Page 61 of Jake

“I’ll be honest, I’m a little nervous.” She looked around again, taking it all in.

“The idea is to just have a conversation. Evan is bringing someone to record it and then we will piece it together for a promo, no pressure at all. Also, we will make sure whatever we put together looks good for both of us, so no worries there.”

Oh, look, another fear unlocked today. This was fun. “I hope so.” She hoped her tone was joking.

“We’re here!” Evan called from the lobby as he walked in.

Kayla jumped out of her seat as he came in. “Hi.” She smiled at him.

Evan smiled back and offered a small wave. Lauren had to turn away. The moment felt intimate and she felt like an interloper.

“I am too,” Jake called.

Lauren looked back to see him walking in with another man. He headed straight for her, planting a sweet kiss on her lips.

“I’ve missed you,” she confessed as she slid over, making room for him to sit next to her.

Jake reached under the table as he sat, finding her hand and taking it in his. “I missed you too. A week is a long time.”

Kayla slid in on the other side of the booth and Evan next to her as four salads were delivered to the table.

“I’m going to set up. Not recording anything, so you go ahead and eat your lunch, and I will let you know when I am ready,” the man with all the camera equipment told them before stepping away.

“We aren’t going to interview in the booth. It doesn’t give the right vibe, I don’t think,” Evan explained.

Lauren just nodded as she took a bite of her salad. Lunch passed quickly, and then they were seated at another table for the interview.

“I’m going to ask some questions. They might be a little out of order but again, we likely won’t be using the whole interview so it doesn’t matter. Just be yourself and try to keep things as conversational as possible.”

“Who set the two of you up?” Kayla asked.

She looked at Jake and they both grinned.

“It was two of our friends, who happen to be siblings,” Jake answered.

“That’s sweet,” Kayla said. “How was your first date here?”

They both laughed again. “I only had one, but it was awkward at first, getting used to the dark, but Jake was there to help me with getting comfortable, and then it went a lot better.”

“You were late too,” Jake teased. “My first date didn’t go that well. She didn’t want to chat on the app so I had no idea what to expect from her when I got here. It didn’t lead to a second date.”

“The two of you met off the app, right?”

“We accidentally discovered who each other was outside of the app, but it was because of the app. We were texting each other on it and were in the same room.” Lauren laughed as she told the story.

“It was shocking at first, but I’m not disappointed at all.” Jake smiled.

“Would you say you preferred the texting part of the app before the date?” Kayla asked.

“Oh absolutely. By the time we got to our date, it was like we already knew each other. Plus, we continued to use the app after the date because we didn’t meet right after the first one.”

“I was nervous still. It seemed to be going too well,” Lauren explained.

She asked them a few more questions before they wrapped up the interview.

“Thank you both so much for this. I will send it over before anything goes live to get your approval.”

Jake stood and reached a hand down to help Lauren up from the table.