Barney set the paperweight down. “It does sound nice, doesn’t it?”
Craig laughed. He didn’t disagree. Floating away from their problems was easier than facing them.
It was true their app was too good. The average user only used it for four months. They wanted to figure out why, so they’d sent out surveys with gift card raffles. Eighty percent of the respondents said they’d found a partner and they were happy.
Eightypercent!
They couldn’t give up on SerenadeMe yet. They’d expanded a bit quickly and were short on cash, yes, but the company was good. The technology was remarkable. The people were top-notch.
But the two of them were falling apart. Barney was on the brink of a mental breakdown, and Craig had to take over handling a lot of the day-to-day issues. He tried to act like he had everything under control, but the truth was, he had no idea what he was doing.
Craig could design the app, and he could endlessly tweak it for better results, but he couldn’t run a company. He was a fraud, through and through, and if they didn’t sell soon, someone was bound to find out. Visions of users quittingen masseand sending the stock price plummeting kept him up at night.
The pressure was killing him, but he couldn’t let the company down. They had to find a way to sell before it all fell apart.
“We’re figuring it out,” Craig said confidently. “The board thinks it’s a good move, and I’m pretty sure I know how to get Brett to close the deal.”
A smile spread across Barney’s face. “Oh yeah, your matchmaker started today! What’s her name again?”
“Rose.” He sat back, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m telling you, she’s got that something. I don’t know what it is, but I have a good feeling.”
Barney stood and put his suit jacket on. “The last time you had a good feeling, we ended up hiking Mount Rainier in the middle of a snowstorm.”
“You’re the one who made me go hiking in the first place,” Craig said. “I was just trying to get it over with.”
He laughed. “Yeah, sure. As long as your matchmaker doesn’t almost kill us, it’ll still be better than that.”
“I think we’re safe there.”
He nodded. “I’ve got to run. Let me know how it’s going.”
“Will do.”
Craig waved him off, then got up to make his way back to Rose’s office.
She wasn’t the answer toallof their problems, but the idea of a matchmaker was brilliant. It would set them apart. Pull people in. Prevent them from running this company into the ground because they were two inexperienced, overgrown college kids.
On top of that, Rose was a professional. She walked into the office this morning and she justfit.She greeted everyone like they were old friends and chatted with such ease. Rose had the charm of a celebrity, and that was exactly what they needed in a matchmaker.
Craig’s intentions were strictly professional, but he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, too. If he weren’t her boss, he never would’ve approached her.
Beautiful women were wasted on him. For one, he was too shy to talk to them, and even if he did, he couldn’t get them to stick around. Craig was too quiet, too private. He’d always been this way, and the more enchanting the woman, the more closed-off he became.
It was partially why he made the app. He never dreamed his silly idea would work for people. It was wonderful, really. Someone could meet the love of their life, their partner, their soulmate – and all they had to do was take a chance and answer a few questions.
He didn’t get relationships, but he could still see the beauty in it. Rose saw it, too. Maybe that was what made her so easy to talk to.
He knocked on her office door and she called out, “Come in!”
He walked in and it looked like she hadn’t moved since he’d left, except to cover the surface of her desk with sheets of scribbled-on paper.
“Did you get lunch?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet. I was trying to get this model running.”
He took a step toward her. “What model?”
Rose sat back, a grin on her face. “I’m guessing your developers already made something like this, but I found the matchmaking data and tried to get some insights. I was so,soexcited when I saw that some users reported back how long their matched relationships lasted.”
