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Chapter One
NATHAN
The sleek glasswalls of our San Diego office overlooked the bustling city below. I moved from the window to sit behind my desk—my posture rigid, fingers tapping an urgent rhythm against the polished wood. I normally found comfort in the pristine space I had created—a reflection of my own meticulous nature.
But right now it felt stifling.
“Moving our entire office to Denver? You can’t be serious.” I shot an accusatory look across the room to Ben, my business partner, cofounder, and former college roommate.
“It’s where Love Linked is located, and they finalized the merger yesterday. It’s a done deal, Nathan. We knew we’d be giving up control when we took on these investors.”
“But not that much control,” I seethed. “Our entire company that we built from the ground up is being merged with some up-and-coming app and we get no say?”
Love Linked, the small dating app our investors had recently acquired in Denver, was the exact opposite of our app, Pulse. It championed genuine connections and meaningful relationshipsover the casual encounters people usually sought our services for.
“That up-and-coming app has been getting a hell of a lot of press lately. Their growth numbers are off the charts. Besides…” Ben’s typical charisma—usually used to charm the board—had vanished. Instead, he flashed me a sheepish grin. “They want us to clean up our image.”
“The imageyoufostered,” I said, my eyes narrowing in accusation.
Despite our completely dissimilar personalities, our collaboration had birthed a multi-million-dollar dating application used by millions all over the world. While we had started with good intentions in college—just trying to connect like-minded people so they could build a real connection—our venture had, over time, transformed from that innocent concept into a sophisticated yet sleazy platform. Some people might not like to point fingers, but I had no issue with it. Our image was entirely Ben’s fault, likely due to his notorious former playboy nature.
Ben held up his hands in defense and leaned back in his chair. “Oh, now that it’s a problem it’smyimage? You didn’t seem to take issue with it when we raked in our first million dollars.”
I scowled at his deflection. “I always told you we should tone it down, and you fought me tooth and nail on it. You’re only on board with it now because you’re in a relationship. The old you would have never stood for it.”
He rolled his eyes. “Alright, calm down. So what if I fell in love? It didn’t change my business savviness. At the time, I thought playing up the sex made the most sense. But now, I can see the appeal of having a softer side.”
“That’s what I’ve always said.” I let out a frustrated groan. “Now that we’ve finally brought on investors, it’s the first thing they want to fix. Just like I told you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re really going to go with the ‘I told you so’ route? So cliché.”
“I am and I did,” I insisted, irritated by his relaxed attitude. This company was everything to me. To have this level of control ripped away in a matter of weeks infuriated me. When we signed this deal, it felt too good to be true. Almost as if we were signing our souls away to the devil for a billion dollars. Now we had to pay the price.
Ben shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re so upset about this then. We’re finally taking this app in the direction you wanted.”
“Under someone else’s demand!”
“No need to raise your voice,” Ben said, holding up his hands. “What’s done is done. We’ll send out the announcement to the office on Monday. A few will be given the option to relocate, but most will be able to stay on remotely. You and I need to be in Denver for this, end of story. We’ll be leading the merger and the integration of both apps into one new product.”
I gripped my desk, hating to concede but knowing fighting was futile.
“When are we leaving?” I finally asked.
“Next week.” He blew out a breath, knowing the worst of our conversation had ended.
“Just like that?”
He shrugged. “Just like that.”
I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my stiff, expensive jeans and stared out at the expansive city view. “But the winter.” I winced at the thought.
Ben chuckled. “A little cold could do you some good. Haven’t you seen those guys that do ice baths for their health? It’s supposed to make you superhuman or something.”
I sighed. The prospect of relocating didn’t inherently upset me. California had been my residence ever since I ventured out here for college. While I wasn’t eager to vacate, it also never felt quite like home. Likely due to the loner status I embraced.
My reservations stemmed from the principle of the matter. That my life was being dictated by outside forces, despite my full capability of making all major company decisions.
When I turned around, Ben’s hopeful expression stopped me dead in my tracks. As much as it killed me, the realist in me couldn’t deny this plan made a lot of sense. Our growth numbers had been dwindling, and this merger was likely our ticket to branching out into a new market.
