Page 26 of Only Fangs

“Dating apps live or die on how many members you have,” Brody tells me when I declare myself bored of looking at spreadsheets. “You’re doing the most important bit.”

He’s right. We need to prove we can find a way to get critical mass and have enough people signing up at launch so everyone can find at least one match. After all, a dating app with no-one you can date on it is a pointless waste of everyone’s time. And even though vampires have all the time in the world, they’re still reluctant to squander it. In fact, the most impatient people I know are vampires.

“Can we take a break though?” I ask him. “Or at least work on something else for a bit?”

“You could help me with some of the functionality ideas,” he suggests.

“That sounds a lot more interesting.” I close the lid of my laptop quickly and he laughs softly.

“Right then. So, the main UX is off the shelf, we can customise bits of it and change the colours and things, but on the whole it will work the same way most of these apps do. But I’ve been trying to think of things we can add that might be a little more fun.”

“Sounds like a good plan. Any ideas so far?”

He bites his lip He obviously has an idea and he’s desperate to share it. “We could create a ‘pick your date’ function,” he says, eyes shining like he’s had the very best idea in the world. There’s something super endearing about how enthusiastic he is.

“How do you mean?”

“Like a poll or something that you and your potential date can fill in so it will suggest the perfect date. Avoid all the weirdness of having to decide on a place and a time and an activity.” He’s evidently warming to the theme.

“Activity?” I ask.

“Yeah, like ice skating or going to the cinema or a hike. Some kind of activity to break the ice.”

“Oh. Is that a thing?”

He gives me this look.

“I haven’t actually been on a date for a while,” I say in my defence.

“How long is a while?”

“A while.” I put a heavy emphasis on the “while”.

“Like a few months? A year?” He narrows his eyes as he looks at me.

“Longer.” I’m not sure I want to be more accurate. “By choice though,” I add quickly. Not that it matters, but I don’t want him to think I couldn’t date if I wanted to.

“Years?”

“I’m a hundred and seventy-two. You say years like it’s a long time.”

“Fair.” He pauses for a moment. “So, how about I take you out?”

“On a date?” If I could blush I would.

“Just to show you what modern dating actually looks like.”

“Of course.” Is it wrong that I’m almost disappointed it isn’t a real date?

In the end he takes me to a place just off Friar’s Walk. “I’ve been here before,” I say as we stand outside a wooden door recessed into a very old stone wall.

“Oh,” Brody says, the disappointment evident in his tone. “Sorry, I thought this could be fun. Something a bit new for both of us.”

“I don’t mean recently,” I turn and smile at him and his whole demeanour changes back to the excited puppy I’m more used to. “It was decades ago. No actually, it was well over a century.” I reach out to touch the stone wall, the bricks crumbling slightly beneath my fingers.

The first time I came here it was summer, I remember the wide brimmed hat I was wearing to stop the sun from burning my skin. There wasn’t any Clarins magic lotion back then. My heart had raced and I thought I was going to be sick as I knocked on the door and whispered the password to the woman waiting on the other side.

“Are you OK?” Brody asks and snaps me from my reverie.