The Matchmaker

The room was a concentrated buzz of chatter, favored by the low lighting at the round tables. The striped profile of Jupiter paraded outside the panoramic windows, while some couples danced in the center of the piano bar.

Mrs. Amanda Wyatt smiled. Despite it being a cruise for singles – or perhaps precisely because of that – many people were already matching, thanks to her help too. Amanda’s show, A Match Made in Heaven, had earned her an invitation to the ship. Several passengers had submitted their profiles to her, looking for the perfect partner. When Amanda found the best match, a message would arrive directly on their holowatches, with a reservation for two at a restaurant or one of the many other activities available on the Polaris, depending on their preference. Up until that point, they all seemed thrilled and she was oh, so happy for them!

A girl who she had matched just the night before passed by the table.

“Adele, good evening!” Amanda gave her a cryptic look from under her white eyebrows. “How did it go?” She had organized for her the ideal date: a librarian who loved books and cats even more than her. They even lived in the same region, a ten-minute shuttle ride from each other.

“Oh, Amanda, good evening...” Adele smoothed her dress with obvious discomfort. “Well, I spoke to Madam Asteria and she saw that this girl is not the right one. Madam says she’s a pathological liar and a toxic person, and I–”

“Madam Asteria? Who would that be?”

“You know, the Seer”.

Seer? What Seer?

“Well, those are slanders. Luisa is a lovely and very honest girl. And I'm a certified couples counselor. I personally meet all my candidates, as I did with you, precisely to avoid these kinds of issues. I would have noticed if she had been a bad person, don't you think?” Amanda took Adele’s hand in her old and shriveled ones, as if she were her granddaughter.

“Listen, I–”

“Give Luisa a chance. At least a coffee. A coffee can't hurt. If you then decide she's not for you, we'll find someone else. Agreed?”

“I don't know”. Adele smiled sheepishly. “I'll think about it”. She then slipped away towards the bar.

˜*˜

The Seer had a cabin all to herself, lit by paper lanterns and filled with incense. Amanda appeared in the doorway just as a customer was leaving the room in tears.

“Madam Asteria, I presume?”

She was a rather young woman, in her sixties, her head wrapped in a purple turban and eyes surgically altered to match the same shade. She sat cross-legged on a large cushion, with the elasticity of a yoga master.

“Ah, you must be that nice old lady, the matchmaker. Come in. I was waiting for you”.

Amanda couldn't stop herself from raising an eyebrow. “You will forgive me if I don't sit down. My knees are no longer what they were when I was eighty.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “You seem… like a sensible woman. Why do you scare off people whose future is written in the stars?”

“Your stars, maybe. Mine tell a different story.”

“And what do they say, exactly?”

“What customers need to hear. They are the ones who pay, after all.”

“And good news builds loyalty up to a certain point, I imagine. While those who have received negative news always come back, in the hope of receiving better ones.”

The Seer shrugged. “A girl's gotta eat.”

Amanda seethed in anger. “Do you not care about your clients? These people come to you in good faith, looking for help!”

Asteria held up a card. It depicted a woman sitting on a bed, her face in her hands, above her nine swords hanging on the wall.

“So they should take the advice of an old woman tormented by ghosts of the past, who has forgotten what it feels like to fall in love with someone?”

Amanda took a step back, as if the Seer had slapped her. Her right hand went up to find her husband's wedding ring hanging on a necklace around her neck. Amanda had never taken off her own ring, not even after forty years.

“I know everything I need to know about love.” And she had chosen to dedicate the rest of her life to help others find their own.

˜*˜

Amanda marched towards the bridge.

“Captain Serik, could I have a word with you?”

It was already night time on the ship and only a skeleton crew was on duty. The Captain, an old space wolf about the same age as Amanda, was sitting in the center of the room in his armchair. When the matchmaker arrived, he stood up and motioned for her to join him. “Look,” he urged, his attention straight ahead.

On the central screen, which occupied the entire wall, the vastness of the star-studded space opened up.

Amanda didn't pay too much attention to it, busy with more pressing matters, but she noticed that the Captain still wasn't paying attention to her. His eyes were two black mirrors in which the stars reflected.

I know that look. So alive, so full of wonder. It was the look her John had every time he got ready to climb into the cockpit, every time he told her about his adventures and imagined what else was waiting for him out there. With John she had discovered that wanderlust was a contagious melancholy. Until that day, the day he never came back.

The Captain let out an almost imperceptible sigh. “I never get tired of the stars.”

Amanda smiled sadly. “You remind me of my husband.” Although Serik, with his slender figure and broad shoulders, was more quiet, assertive. He had a calming aura about him, which inspired trust.

Serik placed a palm on his chest and bowed slightly. “I'll take that as a compliment. You don’t look like my ex-wife at all.” After a moment he added in a lower, almost confidential tone: “That too is a compliment.”

The Captain's face was so serious it was hard to tell if he was joking, but Amanda didn't miss the twinkle in his eyes, and she smiled again, this time amused.

“What can I do for you, Mrs. Wyatt?”

Oh, she had almost forgotten… “It's about that– that– four-credit charlatan! Madam Asteria”.

“The Seer”.

She scoffed. “That woman is terrorizing the passengers – perfectly decent people, who I have matched with other equally decent people – and she is making them miserable. All to get them to come back to her and get more money!”

The Captain placed his hands on her shoulders. “Fortune-telling is one of the services provided by Polaris and has always been one of the most appreciated. Asteria is doing her job.”

“Making them miserable! She could do her job helping them instead. It would give her an even better reputation and the ship too. Captain, don’t you think?” she exclaimed. “Promise me that you will talk to her”.

Serik peered at her in silence, and behind his black eyes Amanda could almost see calculations and prospects of every possible repercussion. Eventually he nodded. “Very well. I'll come with you”.

˜*˜

The first thing they did the following morning was go to the Seer's cabin. Madam Asteria welcomed them still in her dressing gown.

“Captain, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Madam Asteria, good morning. Can we come in?” After she let them pass, Serik continued, “Mrs. Wyatt has brought to my attention that your ... divinations are interfering with her work and upsetting the passengers.”

“I just read the cards, as always. If passengers keep coming back and even bring other acquaintances to me, they can't be so upset.” The Seer gave Amanda a rather unfriendly smile.

“Madam Asteria”, the Captain demanded her attention once again, “it is my duty to ensure the serenity of all passengers. I would prefer to consider you helpful, but if I come to the conclusion that you are a nuisance, I will not hesitate to leave you at the next port. Have I made myself clear?”

The Seer gritted her teeth and lowered her head. “Crystal”.

˜*˜

Amanda smiled contentedly as they walked down the hall, side by side. And she smiled even more when she noticed Adele admiring the sky next to Luisa; they seemed enchanted by the stars and by each other.

“Do you believe…” The Captain cleared his throat, “that for each of us there is only one great love?”

Amanda started playing with the wedding ring around her neck. “I think that every time we fall in love we are able to love a little more and a little deeper, with more passion. As if the heart became bigger and stronger every time.”

Serik continued to walk forward, looking straight ahead, his hands withdrawn behind his back in military rest. “Great passions are for young people. At my age, I would prefer something gentler.” His black eyes found hers. “A partnership”.

Amanda discovered herself blushing as she thought she no longer could do so. “It would be nice”.

“Will you join me for breakfast, Mrs. Wyatt?” The Captain offered his arm to her.

The matchmaker hooked her hand in the crook of his elbow. “Only if you start calling me Amanda”.