by M K Lansbury
Zara felt at home in this office. She’d overseen a lot of marketing campaigns coming to life and been in the midst of countless focus group discussions while she was working at Big See Consulting.
This was the fun part.
She glanced across a massive conference room and saw the focus groups assembling. A big screen on the wall displaying the cover of the campaign the company had developed. It was a picture of Ally and Tristan beaming into the camera. Real attraction and connection were shining in their eyes. It captured the true essence of Soul Mate.
“Miss Rodriguez, we’re ready for you.”
Zara nodded and made her way to a table with three other chairs meant for the marketing firms’ representatives.
A rep began to present the campaign in a seamless, very fun, flirty vibe that had the focus group smiling and nodding. Zara wished Ally was there, but she was wrapped up with some last-minute coding work with the team.
Back in New York, the office was a flurry of activity. Everyone was running on limited sleep and an abundant dosage of stress. Zara kind of enjoyed the calm unhurriedness in this Chicago office. It was like a much-needed vacation.
The focus group discussion began, and Zara let the marketing team lead and absorbed everything like a sponge in the meantime.
One of the people in the group, a family lawyer, named Yasmin Diaz, seemed to have a keen eye. “I think the central image in the campaign is great. It all seems real. Authentic.”
Zara smiled to herself. The first photo was one of Ally and Tristan. There was no denying they looked adorable together. Made for each other.
Yasmin looked approachable and fun. “The couple looks truly in love. And I think your idea to use real images from real dates people have been on after matching via Soul Mate has really taken this campaign to the next level. I feel like I know these people, and I think their love story is so unique. And trust me, I see a lot of those,” she said with a smile.
Zara leaned forward, curious about the family lawyer’s opinion. “What do you mean you see a lot of love stories?”
“Well, I’m a family lawyer, so I see it all—marriage agreement, divorce settlements, things like that. So I know when something’s real, and those two are.”
“What about your own relationship?”
This seemed to silence Yasmin. “Well, that’s the complicated kind.”
“It seems like there’s a story there.”
“Let’s just say a conflict of interest is keeping us apart.”
Zara leaned in. Yasmin, a complete stranger, seemed to be talking about Zara’s own life. “Are you dating someone in your own profession?”
Yasmin Diaz straightened in her chair. She didn’t have to say a word to confirm Zara’s question. But she suddenly shook herself and became formal again.
“Let’s just say that it’s tough to have a romantic relationship when there’s a conflict of interest. Yes, it makes things more interesting and fun, to some extent, but eventually, the realities of the world rear its ugly head. You can try to convince yourself that you can work around it and make the relationship work. But conflict of interest always ensures that you have one foot out of the relationship. Meaning, you can’t fully jump in and commit. And that ultimately makes the relationship fail.”
“Has it failed for you?”
Yasmin looked over to the window with an ambiguous look on her face. “I don’t know yet.”
***
“It went really, really well.”
Ally squealed at the other end of the phone. “Tell me more!”
Zara ordered a Lyft and waited by the side of the road. To her left, the Millennium Park was sparsely sprinkled with tourists. She considered going over, but last night’s rain had left the ground wet and riddled with puddles. The Jimmy Choos she’d borrowed from Ally during her most recent raid of her closet were not made for walking.
The phone pressed to her ear, she couldn’t bite back her smile. “The focus group really liked the campaign. They said it felt authentic. Real. And sweet.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Yep. I think the campaign will really help us get the users we need.”
“I'm so glad I have you by my side!”
“Yeah, yeah, I love you too. I'm headed to the hotel now. I’ll be on the 9 a.m. flight tomorrow.”
“Enjoy the rest of the day there. Go sightseeing, partner.”
Zara ginned. “See you soon, partner.”
She hung up and tapped on the “new message” notification. A smile lit her face, and she bit her lip.
“Taking good care of my shirt?”
Zara leaned against the building and hooked her hair behind her ear, feeling like a teenager as her fingers tapped the screen to reply to Lance.
“I left it in good hands. Those belonging to a man named Luigi.”
“Is he using it for plumbing?”
“No, Luigi’s my dry cleaner.”
“Lucky man. Gets to handle all your clothing.”
She waited patiently, tapping the screen at intervals so the device wouldn’t lock itself. She didn’t want to wait the extra fraction of a second to see Lance’s message.
