I looked out of the window again as we began our drive once more. The neighborhood slowly but surely began to shrink behind the horizon and soon enough the rows and rows of houses were replaced by the familiar green landscape. The sun was at full force now as noon passed without a word being uttered in the car.

Man, a hell of a job, I thought, but this is wild.

I thought as I kept my gaze on the scenery until my partner let out a small sigh.

"If all you're going to do is mope around we're going to run into the problem of being caught by surprise with our next client again."

"...Alright," I said monotonically and opened up the glovebox once again.

Ah, right, I didn't put them back in properly earlier.

I began going through the folders and organizing them, catching a glimpse at Amanda's file, which I hadn't been able to view earlier.

"Amanda Adler, Age 24, Address : (Hey, I'm not telling you that).

Recently divorced with Bridger Blaithe, she was eligible for a free matchmaking request due to a request that she receive that as her benefit."

Reading through the rest of her file revealed that she had submitted the request around 2 weeks ago if I recall correctly the same time her friend got that picture of me.

Don't tell me she got worried and realized that if she didn't get a boyfriend soon she'd end up like me.

I thought, but I knew she had her own reasons why she'd want to matchmake again. It has been a good few months now and for all I know she could've already been looking around for someone even before her matchmaking request.

In the end, she moved on, much faster than me as well.

I let out a sigh and put away her file, and moved on to the schedule for the rest of the day's work. Before I could, however, I heard a cold voice utter.

"We're headed back to the city to have lunch. The rest of our jobs today are just matchmaking requests. So it won't be too troublesome."

"Oh, right."

I looked through the schedule, and she was right. It seemed that after putting me through hell, Alexandre decided to give us a smooth ride afterward.

Still, doesn't mean I'm exactly happy with how this all ended up, but thanks anyway.

I thought to myself and swallowed the rest of my lingering thoughts.

Right, I'm on the clock; this is no time to reopen old wounds.

I slapped myself with both hands and composed myself before facing my partner with a smile again.

"Right! So where are we eating?"

"I wish you didn't recover so quickly. I was actually enjoying the quiet."

"Aww, and here I thought you missed my witty humor and our friendly banter."

"What part of you is witty? And if anything, our conversations more or less add up to arguments regarding useless topics."

"Really? To me, it's more like talking to a brick wall except, at least a brick wall doesn't call me incompetent."

She let out a short sigh before focusing on the road ahead once more.

Right, back to normal, at least.

I thought as the cityscape began to come into view again. There was every kind of food here. You had your usual array of fast food places, a collection of Asian restaurants hoping to bring their palate to the foreign populace, convenience stores with packed lunches, and even a few casual sit-down places.

Well, at least there's a good selection...Hmm, I'll just buy a sandwich from a 7/11 and be done with it.

I faced my partner and checked with her if she wanted to go to any specific place as we entered deeper into the urban jungle.

"So, where did you and Alexandre usually head to for food?"

"Prodding at me once again, are we?"

"Naw, I just wanna know before making my own decision."

"Sigh, alright. We usually headed to a sandwich shop where we're regulars at."

"Guess having to go out and about every day has its perks when it comes to getting to know people, huh?"

"Well, the place owes me and Alexandre after all."

"Huh?"

I couldn't ask my question as we made our stop in front of a small shop. It was scarcely decorated and had tables inside and outside of the store itself, from the outside, I could make out the counter with an older-looking man inside with a variety of bread behind him and inside the counter different meats, vegetables, and what I presume were cheeses. The most eye-catching feature however was the large sign at the top spelling out "Edmond Edwards' and Family's Sandwich Shop".

"So this is the place, huh?" I asked, getting out of the car.

"Yes, the owner's daughter was matchmade by me and Alexandre, and we aided in her relationship a number of times."

"You sure you didn't intentionally sabotage the relationship so that you'd "fix" a bunch of their problems so they'd feel indebted to you?"

I asked with a worried look, but Myla answered by turning her back to me and walking in. The shop was fairly cramped, with most of the space going to the tables and a few shelves filled with bags of chips, biscuits, and other snacks. At the back of the store were a few coolers filled with every drink you could think of. As I was looking around, Myla had already made her way to the counter and began talking with what I presumed to be the owner, Edmond.

"Ah, Myla! Right on time, I'll get you and Alex's usuals heated up."

"Thank you, Mr. Edwards, but for now, only heat up my usual."

"Huh? What's that about, is Alex not hungry?"

"No, you see."

She looked towards me, and the store owner's eyes followed suit. He looked around his 50s and was a little bit on the chubbier side. He had a large but well-kept beard and had a small cap on. His voice was deep but welcoming and his look towards me didn't signal a "Who the hell is he?" but more of a "So that's how it is huh.".

"Hey, don't just stand there and gawk, introduce yourself."

"Ah right. Um, nice to meet you. I'm Bridger Blaithe. This is my first day on the job, so I'm a bit new to all of this."

"Getting a sandwich is new for you? Should I go back to my earlier statement about marketing the rock you live under as a tourist attraction?"

"There's enough kitchen knives here if you'd like to continue."

We both faced each other with annoyed looks which were broken up by the store owner's hearty laugh.

"Yep, that's exactly how you acted towards Alex back then as well. He never once put up a fight, though." He said with a smile as he placed a sandwich into the oven.

How that poor kid survived with her is a mystery to me.

We both let down our guards, and I went to the counter.

"So, what'll you have?"

"Hmm, well, since you already made it and I don't really wanna bother you too much, I'll just have the usual you made for Alexandre."

"Ah, you're too kind, alright! One jalapeno jam and sardine sandwich, coming right up."

What was that he said? What combination of words and toppings was that just now?

I tried to comprehend but the short and quiet snicker of my partner caught my attention.

"You are one unlucky idiot."

"Shut it."

I was just trying to be nice dammit,