"I'm going to find a partner?" Clarice announced to her friends on a three-way phone call.
"What?" Both Elise and Whitney said in unison.
"You're looking for a partner? Like a business partner for your dental clinic or a life partner?" Whitney asked, while Elise listened in the background.
"No, a partner to help me create a baby... and maybe to become my life partner," Clarice answered proudly.
"You're saying you want to meet a guy and get him to sleep with you in hopes that he will see you as a potential life partner?" Whitney asked again, thoroughly shocked at Clarice's declaration.
"That's precisely it, Whitney. That's why E Magazine has made you president of their company. You're so genius." Clarice giggled nervously.
"You're kidding me, right? Tell me you're kidding me," Whitney asked. She couldn't believe her friend would utter something like this. This wasn't April, so no April Fools' jokes here.
"I'm not kidding, Whitney," Clarice said.
"What brought all this up?" Elise interjected for the first time.
"It was because of Mrs. Beanstalk."
"Who's Mrs. Beanstalk again?" Elise asked.
"Clarice's patient who talks a lot, a colleague who works under me. She always
babbles on about some really weird subjects. Even at work," Whitney answered.
"So what did Mrs. Beanstalk say?" Elise asked.
"That women over age thirty-five have a harder time conceiving a baby. Plus,
there are other complications. I knew this from my pre-dentistry studies, but had never given it much thought until now. I'm actually quite scared about the whole prospect of living by myself for the rest of my life. If I have a child, then the child will be with me for at least the next two decades. Then if my child decides to have children, all the better for me, as I will have grandchildren to keep me company. Now I know how Mum and Dad felt when they thought I would die while being delivered in the refugee camp."
"Will you tell your parents, though, about your plan?' Whitney asked.
"I'll tell them when I find the right guy for my baby," Clarice declared. "So would you guys help me out?" she pleaded.
"Since you've put it that way, of course."
"We'll be right over in a jiffy," Elise threw in.
"Thanks, guys." Clarice put the phone down and sighed in relief. She just hoped
her splendid idea wouldn't backfire. She really wanted to meet someone nice and have a good future together, if not for herself, then for her baby.
An hour later, the girls congregated at Clarice's house, deep in discussion mode. "So what are your criteria?" Whitney asked, getting straight to the point. "Handsome, sensible, not a flirt, loyal, intelligent, tall, an IQ over 150, treats a
woman well, and is over thirty," Clarice listed.
"Wow, that's an impressive list," Whitney said.
"How are you going to find someone like that?" Elise asked.
"You should go on a dating site." Max spoke from behind them, giving them a good fright.
"Maximilian!" all three said at once.
"What?" Max asked, gawking at their startled faces, and laughed.
"Warn us if you're going to visit like this." Clarice slapped her cousin's arm. "Oww." Max feigned pain, then went to Elise and rested his head on her shoulder.
"Elise, help me. My cousin is abusing me again."
"That's because you surprised us," Clarice yelled.
"If I don't come in like that, I won't get to catch your great facial expressions.
That doesn't include you, Elise. You're my favourite. I wouldn't do that to you."
All Elise did was smile, while the other two fumed.
"All right, all right. I'm sure Max didn't mean you any harm. It was a pleasant
surprise after all," Elise soothed.
"Yes, a pleasant surprise indeed. Maybe next time I'm going to surprise you with
a potion that makes you so sick you won't be able to attend school," Whitney suggested. "For real, Whitney? Make me a potion now. I could use a little break from classes." Max went from Elise's shoulder to tugging on Whitney's sleeve, like a little
puppy begging for affection.
"No, Max. Now, stop acting like a five-year-old and start acting your age. We're
in the middle of a discussion here."
"What? About finding you a partner, cuz?" Max asked.
"Yes, Max," Clarice said.
"Why?"
"Because I need the sperm," Clarice answered, deadpan.
"Yep, I think a dating site would be perfect," Max responded, jumping up to get
the laptop from his cousin's office.
"Really, a dating site?" Whitney asked in disgust, watching Max carry the pink
laptop into the room.
"Yep. Have you girls heard about it?" Max said while firing up the laptop
inputting passwords and everything."
"How did you know my password, Max?" Clarice asked suspiciously.
"I know everything about everything, cuz," Max responded cheekily.
"I'm changing my passwords after this," Clarice added.
Once the laptop was booted up, all the girls came to sit around Max while he
typed furiously in the address bar, navigating to the website.
"Most of the time these days, soul mates meet this way," Max explained. He
loved it when all his sisters, as he liked to call them, gave him their undivided attention. He felt special. "Plus, they have lots of intelligent guys too, so plenty of good sperm for you to choose from."
"A dating site." Clarice pondered. "Doesn't sound too bad."
When Max reached the site, he gestured for Clarice to look.
"Youandme.co.nz?" Clarice read the name of the website. "Is that it?"
"Yep." Max typed again, going from one page to the next. "It's pretty popular at
the moment."
All Clarice and the others could do was watch while Max continued to enter this
and that until it came to a particular page.
