"I know you said you weren't interested in a new match," Raven tells me on the phone, "but I did want to keep in touch with you in case you ever change your mind."

She's been so sweet since this whole Christopher Bennett thing blew up.

We've had a couple of long talks now about why she agreed to take Chris on as a client to begin with, and why she felt that he and I were compatible.

Well, she wasn't wrong about compatible, just wrong about him being able to commit to a match that didn't fit his political aspirations.

I've been working hard to put it behind me.

"Thanks, Raven," I tell her, forcing a smile onto my face so she won't know how much I'm still preoccupied with the man, "but I don't foresee being interested in going that route again in the future."

"Of course," her voice is soft and supportive and I suspect she sees right through my brave facade, "May I ask a personal question, Amanda?"

I hesitate, not sure how I want to answer her. Personal questions are all Raven's asked me since I sent in my initial application, she's never felt it necessary to preface one with a disclaimer. Maybe the answer is no?

"Of course, what?" I answer.

"Is there anything that would convince you to reconsider your relationship with Chris?"

Just hearing his name makes my heart do a little flip flop. I wasn't expecting that question. Not from Raven. Not after she's heard me go on at length about all the reasons I'm done with that man.

I stammer for a moment, not sure how to answer the question.

Honestly?

Yeah, I've thought about all the what ifs, played out a thousand scenarios in my head that always end up with us getting back on track. Usually after he does a lot of groveling. But there's a big difference between a fantasy where you're in total control of the outcome-- and you have the advantage of deciding how another person feels in that fantasy-- verses real life where everything's a mystery and a mess.

"I don't know, Raven," I answer quietly. "We didn't have a good start, maybe I should have stuck with my first impression. The way it seems he did."

I hear a long sigh on the other end of the line.

Raven usually prefers to do video calls. When I began working with her, she explained that it helped immensely with reading non verbal communication cues in her clients. Today we're on the phone the old fashioned way. I'm surprised by how well I can picture her facial expressions in my mind's eye.

"But your second impression went much better?"

I can't help but smile as her question triggers the memory of the short time we spent together.

"Yes, our second try was much better..." I feel my lower lip quiver and I stiffen it, determined not to let my voice give away my emotions. "I thought we had a future together after all," I tell her, "I didn't realize that he was unsatisfied."

"Yes," Raven says thoughtfully on the other end of the line, "he has shown a history of poor communication...but you say you haven't responded to any of his attempts to contact you?"

Something about the way she says it pricks at me. She just acknowledged that he communicates like crap and yet I feel like she just accused me of being just as bad by not answering him.

"Well, after you called and told me what he said, I hardly feel like he deserves a second chance." I might be a little defensive.

"Oh, I don't blame you," Raven's back on my side, "it's just that you did say things were much better when you gave him a second chance."

I open my mouth to respond, maybe I'm about to argue, then I snap my mouth shut again as I start to get what Raven's doing.

"Do you think I ought to give him another chance?" I ask, carefully enunciating my words as if that will somehow make the underlying meaning more clear.

"Amanda," Raven says in her usual voice, the one that's all confidence and sweetness and makes me feel like we're old friends, "you know Chris has been one of my more difficult clients to work with from the beginning. He and I have not seen eye to eye on much of my process. A client who isn't open to working with me directly is difficult to match because it's hard to get to know that person.

"Nevertheless, I encouraged the match because I feel there's a great potential for the two of you, above and beyond your obvious incompatibilities.

"In the end, both your teams agreed with me. They felt that you and Chris were a superior match to any of the other candidates."

I listen in silence while Raven talks.

Does she keep calling him "Chris?" Like he's an old friend of hers that she's trying to set me up with? I don't think I've ever heard her call him by his first name, let alone by the casual shortened form of it. It's always been "Mr. Bennett" when she refers to him.

"I'm sure you know Chris has been in contact with me since this unfortunate miscommunication," Raven is saying.

Unfortunate miscommunication? It suddenly feels like Raven knows something I don't. I have a gnawing desire to get her off the phone and see if I can retrieve any of his messages from my voicemail. I've been deleting them as they come in, but I haven't actually emptied the voicemail box yet.

"I completely understand where you're coming from, Amanda," she soothes, "but if there is anything that would convince you to give this match a new beginning, you may want to consider passing that information along to Chris.

"After all the communication I've had with both you and Chris since the misunderstanding, I'm even more convinced that I was right about the two of you.

"I'm standing by my match, Amanda, regardless of your ultimate decision. Christopher Bennett is the man you should marry."

Raven ends with an edge of finality to her already confident tone and doesn't wait for me to launch into any sort of longwinded rebuttal, cheerfully wishing me a good day and ending the call quickly and yet still gracefully.

I'm stunned.

Raven thinks I should marry the douchebag.