Rose spent the weekend pouring over books on the science behind long-lasting relationships, desperate to learn as much as she could before returning to work. Her first was the one she’d supposedly written, and she branched out from there.
Though Craig wasn’t rushing her, Rose was eager to get started. She needed to prove her worth – both to the company and to herself.
On Monday, she decided to send a message to her first client, Seymour, through the SerenadeMe app.
He answered within an hour. “Can’t wait to work with you. I’m free to chat on Friday. Anytime!”
Rose gasped when she saw his message. Then she sat frozen, staring at her screen.
This was happening, and she really had to sell it. If she wasn’t ready, she had to find a way to look ready. Channel her inner Lucy, call up whatever courage she had, and fake it.
She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and set up a video call with him on Friday. For the rest of the week, she combed through his profile and the preliminary matches selected by the SerenadeMe software.
From her first impression, it seemed like Seymour was a great catch. He was twenty-five, which, thinking of it, made her feel old. Why was everyone suddenly younger than she was?
No matter. That wasn’t the focus right now. The focus was Seymour, a videogame developer living in Seattle. He loved to cook, he loved both catsanddogs, and he had cute-looking pictures in his profile.
Rose didn’t see any red flags. It was unnerving. What could she possibly do to help him?
By the time their meeting rolled around, Rose had all but memorized his answers to the 126 matchmaking questions. She told herself she was as prepared as possible, but her traitorous heart still thundered in her chest as she logged onto the call.
Her face popping onto the screen distracted her for a moment. She couldn’t believe how professional she looked. Her office was so pretty and serene that it almost looked fake.
She forced a smile. She could do this. Rose Woodson could do this.
Within seconds, Seymour popped onto her screen and waved. “Hi!”
He looked similar to his pictures – slim, with curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a brief flash of a smile. A cute young man, as far as she could tell.
Young man.She shook her head. If Lucy heard her say something like that, she’d call her an old maid.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Rose, the matchmaker at SerenadeMe.”
“It’s really nice to meet you, Rose.” He paused. “I’m going to be honest—I’m super nervous about this.”
If only he knew. “You have no reason to be, but I totally get that. It’s a scary thing, dating, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Petrifying.”
“I can assure you that you’re in good hands,” she lied. “Why don’t you tell me why you decided to sign up for the personal matchmaker service?”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Sure, yeah. Okay, so, my last relationship was, uh…” He stopped. “Can I start over?”
Rose laughed. “Of course. Listen. To tell you the truth, I’m a little nervous myself.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why?”
“I’ve been looking at your profile, and from what I can see, you’re a catch. I’ve been trying to figure out why you need me, and I’m afraid it’s because you’re going to say you only date supermodels or something.”
A laugh burst out of him. “No! It’s nothing like that.”
Rose ran a hand over her forehead. “Phew.”
“I signed up because I’m terrible at dating. I hate going to bars, I’m awkward when I message people on apps…I’m just bad at it.”
He told her about his romantic history – not that there was much to tell. He’d had two previous relationships, and one hardly counted because it was the sister of a friend who strung him along whenever she broke up with her boyfriend.
Beyond that, there were a slew of first dates where Seymour shrunk more into himself after each one.
