Page 3 of Failure to Match

“Out of the question.”

Then I was out of ideas.

Mitch nudged at his wireframe glasses, finally deciding to take the baton. “Vivian, we’re really not exaggerating. He won’t even get on a five-minute call with us. And since he hasn’t signed off on an Immersive, we can’t exactly send someone out to observe the dates…” He trailed off when Vivian started to shake her head.

“No,” she said. “Try again. He’s not going to budge on his schedule. Think of a different way. You need the data, so how will you get it without his cooperation?”

“We’ve spent eight monthstrying. He won’t—” Alice cut off abruptly, her eyes going in and out of focus. She sucked in a short breath. “Oh.”

Oh?

Oh, what?

But before I could ask, Vivian cleared her throat and smoothed down the front of her pleated dress. “Figure this out, and soon. I don’t care what you have to do to get me results. Minerva is running out of patience and if she decides to take her business elsewhere, half of our portfolio will follow, and that’ll mean layoffs. Period.”

She shot Alice one last knowing look on her way out, the opaque glass door sliding shut behind her.

“Holy shit,” Mitch breathed, his upper body practically collapsing on the table. “The fucking balls on you, Alice.”

She glared at him. “The next time you decide to play violent footsie with me under the table, don’t. You almost ripped my tights with that last kick.”

“I was trying to save you from yourself. Vivian looked like she was ready to fire you on the spot when you started talking back.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “She’s going to fire all three of us anyway. She knew exactly what an impossible clusterfuck this was going to be from the very beginning. Why else would she assign three junior consultants to a client this important instead of taking it on herself?”

“Because we’re young, ambitious, and willing to put in the long hours it requires?” Mitch tried.

“No. Because we’re young, naive, and disposable.”

“That’s incredibly depressing,” I said.

“It’s reality.”

I slumped in my chair with a sigh. I really didn’t want to lose this job—not after I’d worked so hard for so long to get it. Charmed was the crème de la crème of matchmaking companies, so anywhere I went after this would feel like taking ten steps back in my career. Not ideal.

Before Jackson Sinclair, my professional life had been perfect. I’d loved my job, the people, the work-life balance, and even Vivian hadn’t been so bad when we weren’t constantly disappointing her.

I swiveled in my chair. “You know… if we get fired and have to look for new jobs, we’re going to need to explain why we weren’t able to find a match for a literal Sinclair.” The industry was small, and people talked. It was bound to get out. “They’re all going to ask.”

Mitch shoved a rough hand through his hair. “I’m more worried about tomorrow night. We have no one to send to Jackson’s standing appointment, and I doubt we’ll find a matchin less than thirty hours. If we have to pull another all-nighter and sleep here, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind. I can’t do it.”

“Also, how the hell does she expect us to get unbiased data on the dates?” I looked between the two of them. “Drones? Hacking security cams?”

“I have an idea that’ll take care of both problems,” Alice cut in. “But you’re really not going to like it.”

“No. Absolutely fucking not.” No way. There was no way I was willing to do it.

Alice leaned in, arms flattening on the table. “Comeooon.It won’t be that bad.”

Was she serious? “You want me to go on a date with Jack the fucking Ripper and you don’t think it’ll bethat bad?”

“It’s not like you’re going as yourself,” she argued. “You’ll be undercover.”

“How is that not a thousand times worse?”

Not only was it a terrible idea that would undoubtedly blow up in our faces, but I was the absolute worst person for the job. I hated lying. It made my insides itchy, and the upkeep was almost always too stressful to be worth it.

“Don’t overthink it,” she said. “We’ll hook you up with some discreet surveillance equipment and give you a solid fake profile. You’ll be fine.”

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