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“How’d you know I have butterflies?”
“Um, Gem…? I’ve known you since we were both in diapers. That’s how I know. Go on and get in there. I just passed his office and he’s off the phone now.”
“You don’t think I should wait until after dinner?”
“No. Because I actually want to enjoy the meal, and if you’re all amped up about this pitch I’m going to pick up on your stress and I’ll feel stressed. And then I won’t enjoy Mom’s pot roast and I swear, thinking about her pot roast is all that got me through the hellish week I just survived.”
She points toward the patio doors. “Go.”
I square my shoulders and level my gaze at the glass sliding doors.
Carly laughs. “You don’t need to get all Amazonian Warrior Woman on this, Gem. He’s going to give you money. That’s, like, practically guaranteed at this point. You know he just handed out like twenty grand to some company making no-rinse shampoo? Shampoo in a spray can. How lame is that? You have a business that actually helps people. And, he loves you.”
“I don’t want him to invest because I’m a family friend. I want him to invest because he believes in Right Match.”
She rolls her eyes. “You are such an overachiever. Just get in there and talk with him already, and then we can all scarf down a delicious meal. I’m starving, and Mom says it’ll be ready in half an hour.”
I set my jaw and march into the Manning household.
Carly’s right. I have memorized every single word I’m going to say to her father. As I make my way through the living room, I run through all ten points for the millionth time. I can hear her mother humming in the kitchen. The smell of roasted potatoes, carrots, and beef along with baking biscuits hangs in a heavy cloud that I can nearly taste.
I really do have butterflies in my stomach. Tonight, my whole life might change.
I think Carly’s right, and Mitch Manning will invest in my company, Right Match. And if he invests, I’ll have the capital I need to finally get the brand online. We’ll be set up to make millions.
Owning a multi-million dollar company by the time I hit thirty sounds pretty amazing to me. It’d be one huge life goal that I could put a big, happy check mark next to.
And Ilovecheck marks.
When I push open the office door and peer in, I spot Mitch and smile. “Mr. Manning? Do you have a minute?”
“Gemma, honey!” He waves me forward. “Come on in, come on in. Carly said you two had one heck of a drive getting out here. Rush hour traffic, construction on the Pike…?”
“It was no problem. Gave us time to catch up, which is always nice.”
“You two never run out of things to talk about, do you? And it’s been that way since you tykes, barely big enough to scoot around on those big wheel tricycles you both loved so much. When you weren’t over here, she wanted to be on the phone with you. And then that rope you had up between your windows, to pass letters after curfew… as if all us parents couldn’t hear the crank turn squeaking. We had to take that down, by the way.”
“I saw that.”
“It sure was cute, that rope. Reminded me every day of how fun it was to have you kids running around. But Patty thought it was an eyesore. Well, you’re all grown, now, there’s no denying that.” He sighs and leans back in his chair. “The end of an era, as they say. Did Patty get you a glass of wine? Some food?”
“I’m a little too nervous to eat, to be honest with you.”
“Ah, pooh. This is nothing to be nervous about. How about a glass of whisky?”
“No, really. Thank you so much.”
He picks up his own drink and gestures with it toward the couch. “Have a seat over there, then, and we’ll get down to it. I’ve been looking forward to having a talk with you about this business of yours. Matchmaking. Is that it?”
“Yes, Sir. Right Match.”
“Right Match. Great name, great name. It’s all right there, spelled out, and that’s a good thing. Makes advertising a heck of a lot easier, am I right? Anyway, I’m very interested in what you’re up to. Always knew you’d do something impressive, and here we are. Carly says you’re hoping for some help with funding?”
That’s my cue.
I take a deep breath and then dive in.
Twenty minutes later, I rattle off my rehearsed conclusion. “We know the market’s there. Everyone wants to find that right match—that’s a universal experience. And with our track record, we feel confident that we can deliver. To date, 83% of the matches we make lead to marriage. That means we’ve facilitated over 300 marriages. Our process works. Moving to an online business model will really open the doors for us, so we can help more people.”
