have been right, because I wasn't merely relieved she was my date, I was pleased about it.

'You're smiling,' she said. 'Is something funny?'

'Yeah, I'm laughing at my stupidity,' I replied. I pressed the button to get the pokie machine moving again. There was over five dollars credit in it. 'And, y'know, thanks for taking the bull by the horns and arranging this. Just let me know where we should go for you to feel comfortable. I don't want you feeling that you need to keep looking over your shoulder.'

'Anywhere in public will make me nervous,' Del shrugged. 'I'll cope.'

'Would you rather we pick up some dinner and go back to my house? No funny business, I promise, I'll be a complete gentleman.'

Del gnawed her lip.

'Sorry,' I apologised. 'That was probably too over the top.'

'No, no, I'd really like it,' she replied. 'If you don't mind, I'd really prefer we go somewhere private. It's just... I have no idea what to expect, and what to do. How do Australians do these things?'

'I don't really know. I met my wife when I picked her up and took her home. We got on alright, so we stayed together. I slept with my workmate after a Christmas party, when we'd both had too much to drink, and we dated for a while.'

'Have you dated any women you hadn't previously slept with?'

'Uh... no. But I'm sure we'll be fine,' I said. 'What about you? What's an Indian date like? Can it offer any useful advice?'

'My experiences are probably even less helpful than yours.'

'Shit. We're fucked. How about we go to my house, you can tell me what you like to eat, and I'll cook it up?'

'Can you cook?' she asked curiously.

'Sort of. I manage to keep myself and the kids fed.' I pressed the pokie machine button again. 'Do you eat cheese and stuff, or no animal products at all?'

'I eat cheese and milk and eggs and fish. Beef is really the only one I won't eat, but it's habit to eat vegetarian food because that's just how my family is.'

'Okay. Well, how about we go back to my place and you can be horrified by my Aussie cooking, and we can... wait, do you drink?'

She held up a glass I hadn't previously noticed. 'Yep, I'll drink just about anything.'

'Even ouzo?'

Dal smiled. 'Even ouzo.'

The machine jangled and jingled and alerted us to the fact that Del had won five dollars.

'If we wait for you to gamble away however much money you put it, we'll be here for ages,' I said. 'You want to cash out and go?'

Del cashed out. She even left a half-drunk drink behind. I took that as a good sign.

It was very odd, this whole 'woman being actively interested in me' business. And Del, God, Del, I never in a million years would have guessed she'd be the woman I was meeting.

~~~~~~

I didn't have a great house, but the rent was cheap and the roof didn't leak and everything was in serviceable condition.

The roads had been quiet and Del had followed me the whole way without incident. She parked a late model Hyundai hatch behind my ute and got out, smoothing down her top and hair, and giving me a nervous smile.

'Made it,' I said. 'I'm going to warn you that I'm a simple man, and I don't like a lot of furniture.'

'I have a house full of clutter.'

'You've got kids at home, though. I don't.'

She looked away. 'I don't have custody of my children. After they were born, I went back to work and my mother-in-law took care of them. When I left my husband, they chose to stay with my mother-in-law.'

'Are you okay with that?' I asked.

She forced a smile. 'It's not my choice. It's theirs. But no, I'm not happy, because I miss them. And yet at the same time, I understand, because I've always travelled for work, and worked long hours. There wasn't much time left for them. I had to support them, though, I had to work to pay the bills. That was why I always worked so much. I just didn't realise what it was going to cost me.'

'Did your husband work?'

'Not really. Every now and then he'll find a part time job, but then he'll quit or get fired. He doesn't have a very good work ethic.'

Gary had said pretty much the same thing, so I wasn't surprised, just a bit sad for her. Isabelle would have died a million deaths if my mother had got custody of our kids. It was hard for me not to be around them, but I wasn't their mother, was I?

'It's not all bad,' Del added. 'I get to see the kids regularly, and I don't fight with my husband's family. And I've started helping Gary to fill in the extra hours. Not to mention actually playing cricket. I never had time for that before.'

'How old are your kids?'

'Sixteen and seventeen.'

'Jesus. Mine are six and ten.'

'Do you want more kids?' she asked.

'Not really. Besides, my wife and I had enough trouble coming up with two of them. Unexplained infertility.'

'I had the opposite issue; I was ridiculously fertile, but I don't want any more, either. I'm done with that part of my life. Besides, I'm forty, so a bit old.'

'You look damn good for forty,' I told her honestly.

'Dark skin,' she said with a shrug. 'It comes with it's benefits.'

It wasn't just that, it was her figure, her athleticism and her attitude towards life. It must've been beyond tough to leave her husband lose custody of her kids in the process, but she'd taken the step to end a bad marriage, and she'd always made sure she kept a roof over everyone's head and food on the table and I found that really admirable.

'I don't earn a lot of money,' I warned her. 'This house is rented. I don't have any great investments or anything.'

'I'm not looking for a sugar daddy.'

We walked towards the front door.

'In an ideal world, what is it that you're after?' I asked.

'In a man?'

'Yeah.'

'I want a partner. I want someone who likes being around me, and who I like being around. I want someone who'll stand by my side.' She spoke in a hurry, her words rushed and defensive as if she felt she was asking a lot. 'I want to get married again. I don't want to live with a man without marrying him. I want a husband.'

I unlocked the security screen and the front door. I owned shit fuck all that was of value, but I didn't live in the greatest of neighbourhoods, and I had no interest in making an insurance claim because some bored teenager or desperate tweaker decided to break in.

'You really want to get married again?' I asked. 'The first time around didn't put you off?'

Del shook her head. 'No. And there are some things I can't shake, some habits and traditions that are still important.'

'I personally thought marriage was a pain in the arse,' I said. I paused, noticing that she was bending down, and watched what she was doing. 'You can leave your shoes on. Unless they're uncomfortable, in which case, by all means take them off, but otherwise, just leave them on.'

Del neatly placed her heels by the front door. 'Sorry to say it, but this is another habit I can't break. It's up to you whether the shoe thing, or the wanting to get married again thing, is more off putting.'

'Neither are off-putting, just not what I'm used to. But I suppose that I'm probably raising red flags left, right and centre, right?'

She smiled. 'I'd be lying if I said I didn't find this date a bit confronting in some ways.'

'Am I upsetting you?'

'No, no, no, but it's... You focus on different things, and ask different questions to what I thought you'd be interested in.'

'Oh.'

Del inspected my house. 'Did you move here recently?'

'Nah, I've lived here for years.'

'Well, you weren't kidding when you said you didn't have much furniture,' she said diplomatically.

'I'm pretty minimalistic. Except for hats. I have a lot of hats. My family never know what to give me, so they always send me hats. I have tons of them.'

'I've noticed that. I like your Akubra.'

'Which one? I have several. Wait, no, you must mean my work one, that's the only one you would have seen. Jesus Christ on a cracker, that thing's fucking feral.'

'It's very Aussie.'

I made my way to the kitchen. 'What do you want to eat?'

'Anything you want to make is fine.'

'But no beef?'

'No beef,' she agreed.

I inspected my freezer. 'What if we had a barbecue? We could have chicken kebabs. I could probably make you a salad and we could have some bread with it.'

'Sounds good,' she agreed. 'Should we eat outside?'

'I don't have any outdoor furniture.'

'Shock me,' she teased.

I chuckled. 'Point taken. Normally if I'm cooking a barbie, I just reverse the ute up and the kids sit in the try and watch me.'

Del laughed. 'Okay, sure. We can eat in the back of your ute. Do you have any cushions we can sit on?'

The barbecue that I thought would be a nice, simple idea ended up anything but. It wasn't catastrophic or difficult, just more work than I'd assumed, because Del's expectations and mine weren't exactly aligned. That was due to the fact she was a normal, human being who liked modern conveniences, not because she was Indian, but it did result in me putting a bit more effort into getting the ute comfortable and preparing dinner.

Del helped every step of the way. I'll say this for her; the woman didn't sit back and do nothing. She got right in there. Time started flying, and after we'd both had a couple of drinks, the conversation grew more and more comfortable.

As we ate, I caught myself staring at her and thinking she was just beautiful. I understood what Kelly had meant when she'd said she stared at Jack because he had different features and different colouring to what she was used to, and I understood why she'd done it. I was so curious about Del, so entranced by her, and the more I inspected the colour of her skin and the shape of her eyes and face, the more I appreciated her beauty.

