“Do you know what you need, Jenn?”

“What do I need, Olivia?” Jenn sighed as she signalled for the waiter.

It was lunchtime, they were due back in the office in 25 minutes, but if she was going to endure another love life lecture from Olivia, she needed another martini.

“You need a boyfriend,” Olivia told Jenn for the thousandth time as she sipped her second martini.

Olivia was her best friend at work, no, she was more than a friend. Olivia was about 15 years older than Jenn, she was kind of her “work mum”, and under normal circumstances she appreciated Olivia’s help, and her advice, and if she was honest, she just loved hanging around with this beautiful, elegant, sophisticated woman.

Over the 18 months they’d worked together, Olivia had tidied Jenn’s wardrobe, taught her new make-up techniques, restyled her hair ... hell, she’d even showed Jenn how to walk properly in heels.

The next phase of Olivia’s remodelling of Jenn involved her love life.

In truth, Jenn did need help. Her last boyfriend had disappeared over a year ago, the relationship fizzling out in a matter of weeks. Since then, all she’d had were a couple of disappointing one-night stands.

Jenn decided that she was the kind of woman who enjoyed her own company, and she was happy with this. She also realised that every now and again, she liked a good hard fucking as a change from her now very skilled fingers.

“Are you even listening to me?” Olivia asked.

“What?”

“Well, I guess that answers my question,” Olivia sighed, “Jake, my stepson, is back from University...”

Olivia was on her third husband, which was another reason Jenn had been reluctant to take relationship advice off her. Jake was husband number three’s eldest; he had a couple of daughters as well, they lived with mum. Jenn had seen pictures of the girls, they were gorgeous. She’d not seen Jake, which made her wonder what was wrong with him, and why Olivia had suddenly brought him up in the conversation.

“What is wrong with you today?” Olivia asked sternly, “your mind is all over the place.”

“We’ve had this conversation every Thursday lunchtime for months,” Jenn replied, “I’m simply not sure I want a boyfriend, at least I don’t want one who lives with me. I like my house, and I don’t want it cluttered up with man stuff.”

“Jake is just home for the summer; he’ll be back at university in September.”

“Hang on, how old is he? I don’t want to date a child!”

“Stop being dramatic, he’s 20, so only 5 years younger than you.”

“OK, what does he look like, you’ve never shown me a photograph.”

“That’s because I don’t have any photos.”

“OK, so you’re suggesting I date Jake for a few weeks, then just let him go ... what if, and I suspect this is unlikely based on past experience, we decide we love each other.”

“He’ll be back for almost a month at Christmas ... and he’s only 90 minutes away.”

Jenn was coming round to this idea, she’d met Olivia’s husband, Brian, and his ex-wife Charlotte, they were both good looking, and their daughters were stunners. It was unlikely Jake would be some kind of circus freak.

She sighed, “OK, I’ll meet Jake, but no promises.”

Olivia clapped her hands with joy, “this is brilliant, I just know you’ll love him,” she replied, pulling out her phone, “I’ll call him now, is tonight OK?” she asked as she stepped to the door.

The reason they chose this cocktail bar for their Thursday lunches was it was in the castle cellars, the 20 feet of stone above their heads made for an effective mobile signal jammer.

Olivia leaving to make the call also meant that Jenn was, once again, left with the bill.

Jenn emerged from the bar, blinking in the bright afternoon sunshine, scanning the area for Olivia. She was standing in the shade of an old oak tree, a big grin on her face, Jenn just hoped she wouldn’t disappoint her friend by hating her stepson.

“OK, I thought it best not to tell Jake your address, in case you don’t hit it off when you meet him.”

“Thank you,” Jenn replied, glad Olivia was being careful on her behalf.

“He doesn’t drive, so he’ll get the bus. I told him to get off the bus at the park, then sit on the bench near that big tree. You can meet him there at 7:30, take him into the bar, then if everything works out, you can take him home.”

“You know that part about me never seeing a photo of him?”

“Yes, I’m not daft, he’ll be wearing jeans, shiny Doc Martens and a red shirt, he’s fair haired, cut short.”

