The concept of soulmates is a funny thing. The inherent belief that there is ONE person out there who is ideally suited to be your life partner is, quite frankly, contrived and probably a social construct developed over time to provide hope to hopeless singles. Relationship experts say that your soulmate is someone with whom you have a strong connection, this person gives you a sense of peace, challenges you, and makes you want to be the best version of yourself. I, unfortunately, have not had the pleasure of meeting said soulmate and that brings me to today.

Today is the day I will be going on my 120th date of this year. At the ripe age of 27, I have had exactly 0 serious relationships. How is that possible you ask? Well, let me give you a little insight into myself and my family.

My name is Lady Arabella Campbell, my parents are George Robert Campbell and Sophie Jane Kinsey, the Earl and Countess of Wilton. I have two overprotective siblings, Lord Alfred John Campbell and Lord Arthur James Campbell. As the youngest in my family, I try not to publicize my father's noble ranking, but inevitably the moment a guy either meets one of my brothers or realizes that I am decent from nobility, they change and usually not for the better.

After years of trying to find my soulmate, I decided to let my mother find someone for me. She came up with the ingenious idea to set up blind dates. My foolish self believed she would set me up with a few dates, maybe a max of 10 or 15 dates that have some of the qualities I'm looking for in my soulmate. Alas, that was not the case. My mother, Countess of Wilton, ladies, and gentleman, is a reality show enthusiast, and she has made my life into a Bachelorette-style joke. She has me scheduled for 125 blind dates this year and after this year is over I must decide which blind date I would like to date in the foreseeable future.

The blind dates have been eligible bachelors from all walks of life. There was blind date 17 who brought his mother on our date, and blind date 25 who decided that wearing proper shoes to the opera was an optional wardrobe choice. Blind date 39, a handsome, tech founder, was someone I could see a future with until the end of the date, where he ditched me for the waitress leaving me to pay our outrageous dinner bill. Then there was blind date 57, the date itself wasn't too bad, but he decided to text me all the things he didn't like about me after our date instead of simply saying he didn't feel a connection.

Blind dates 58 to 75 were mostly uneventful, they were a series of wealthy CEOs and businessmen, all trying to flaunt their wealth and prove their manliness. However, blind dates 76-100 was where things got a bit interesting. Somehow word got out that my mother was setting me up on a bunch of dates with nobles from all around Europe. These men run in the same circles and my joke of a life was a major topic of discussion in their circle. Surely whoever said that women were major gossipers hasn't met this group of noble bachelors because they all had a lot to say about these blind dates. Each and every single noble I went on a date with brought up my mother's unconventional method of finding a "boyfriend" for me.

Blind dates 101-119, ugh, don't even get me started on them. They were quite possibly the worst men on this planet. Maybe on paper, these men were alright, but in person, their personalities were less than stellar. I truly believed my mother was pulling some sort of awful prank on me.

This brings me to today, December 16th, the day of my 120th blind date. I'm currently at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. Blind date 120, that's what I'm calling him because I still don't know his name, flew me from London to New York on his private jet. I have no details about today's date, all I know is that blind date 120 will be picking me up from my hotel at 4 pm this evening.

As I approach baggage claim, I see an older gentleman, presumably my chauffeur for the day, carrying a sign with my name.

"Good Afternoon," I say, extending my right hand. "My name is Arabella Campbell, pleased to meet you."

"Ah, good afternoon Lady Campbell, my name is Dennis and I will be your chauffeur today." Dennis greets me while shaking my outstretched hand, "Let me take your bag."

"Please Dennis, call me Arabella and I'm perfectly fine carrying my own bag. Thank you."

"Very well, let's make our way to the hotel so you can prepare for your date," Dennis says leading me to the town car.

The trip to the hotel took approximately an hour, but time flew quickly as I admired all the sights New York had to offer. I have always wanted to visit New York, but my studies and career prevented me from taking the time out to visit. Blind date 120, whoever he is, has made my dream come true.

We arrived at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park at 1:45 pm. I was checked in and escorted to my room at record speed. After bidding farewell to the bellboy, I ran to the windows admiring the view of Central Park. "New York is magical, 120, you are turning out to be the perfect guy, let's see how tonight's date goes."

I quickly put my phone on charge, grab my toiletries from my bag, and rush to the bathroom to freshen up for my date. While doing my makeup my phone rings and without checking the caller ID I answer, "This is Arabella Campbell speaking."

"Bella, sweetheart, did you make it there alright?"

"Yes mother, I'm getting ready for the date. Is there a specific reason for this call?"

"Can't a mother call her daughter without there having to be a reason? You don't have to be rude Arabella." She jokes. "I was just calling to remind you to dress casually for your date tonight."

"Thank you for the reminder, mother, but I will have to end this call as blind date 120 will be here soon. Goodbye." I hang up realizing I have mere minutes before 120 arrives.

While zipping up my boots there's a knock on the door, I take a quick glance in the mirror and make my way to the door. I open the door without peeking through the peephole only to stop after seeing who blind date 120 is. He seems awfully familiar. I think to myself, trying to determine why this fine specimen of a man seems so familiar to me.

"Bel." 120 whispers so faintly I almost don't catch what he says.

My eyes widen as realization strikes. There's only one person who has ever called me Bel, my childhood best friend, and unrequited first love, Graham Scott.

