“I thought it was going so well…” Jim sighed.

“So what happened?” I asked.

“Well, we’d been meeting for coffee and to study every week at the library on a Monday.

“Each day, she’d text me sounding excited to meet, and so, after I got to know her, we slowly progressed from coffee to drinks.

“Last week in the pub I thought I’d try my luck by asking her back to mine…”

“And..?”

“Well I was really nervous because sat right opposite our table was a group of rugby lads who I swore were watching me as I tried to put my moves in.”

“And..?”

“She said she would have, but her boyfriend was sat opposite us…”

“Oh,” I paused, “That makes sense doesn’t it?”

Jim was downcast. Two months chasing a girl who wasn’t even single! Ouch. The problem is Jim had made a ‘classic’ error.

He’d done the ‘hard work’ of winning the girl over, before double checking whether she was free to date him.

That’s kind of the dating equivalent of doing a wicked job selling double glazing to someone who lives in a teepee.

So before you waste your time remember my three basic requirements to dating someone.

They have to make time to see you. They have to know when they’re seeing you it’s a date; and most importantly they have to be single.

Hayley Quinn is a leading london dating coach. See what she does at hayleyquinn.com or get in touch with her at Hayley@hayleyquinn.com

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