Page 2 of Stripe for the Picking
"Trevor was a moron with the emotional depth of a puddle."
"True, but he wasn't wrong about me being complicated." Wren sipped her latte, the sweetness doing nothing to chase away the bitterness in her chest. "I'm not interested in love or kids right now anyway. How can I think about building a life with someone when I haven't figured out what I'm supposed to be doing with my own?"
The coffee shop's noise filled the pause. The world continued its mysterious dance of purpose and connection, while Wren remained an observer, brilliant and isolated behind her laptop screen. Around her, the air hummed with afternoon energy. A young mother bounced her fussy baby while juggling a phone call. Two college students hunched over textbooks, their whispered debate floating past her table. An elderly man read his newspaper with methodical precision, occasionally chuckling at something.
Everyone has their thing, Wren observed.Everyone except me.
She watched a woman at the counter order something complicated, gesturing with animated hands while the barista nodded patiently. Even that interaction seemed charged with purpose. Meanwhile, Wren sat alone with her laptop,solving other people's disasters while her own life remained frustratingly static.
"I should let you go," she told Mallory, her friend's face still bright on the screen.
"Promise me you'll think about what I said. About finding your adventure."
"Cross my heart." Wren's smile felt hollow. "Though I'm pretty sure my biggest thrill this week will be explaining password security to Mrs. Hendricks again."
She ended the call and closed her laptop, suddenly feeling the weight of the afternoon sun streaming through the window. The coffee shop's warmth pressed against her skin, making her hyperaware of how long she'd been sitting, how many hours she spent in similar chairs, staring at similar screens.
What if this is it?The thought crept in unbidden.What if I'm always going to be the woman who fixes things from the sidelines?
The sound of designer heels clicking against tile broke through her spiraling thoughts. Sharp, confident steps that somehow cut through the ambient noise like a knife through silk. Wren looked up to find a petite woman approaching her table, and everything about this stranger commanded attention.
The woman wore a pristine white pantsuit that seemed to shimmer in the afternoon light, the fabric so perfectly tailored it could have been painted on. Her white bob gleamed like spun moonlight, each strand falling into place with geometric precision. But it was her eyes that truly caught Wren's attention—brilliant blue that seemed to shift and dance, occasionally catching gold flecks that made them almost luminous.
The woman stopped beside Wren's table, radiating a confidence that made the air itself feel charged with electricity. Her presence was magnetic in a way that defied explanation, as if she carried her own gravitational field.
"Did someone mention adventure over here, darling?" The woman's voice held a teasing lilt, her blue eyes now definitely sparkling with gold. "I've found a special someone who's been waiting just for you... a tiger shifter on the planet Nova Aurora who desperately needs your help. His planet's defense systems have been under repeated cyber attacks, and he's failing to stop them. You could change everything. And while you're at it, you might help him finally win the annual Protocol Trials, and maybe even tame his inner beast."
Wren's hand jerked, nearly sending her latte cascading across her laptop. Her heart thundered in her chest as the woman's words registered. "Excuse me? Are you referring to me? There must be some kind of mistake. You must have confused me for someone else."
But even as Wren spoke, something electric shot through her veins. A tiger shifter. Cyber attacks on an alien planet. Protocol Trials. Every word felt like a key turning in a lock she hadn't known existed.
This is insane, her rational mind protested.This woman is clearly delusional.
Yet her imagination was already spinning, painting pictures of alien landscapes and futuristic security systems that needed her particular brand of digital surgery. The idea of her skills being essential and being the difference between success and failure on an interplanetary scale, made her pulse quicken in ways that debugging code never could.
The woman studied Wren with those unnervingly perceptive eyes, her smile widening as if she could read every thought racing through Wren's mind. "There's no mistake. I'm talking about you, Wren. You're ready to matter, ready to shake things up, and ready to be indispensable."
The words hit like physical blows.Ready to matter.How long had she been waiting for someone to say exactly that?
"How do you know my name exactly?" Wren's voice came out smaller than intended, fear and excitement warring in her chest.
"I'm Gerri Wilder." The woman extended a perfectly manicured hand. "Fellow self-employed businesswoman. I came across your website for your cybersecurity consulting business the other day and recognized your face through the coffee shop window." She paused, her eyes sparkling with a hint of admiration. "Your business is quite impressive, actually. Your client testimonials read like love letters to your brilliance."
Relief flooded through Wren as the explanation grounded the surreal moment in something resembling reality. Of course—her website. She'd worked hard to build her online presence and was proud of the reputation she'd cultivated. "Thank you. I've worked really hard to build my business these past five years."
Gerri slid into the chair across from Wren without invitation, her movements fluid and purposeful. "And it shows. But tell me, darling, don't you ever feel like you're using a Ferrari to deliver pizza? All that magnificent brain power solving password problems?"
The observation stung because it was so accurate. "Some days," Wren admitted. "But it pays the bills."
"Bills." Gerri waved a dismissive hand. "What about purpose? What about using those incredible skills to save an entire planet? What about helping a man who's brilliant at everything except the one thing he needs most—understanding that sometimes the best warriors need the right partner to truly win?"
Wren's mind raced ahead, already imagining herself packing a suitcase.What would someone even bring to an alien planet?The practical question surprised her—when had she started thinking of this as a real possibility rather than an elaborate joke?
"You're talking about actual interplanetary travel," she said slowly. "Other alien planets. Shifters. This isn't science fiction?"
"Darling, the universe is far more interesting than most people realize," Gerri replied, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "And you strike me as someone who's been waiting her whole life for something interesting."
The truth of that statement resonated through Wren's entire body. She thought of her conversation with Mallory and her desperate yearning for something bigger. Here was a woman offering exactly that, wrapped in designer clothing and impossible claims.