Jenn spent the afternoon alternately worrying about upsetting Olivia by rejecting Jake, then worrying that he’d reject her. She was in such a state that Olivia sent her home early so she could have a long, soothing bath before her date.

Back home, after her bath, she spent almost an hour deciding on her outfit, wavering between smart casual jeans and blouse, elegant dress or sexy crop top and shorts.

Eventually she settled on a crop top and shorts, because they were meeting in the park, and would most likely go for a drink in Sonia’s bar in the park; she wasn’t risking any of her nice dresses coming into contact with the seats in that bar.

Look chosen, Jenn splashed on some of Billie Eilish’s No 2 perfume, it was a little more masculine than her first one, but she preferred it, and as a bonus, the fragrance lasted longer, so she should still smell wonderful when they woke together in the morning, assuming they spend the night together ... Jenn is not an easy lay.

It was only a five-minute walk from her house to the park, so Jenn left at 19:27, ensuring she’d be an acceptable two minutes late.

In fact, she was three minutes late, as she hadn’t factored walking around to the gates on the main road, so she could approach the bench from the front.

There was a guy sitting on the bench, he was about the right age; jeans, black DMs, red plaid shirt ... Olivia said he’d be wearing a red shirt, but he’s male, they’re rarely specific about clothing; red, red plaid, the same thing to a man.

She gave him a warm smile, he smiled back.

She’d never been on a blind date before, so Jenn had spent the whole time she was in the bath considering how to approach Jake, how to introduce herself without sounding weird or desperate. In the end, she decided to just go for it.

“Hi, I’m Jenn, are you Jake?”

“Err ... hi Jenn...”

He sounded uncertain, nervous, she thought. She rationalised it as being just how she’d feel if he’d approached her.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Yeah, that would be good,” Jake replied, rising from the bench and following Jenn to the bar in the pavilion.

“Hi Sonia,” Jenn called to the pretty blonde behind the bar.

“Hi Jenn! Oh my, you’re looking hot tonight, are you on a date?”

“Yes, meet Jake ... what would you like to drink, Jake?”

“A pint of cider please.”

“A cider and my usual, please Sonia.”

They took their drinks to a table outside, overlooking the bowling green and football pitch.

Jenn looked at Jake, he was a good looking lad, but he didn’t favour either Brian or Charlotte, but not everyone looked like their parents.

She looked exactly like her mum, who was still attractive in her 50’s, Jenn hoped she still looked as good when she was that old; but that didn’t mean everyone looked like their parents

Jake was watching some kids playing football, which annoyed her, they were on a date, he should be looking at her.

Oh my god! She thought, my lipstick must be smudged, or my hair is wrong!

While he was watching the kids, she pulled out her phone and fired up the selfie camera.

Her lipstick was smudge free, her blonde hair in a pair of pigtails, each aligned perfectly.

She moved her phone further away, no stains on her top, her breasts looked full, with just the right amount of cleavage showing; alluring, not slutty.

What is wrong?

She decided he was shy, so she would need to drive the conversation.

It took intense questioning and three pints of dark fruits, and all she found out was he was a big football fan, and was feeling depressed because his team had just been relegated from League Two to the National League.

Jenn was proud of herself for guessing he supported the local team, whose ground was on the other side of the estate, she could hear the fans on match days. She’d heard someone at work complaining about them being relegated and was glad she’d remembered that nugget.

She moved away from football onto music, he was a fan of the folk-punk singer songwriter Frank Turner; again, she was proud of herself, she knew who he was and had attended a gig when he played the Town Hall earlier in the year for a local charity. She enjoyed it, but Ariana Grande is more to her taste.

She had no idea about his favourite author, Iain Banks; Jake described some of his books, she doubted she would bother looking him up in the library.

So, 90 minutes and three pints of mid-priced cider later, and she still barely knew him. Still, he was good looking, and had a nice figure, so she decided to take him home and road test him.

What was that about not being an easy lay, Jenn admonished herself as she unlocked her front door ... shush, I’m horny and it’s been months since I had a guy in my bed.

