Page 22 of Elevator Pitch

I’ll give them all my attention. Trust me.

11

“i’ll fix that.”

Greyson

Manhattan, NY | October 17, 2023

I’ve always looked forwardto Fridays, but now it’s Tuesdays. We don’t spend more than thirty to forty-five minutes together at the coffee shop, but I enjoy it. It’s refreshing how I always learn something new about her. She’s gotten me to open up a bit since I don’t share as often as I ask questions.

I got to the coffee shop early today and told Hazel I’ll be working from home for the first half of the day and to move my meetings after lunch. I claim her favorite table before someone else does, and I set up my laptop and iPad for the time being. I know her preference by now, so I proceed to the counter to place our regular orders when the ‘donut of the day’ catches my eye. It’s a maple-long john with bacon crumbles. I smile to myself as I recall her mentioning her favorite donut shop in St. Louis sells them. I order half a dozen to make her smile and get started on my to-do list as I wait for her.

She arrives twenty minutes later with a surprised expression when she spots me working at her favorite table. She eyes me suspiciously as she settles in. Then, she notices the box of donuts, and once she sees what I picked out, she smiles.

“Just like home,” she says softly, meeting my gaze as she tucks her curls behind her ear before reaching for a donut. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I hope you like them.”

She takes a bite and her eyes shut. A soft moan escapes her as she savors it.

My brows shoot up at her, and she places her hand over her mouth with a giggle.

“Anyways, what are you up to over there?” she asks.

“I thought I’d bring my work and keep you company longer than usual.”

“I don’t mind the company. Are you sure you’re not only doing this to prove you have a job?” she teases.

“That may have crossed my mind. Do you come across men that are unemployed often?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I’ve met quite a few onSoulBlenddates.”

“Tell me more about that.”

“I’ve met more that I wasn’t compatible with than I was. If you ask me, I don’t understand the hype around all these people finding their perfect match. I haven’t even found a person I wanted to go on a second date with who was amatchfor me, so I think that app is trash, or maybe that’s just my luck.” She frowns as she unpacks her laptop.

I listen intently. I’ve never had the pleasure of hearing anyone’s brutally honest opinions about the app.

She continues, “If there wasn’t an end goal to me going on these damn dates, I would’ve deleted it. It’s still an option, but I’m not great at talking to men in person either.”

“But you find it’s easier to talk to them on the app?”

“Well, yeah, but there’s something wrong with it right now. Like if a guy sends me a voice message, it doesn’t play and my inbox shows I have unread matches when I don’t. So that’s annoying.”

I hope she doesn’t think I’m disinterested. I’m listening and taking notes of what she mentioned so I can investigatefurther. It sounds like a bug, and I wasn’t notified of it, which irritates me that my team hasn’t mentioned this.

“I’ll fix that,” I say absentmindedly.

“What?” she asks. “I was talking about theSoulBlend App.”

Shit. It’s a wonder she didn’t find out anyway.

I glance up and her brows are wrinkled in confusion.

“Fun fact. I created the app and founded the company. I don’t just have a job, but I’m an employer. Ain’t that some shit?” I add with a smile.

Her jaw drops and she’s speechless so I just have to mess with her once more.

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