~~~~~~~

After we'd eaten, we washed up, smothered ourselves in insect repellent, and went back to lie in the ute and stare at the stars.

I bought a bottle of Bundy, six cans of Coke and two glasses out with me. Del carried a doona and a sheet. It was still twenty-five degrees Celsius but she wanted to snuggle under a blanket. I'd got sick of her pulling her heels on and off every time we went inside to outside and vice versa, and I'd loaned her a pair of my thongs. She was wearing them as we trekked to the ute.

Del carefully prepared everything for a comfortable lay in the tray.

'You want a drink?' I asked her.

'Maybe just a Coke, please,' she requested. 'I need to drive home.'

'You can stay the night if you want.'

She paused and gave me a funny look.

'No, none of that,' I assured her. 'You can sleep in either of the kids' beds, or you can sleep in mine while I sleep in theirs, whatever you prefer.'

'In all honesty,' she said slowly. 'I'd like to sleep in yours, with you.'

That wasn't what I was expecting her to say, but I wasn't going to argue. We'd been getting on well, and I was attracted to her, so a root would certainly be welcome. I cracked open the can of Coke. 'Sure.'

I poured us each a drink and handed one to Del. It had now been a good few hours since I'd had a cigarette and my body was kindly reminded me I was addicted, so if I could just shuffle off and replenish it's nicotine stores, that would be good.

'Thank-you,' she said. 'I think I'll need this.'

'Del, if you don't want to stay over, don't,' I replied. 'You're not obliged to have sex with me. We can let that happen whenever you're ready for it to happen. Fuck, if it makes them better for you, just do it with me at the same stage you did it with your husband.'

'I didn't have sex with my husband until my wedding night.'

I nearly dropped my drink. 'Oh.'

Del giggled at my reaction. The giggle turned into a laugh. Hell, even I started smiling, then chuckling, then laughing, because I have never - ever - in my life, met a woman that waited that long. Or if I had, they sure as hell hadn't been one of my partners.

'Okay, let me try that again,' I requested, putting my drink down and holding up my hands in a show of defeat. 'How about we wait until you're ready, whenever that is, and you agree to ignore any hard-on's I get that poke into your thigh because I'm an uncivilised bogan from Ippy?'

Del laughed harder, and tried to stop her eye make-up from running by wiping the tears from her eyes. It didn't really work; she had a patch of black under her left eye, but given she was still giggling, I didn't want to say anything.