In her bedroom, she lit a few candles and pushed him onto the bed. She wasn’t wearing much, so the striptease lasted 30 seconds, which she thought was 29 seconds longer than Jake needed to get hard ... he already had a promising bulge in his jeans.

She clambered on the bed and unbuckled his belt, she pulled it out and tossed it to the floor. The jeans were button fly, she gripped the waistband and pulled the buttons open.

No underpants, she smiled, pulling his cock out. It was long and fairly hard - quite slim though - she preferred a bit of girth so it properly touched the sides, but beggars can’t be choosers she thought as she dipped her head and got to work.

He didn’t take long to cum ... maybe he’d had a long fallow period like she had.

She swallowed his seed and pulled him to his feet, she undressed him and pushed him back to the bed. He was already hard enough, so she climbed aboard and rode him until he came.

He came, she didn’t, looks like she’ll be reinstalling Tinder again in the morning.

Despite the disappointing night, Jenn was always a good host, she had breakfast ready for Jake as he stumbled bleary eyed into the kitchen the next morning.

“Mmm ... I think I should tell you something...” Jake said as he sipped his orange juice, “ ... my name is Connor, not Jake.”

“What!” Jenn cried, carefully putting down the knife she was using so she wouldn’t accidentally stab him, “why did you answer to Jake all night?”

“Shit, this is embarrassing ... you’re hot, you smiled at me, like you were looking to pick someone up, I thought it may as well be me.”

“Fuck,” Jenn sighed, “I was supposed to be on blind date, meeting someone your age, dressed like you were dressed, someone called Jake. Oh my god, what happened to Jake, he was supposed to be on that bench at 7:30?”

“Sorry, I didn’t see anyone else in the park ... look, if I’d known you were waiting for someone else...”

“It’s OK, Connor, you saw a chance and you took it. I can’t blame you for that.”

“You really are hot Jenn, like the lady last night said ... if you ever...”

Jenn steered Connor to the door, “I don’t think so Connor ... it was nice, but it won’t happen again.”

She sighed deeply as the door closed behind Connor. Well that had been a fucking disaster, she would not be letting Olivia set her up again. She’d not even kissed him, how could you have a date with someone without kissing them at least once?

Jenn finished her coffee, grabbed her phone and handbag, then walked over to the bus stop outside the park.

She looked into the park, towards the site of yesterday’s unfortunate mistaken identity. There was someone asleep on the bench, her heart missed a beat ... surely not, she thought.

She checked her watch, the bus would be another few minutes, so she walked through the park gates and over to the bench.

Yes, he was wearing jeans and a red shirt; red, not red plaid. She nudged him awake.

“Hi, I’m Jenn,” she said, “are you Jake?”

“Err ... yes, how did you know?”

“Well, I’m only 12 hours late for our date,” she told him brightly, “I think you deserve a hot drink, come on, there’s a cafe just down the road.”

Jenn bought Jake a bacon and sausage sandwich and a large coffee, she watched as he tucked in hungrily.

“I’m really sorry,” Jake started once his plate was clear, “I missed the bus, I was an hour late. I waited around for you, as the next bus wasn’t for an hour, then I fell asleep. When I woke, the park was locked, and the last bus had gone ages ago, so I fell asleep again.”

“Do you want to hear about my night,” Jenn replied, “it wasn’t a whole lot better than yours.”

She told him about picking up a random guy who decided to pretend he was her blind date, having disappointing sex, and only finding out he was the wrong guy in the morning.

While she told Jake her story, she watched him closely. He was really good looking. Despite spending a night on a park bench, he still looked better this morning than the wrong Jake did after a night in a proper bed and a shower.

While they chatted over more coffee, she found herself liking Jake more and more. He wasn’t obsessed with football, which was a blessing, and he liked the kind of books she liked. As they walked to the bus stop, she had a feeling they were a good match.

“Listen Jake, last night was a disaster for us both, do you think we could try again sometime?”

“I’d like that,” he replied, with a warm, genuine smile.

“How about we skip the park bench next time, I’ll message you my address, you can pick up the message when your phone is recharged. Does 7 o’clock tonight work for you?”

“Yes, that sounds like a plan.”