At last my love has come along

I held the phone away from me as my friend's super loud voice shrieked through the receiver. Lisa had just gotten engaged to her long-term boyfriend, Alex, and had called to tell me the good news - hence the high-pitched squeals pouring out through the phone. Once she was done, I held the phone back to my ear, propping it between my head and my shoulder in order to free my hands while I talked and kept working. "That's great news Lisa, congratulations," I told her. I meant it too, although my heart had given a tiny squeeze at the news. Lisa was one of the last in a line of many friends recently getting engaged, getting married, and having kids. Needless to say, I felt left behind - and something else too. I was twenty-nine years old, and in my entire life I'd only ever been on one official date - a fact my mother never let me forget. "Thank you," Lisa was saying, as I used a pair of tweezers to carefully lift a photograph up to the makeshift clothes line I'd hung in the darkroom, and hung the photo up to dry. "Of course, I'd love for you to do the engagement photos - and the wedding photos if you're free? Pretty please?" I resisted the urge to sigh. It wasn't as if I didn't have the time, but I was sick of getting these kinds of assignments. You know the saying about the bridesmaid who's never a bride? That was basically me, only I was never even asked to be in the bridal party. Not that I'm feeling sorry for myself, because being a photographer was my dream job and I loved it, but sometimes it would be nice if my friends asked me to be a bridesmaid, instead of assuming that I'd be the one shooting their big day. "I'm sure we can find a day soon to take the engagement photos. And once you've decided on a day for the wedding, I'd love to take your photographs, so long as I don't have any other shoots already scheduled." "Perfect!" Lisa exclaimed. "Maybe we can set up an engagement photoshoot sometime this week?" "I'll check my schedule and give you a call, sound good?" "Absolutely. Thank you, Ada, really." "Not a problem. Congratulations again. Give my best to Alex, and tell him he's a lucky man." Lisa laughed. "I'll be sure to tell him. I have to go, there's still so many people I need to call." "Alright, we'll talk soon then." "Thanks Ada! Bye!" She hung up before I was able to return her 'bye', and I stored the phone in the back pocket of my favorite skinny jeans, and kept on working on the printed negatives. I liked shooting digital, but sometimes nothing could beat the feeling of working with tangible material and doing the whole process from shoot to the finished product with my own hands. While working I tried ignoring the nagging feeling of loneliness that had bothered me more than usual lately. I couldn't understand why that was exactly. Nobody said you had to be married or in a relationship to be happy, right? I sighed and went back to work. While I worked I sent up a prayer. Lord, help me understand and handle this loneliness. I know I'm never truly alone and that you're always with me, but lately I've been struggling in my singleness more than usual. Help, please. I drew in a deep breath, squared my shoulders and gave my work a last critical look. Satisfied I've done all I could for now, I left the photos to dry in the darkroom and carefully closed the door to my basement behind me. No more work today. Now more than ever, I needed a glass of wine and a good comedy. It was late, but I could give myself a break with a movie before bedtime. Hopefully, it would be enough to quench my loneliness for the time being.