Appearances can be deceptive
People think I'm desperate to find a man, accuse me of throwing myself at anyone which is not true. I just want someone to love me and care for me and look after me is that so very wrong? O.K. I had two unfortunate incidents with married men at work but that wasn't all my fault. I thought John's marriage was over in all but name; they'd been trying for a family and it had caused problems between them. Apparently I was wrong and that hurt! I do actually have feelings if people did but know it. Anyway, my boss had words and I was moved to a different department where I don't come into contact with John - not that I would anyway as we have all been working from home during lockdown. That suits me fine actually as I don't like the women in my new department - too cliquey by far plus they look down their noses at me. When all of this is over I am going to have to look for another job but they reckon unemployment is going to soar so it might be quite hard.
I did have some excitement recently though - mind you at the time it was actually quite terrifying. I had been trying out blind dates. Again, in today's world that doesn't work as you might expect. The nearest you get to a real date is a virtual one although in saying that, looking at some of the blokes I was meeting I wouldn't have wanted to go on a real date with them. Why do people lie on their profiles? O.K. I exaggerated mine a bit - only just a little bit but these blokes were posting pictures of themselves that were years out of date. Creeps! And then I thought I had found someone who pushed the right buttons - Colin. We were getting along just fine and he even just about passed the zoom test and lockdown restrictions were beginning to be lifted so it looked as if we might even be able to meet for a drink or a meal although social distancing still applied so it wasn't exactly normal. But I thought things were looking up. Ha! The police got in touch with me and it turns out this Colin (not his real name apparently,) was their prime suspect in a murder investigation. Some poor woman had been raped and murdered, which I'd read about actually, but obviously saw no reason to connect it with this Colin (who turns out is really called Nigel.) The police asked me if I would string him along so they could catch him red handed. I said yes because to be honest I was sick of being taken for a ride yet again and the bloke needed to know that nobody tramples over Jacquie Frost. Well it seemed like that at the time but then it got really scary.
The idea was that he was going to invite me to go to a picnic in some woods nearby. There was no picnic obviously it was just his way of luring unsuspecting women; he'd done it more than once before apparently. The police inspector said I was not to worry because he would have his men in place already and I've got to say I thought they would stand out a mile but they didn't and at one point I was actually worried that there was nobody there.
Anyway, I got picked up at home (which is a no-no in the dating game but it was this bloke's modus operandi so to speak) and although he wasn't quite what I was expecting he did turn up in a very nice sports car which turned out to be his brother's. Off we went and when he pulled in that's when I started to get a bit nervous; well, very nervous if I'm honest. As we walked into the woods I felt as if I could hardly breathe and although I was waiting for this creep to make his move I had to pretend nothing was wrong and I was enjoying myself. Then he grabbed me. I screamed and managed to knee him where it would be most painful but then the police were all over him and when I realised I was safe, I actually burst into tears. People might be surprised at that but they weren't in my shoes at the time. There was a very nice lady Detective Sergeant there telling me how fantastic I had been - I am not used to people praising me and it was a big relief to know that I was safe.
The bloke turns out to be a real head case - just my luck! But I made the local news, the pictures looked quite good actually.
No signs of us going back to work yet; we can't social distance in the office and it seems to be working fairly well with us working from home and meeting up on zoom. That actually suits me fine. I shall keep up my running of course but I've knocked the dating on the head. There is someone out there for me I think I've just got to stop looking so hard; he will turn up. Meanwhile I know I had a very lucky escape - very lucky but also I hope people manage to find some respect for me now. It took a lot to do what I did; there was another girl he was stringing along at the same time as me (bloody cheek!) and when the police approached her she bottled it right away. It has made me wary though I must say, and taught me a few lessons. If I do meet anyone I won't let them know where I live unless I am really sure of them and I will only meet them in public places and preferably meet for lunch rather than dinner. And it's not all about appearance either; I've certainly learned the hard way that appearances can be deceptive. You can read the full story in Merciless Assassin which is the fourth book in the Coronawar series. It's available from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=rosy+teale&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
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