"Gray?" I ask, jumping to wrap my arms tightly around his neck without waiting for an answer. After embracing him for god knows how long, I take a step back. While still in his arms, I place my hand on his right cheek and look up into his bright blue eyes that have teared up much like my own. "Is it really you? It's been 10 years! How have you been? How did you find me?"

"Breathe, Bel. Take a deep breath. I'll answer all your questions and we'll have time to catch up, but we should get going otherwise we'll be late the first part of our date." He reassures me and moves away from the door. I take a quick glance at my purse making sure I have my phone and room key.

"I'm ready. Let's go." I say with a smile on my face as I loop my arm around Gray's and rest my head on his shoulder.

Our walk to the restaurant is spent reminiscing and laughing at childhood memories. This date just started and I can already tell it's different from all the other dates I've been on. I can be myself and laugh loudly at our old jokes or act as obnoxiously as I want to. This is what all my dates were missing. I wasn't nearly as comfortable with dates 1-119 as I am with Gray.

"Bel, we're here." Graham opens the door to The Smith, places his hand on my lower back, and guides me to our table with the help of our waitress. I feel the goosebumps radiating from where he touched. Was it always like this with Graham? Did my body always react to his touch this way? Is he the reason no other guy has caught my eye in the past 10 years?

"Thank you," I say as he helps me take a seat before he takes his. Before I can begin my questions our server appears to take our drink orders and I decided to wait to ask questions until we've ordered our food.

After the server leaves with our orders I begin my questions, "Tell me, Gray, how did you become blind date 120?"

"Bel, I met your brothers when they came to New York earlier this year. They made fun of your mother's outrageous idea to set you up on 125 blind dates and that's when I got the idea to have your mother set me up as one of your blind dates. I picked date 120 because it gave me enough time to plan your visit to New York and our date. Ever since we were kids you've always wanted to visit New York during the winter so you could go ice skating at the Wollman rink in Central Park and see the decorated Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. It's been your dream and I want to be the man to make all your dreams come true."

He took a deep breath before continuing, "We lost 10 years Bel when I left to attend school here at Columbia. I wish I had the chance to talk to you before I left, but everything happened so quickly and before I knew it I was here in New York with no way to get in touch with you. The day I left was the day I was going to confess my feelings to you. I love you Bel. I think I've always loved you. Ever since the day we met when you got mad at that kid in nursery school for stealing my snack. You were my first friend and I don't know when it happened, but I fell in love with you. I planned this trip so we could reconnect."

I intertwined my hands with his on the table and with tears in my eyes said, "Gray, I've missed you so much these 10 years. I don't know when I fell in love with you either, but I realized my feelings after you left and by then it was too late. I'm so happy you met my brothers and had my mom set you up as one of my blind dates. You're the one Gray and I love you too, but I don't want to rush this."

"Of course, let's take this one day at a time." The rest of dinner was spent catching up on the past 10 years. After dinner, we made our way to Central Park and strolled through the park admiring the lights. We approached Wollman rink and Graham left me near the rink to go and collect our skates.

This was my first-time ice skating and Gray was with me the whole time holding my hand, protecting me, guiding me. Whenever I fell, he tried to help me up and ended up on the ice as well. Every single time we exploded into a fit of laughs and I admired his carefree laugh I had missed over the years. We fell way too many times and finally returned the ice skates after skating for two hours. We grabbed some hot chocolate before walking hand in hand to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree.

Our walk to Rockefeller consisted of light conversation and admiration of the city. New York during the winter is so romantic. Snow drifting in soft waves, the need to surround yourself with warmth and comfort preferably with a loved one. Out of all my dates this year my date with Graham was shaping to be the best one. Maybe this had to do with the fact that I was with Graham and it felt as if the last 10 years hadn't happened. We lost a decade when Graham left, but it felt as if everything was exactly the same and we hadn't lost all that time.

We approach the exquisitely decorated Christmas tree and sit in silence admiring its beauty. I sit to the right of Gray, my head on his shoulder, our hands intertwined as Gray unconsciously runs his thumb over my hand. The silence between us is comforting, there's no awkwardness or tension.

"Thank you, Gray," I whispered, not wanting to disturb the comfortable silence.

Gray turns to face me bringing his right hand to rest on my cheek. "Don't thank me Bel, but I want you to do me a favor."

"Anything. Just name it and I'll do it." I say without hesitating.

"Stay until New Years. Don't go on any more dates your mother has scheduled. I want you to choose me." He says passionately while looking into my eyes.

I close my eyes and take a moment to think. Maybe I should stay. The next five dates aren't going to change anything. Gray is the one. He's the one I'm meant to be with. He's my soulmate.

I open my eyes and catch him staring in anticipation for my answer. "I'll stay, but you're going to come back home with me after New Years' so we can visit my family and tell them about us."

Graham places his hand behind my head and guides me into a kiss. It's a slow sweet kiss that soon turns passionate. I tried to express my love for Graham through the kiss and I could feel his love for me too. The kiss was everything I ever wanted. We separate and rest our foreheads together gazing into each other's eyes. This is where I'm supposed to be.

After 120 blind dates, I found the one. 120 is my soulmate, my best friend, my forever. Graham Scott, the man I thought I lost 10 years ago.