Operation Soulmate by Diane Hall

the quest of sucking every drop of life out of life, even until he breathed his last breath: a man of courage, a man of action, a fearless love-warrior of a man, whose heart was pinned firmly onto his sleeve, where it could easily brush against hers every now and again, as he reached for her hand to take her to stare at an ocean with him. She tried to picture Toby staring at the ocean for hours. He didn’t really seem the staring-at-the-ocean-for-hours type. But she could definitely see him laughing a lot ...and that was a nice thought.
           Geraldine suddenly remembered her coaching promise, and the fact that she’d also promised herself that she’d trust Ben completely and commit, whole-heartedly to whatever the process demanded. What the heck. Thursday night was a good night for speed-dating. She could see if Brogan was free, and maybe just treat the whole thing as a bit of fun. There was no way Ben was going to let her off the hook, and he was probably right. So she decided to go along with his ‘ more is more’ dating theories for the time being...unless, of course, Toby called before Thursday, in which case, she’d just have to put her foot down and refuse to go.
           By the time she heard Ben’s key turning in the lock, she was drifting off to sleep. She thought she could hear a woman’s voice ...and giggling. Ben had company. Good for him. She glanced at the clock, briefly, before snuggling into her pillow and asking the Angels to watch over her and bring peace to the Earth, and to the hearts of the sick, loveless and lonely. It was just coming up to ten, the perfect early-night time. She’d probably feel great in the morning, after luxuriating endlessly in the evening’s imminent sleep.
          At eleven-fifteen she glanced over at the clock again and realised that she’d spent over an hour trying to catch snippets of Ben’s conversation with the mystery woman. She didn’t recognise the voice, and she knew most of Ben’s female friends. Good for him!
    Lovely Ben, he so deserved to be happy. At one point, she thought she'd heard her name being whispered, but common sense told her that from the general tone of the conversation, they probably had far more important things to be discussing. Finally, at twelve twenty-three, she heard more restrained giggling and sound of the front door closing, followed by the clinking of glasses in the sink and, finally, Ben’s tooth-brushing noises and the closing of his bedroom door. She sighed and wondered whether maybe Ben might need her help.
           In the morning though, he was looking as cheerful as ever. “Morning,” he said, when she entered the kitchen.
           “Morning,” she said, as she wondered in, in pyjamas. It was a writing day, and Geraldine loved writing days; they were so peaceful. Just a couple of pieces to write: one for her regular column, and a feature for a new publication, then lots of lovely time left for working on her book on psychic development.
           “Sleep well?” He asked, curious about her early disappearance the night before.
           “Hmm, lovely,” she said, making a point of not mentioning the mystery woman from the night before. “Just sooo needed an early night. How about you? Thought I heard voices. What did you get up to last night?” There it was; She just couldn’t help herself.
           “Oh, just went out for dinner with a friend, came back for a quick drink afterwards.” Ben was being disappointingly vague.
          “Oh. Okay....” she said, peering at him, as he handed her a cup of freshly-brewed coffee. He smiled.
           “Just a friend, a colleague actually, a fellow coach...” He said, reaching for the wall calendar and scribbling something onto it.
          “Ugh! So why are you being so.....I don’t know, so weird about it?”
          “What do you mean weird?”
          “I don’t know, just all ... secretive ...” she