Page 43 of Just One Fake Date

“It’s about sex,” Kyle said.

“Excuse me?” Ty asked.

“They want to get lucky. They come here because the odds of scoring with someone hot are much better here than anywhere else.”

As was so often the case, Kyle’s instincts were close to the truth. Cassie checked the agenda, glad to see that Meesha’s presentation was next.

“It comes with the territory,” Kyle continued. He gestured in the direction of the gym. “Especiallyourterritory. All those hot, muscled bodies. All that human perfection, sweating and stretching, andnoticing. This whole place is built on the power of eye candy. That’s our niche. Gorgeous specimens of humanity in every direction. That’s why people come to F5F. Sex is the natural and inevitable result.” He sat back and grinned. “Spring fever. Everyone wants to get lucky and F5F is the place to browse the best options.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Ty said, tapping so that seasonal patterns for the last ten years overlaid the current data. “I think there’s a specific root to this spike in the last thirty days and if we figure it out, we can do it better on purpose.”

“Actually, I know,” Cassie said and all the guys looked at her. “And Ty’s right—it is about more than sex and spring fever. We always had that going on. Can we skip to the agenda item of Meesha’s presentation?”

“Sure. Who’s Meesha?” Ty asked.

Cassie stood up. “One of our members who slays social media. I think we should give her a job, actually, but she’s here to show us something that’s happening organically, something she noticed and came to talk to me about.” She called the younger woman, who stumbled on the carpet as she came into the conference room. Damon caught her elbow and she smiled her thanks at him. The partners then did the big brother thing that she loved about them. Damon got Meesha a chair, Theo welcomed her and Ty connected her laptop to the big screen, unhooking his own.

Kyle checked out her legs.

Meesha visibly took a deep breath as her first slide was displayed. “I heard Kyle say that F5F is all about the eye candy and he’s not the only one who thinks that.” She flicked through screen shots of the club’s official social media, highlighting their traffic as she talked. “There are a lot of members who post images of themselves at F5F online, and you guys know that because you have the hashtag.” Once she started, her confidence grew, maybe because she was interested in the data she was presenting. “Just as an aside, I think you could do a better job with branding and sharing that, but we can talk about that later.” Theo and Ty exchanged a glance. “I wanted you to seethis.”

All the partners leaned forward.

“This is something organic that’s cropped up in the last month or two. People don’t always use the club’s hashtag, which I think you need to change, because it’s a really good PR thing.”

The display from Meesha’s laptop included images from a photo stream on social media. They were all pictures of couples, smiling at the camera, hands clasped, radiantly happy, and not all at the club.

“Look at the number of likes,” Cassie told them. The numbers were off the charts and she wanted to be sure the guys noticed.

“#FindThe1,” Kyle read. “Seriously, this isn’t about true love.”

“Seriously, it is,” Meesha said sternly. “This kind of urban myth is evolving that F5F is where you can find your match. It’s the place for true love in Manhattan.”

“But we don’t advertise that,” Theo protested.

“Maybe that’s why,” Meesha said. “It feels more authentic, because it’s just happening on its own. That doesn’t mean you can’t encourage it or highlight it.”

“Or market to it,” Damon murmured.

“We always knew there were chat groups,” Cassie said. “And the bulletin board for workout buddies has always been busy. What’s new and different is that people are finding love here, not just sex, and we’re getting a reputation for that.”

“That explains the new members,” Theo said.

“And why the guys join alone, but the women bring a buddy,” Kyle said.

“Look at all these engagements and weddings with this hashtag,” Meesha said. “You guys have got to work with this in order to build it.”

“But we can’t control it,” Ty protested. “I mean, it’s great if people find what they want...”

“Who they want,” Kyle corrected.

“But we’re not matchmakers or a dating service. We don’t guarantee those kind of results.” Ty shook his head. “And I wouldn’t want to.”

“But you don’t have to,” Meesha countered. “You just need to give members a forum to express what’s already happening.”

“How?” Damon invited.

“A bulletin board for pictures here in the club. Maybe a digital one, like a big screen that changes constantly. People can send in their images and share them there, then the club can share them on social media. That way, they’re opting in, and you can start a thread on the official sites to showcase them.” Meesha displayed a mock-up of an Instagram feed. “And you could feature a couple, maybe every week or more often, giving them a spotlight to share how they met and what their future plans are. That would work on all your social media accounts.” She had a mock-up of that, too, complete with graphics and how it would look on all their social media accounts.

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