His message popped up quick.
“Where are you?”
“I’ll let you guess: a city that’s windy.”
“Dayton, OH?”
“Chicago, stupid.”
“I need to visit Chicago again sometime soon. A fun city. But I guess for Zara Rodriguez, it’s all work and no play?”
“All work.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“I have a competitor to crush, you know.”
“Sure, that’s why you’re staying in tonight.”
“I’m not a complete dud, you know? I’m going to go out later, see if there’s any nice tacky t-shirts I can find. For a friend.”
“Your friend’s a lucky person. I myself do have a preference for coffee shop merch.”
“You and my friend have a lot in common.”
“Maybe your friend and I can be matched up by Soul Mate?”
Zara chuckled and looked up to see her Lyft waiting. Quickly pulling away from the wall, she slid into her ride and leaned her head against the headrest.
“Soul Mate already found you a great match.”
Zara winced, and even as her mind suddenly jolted her out of the delusion and told her not to SEND, she’d already tapped SEND. “Oh no!”
She’d gotten way too caught up in the moment. She was dreading his response. This time, she had embarrassed herself past redemption.
His reply popped on her phone screen.
“Soul Mate 1, Finder 0.”
Heat burned her cheeks, and she dropped her phone in her bag before she made the situation much worse than she already had. It didn’t help that Lance agreed that Soul Mate had done a fantastic job in matching them.
Flirtation could be harmless fun, but there was something about flirting with Lance Chase that seemed dangerous and unpredictable.
She was already walking on eggshells around Ally after the near-miss of Soul Mate matching her with Lance. It was the ultimate betrayal for Zara to keep wanting Lance when she now knew perfectly well who he was. There was no way she could defend her actions to Ally. Zara knew she was in the wrong.
And keeping all these secrets from Ally was making her lose her hair.
***
It was dark outside her hotel window, and the skyline was a sparkling array of bright lights. Zara couldn’t stop staring. It was an addictive view. So she’d pulled a chair next to it and was now seated with her notebook in her lap, the phone sandwiched between her ear and shoulder.
Uncle Dennis was at the Valley View Country Club in Nebraska and was updating her on his communication with all the vendors that Zara had picked out for the party. Yawning through it, she put the designated check marks on all the details that had been covered and hung up.
Deliciously exhausted, she knew she’d fall asleep the moment her head hit that comfy, fluffy pillow. But she was a sucker for pretty skylines, and since she didn’t know when she’d come back to Chicago again, she took a moment to savor the awe-worthy view. Say a proper farewell to the twinkling lights in front of her.
Her phone rang again, and she picked up without looking at the screen.
“Yeah, Uncle? What did I miss?”
A pause at the other end. “I knew you and Soul Mate would end up calling uncle.”
Zara shot up straight in her chair. “Lance? Sorry, I . . . Hey. It’s good to hear your voice.” Her jaw fell open at her stupidity, and she smacked the side of her head with her left hand. What was she doing? She didn’t have to reveal to Lance every thought that crossed her mind!
She was glad he wasn’t there in person. He’d be sure to tease her about her blushing cheeks.
He chuckled at the other end. “Thanks. You’ve got a pretty good voice yourself. Well, maybe not your singing one.”
“Hey.”
“I’m calling to congratulate you, actually.”
“What for?”
“Didn’t you get them yet?”
“Get what?”
“The latest download numbers for Soul Mate Beta?”
“No.” Her heart began to race. “Are they congrats-worthy?”
He laughed at the other end, the sound still as potent and heart-palpitation-inducing as it had been when he was standing across from her, in the flesh. Hot muscle and masculine scent combined.
Her mind was veering dangerously off track.
“They sure are. The download numbers are rising pretty quick. I’m not one to hold back on praise for hard work, Zara. You did really well.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to see that your competitiveness takes a backseat and you appreciate hard work.”
“Always. You and Ally make a great team. I think I'm really envious too.”
“Envious of what? Finder has a crazy market share.”
“Not downloads. I'm envious that Ally has you by her side. I didn’t turn out as lucky with my founding partner.”
Zara wasn’t sure he wanted to reveal more. She didn’t want to pry, but he sounded kind of forlorn when he mentioned it, so Zara couldn’t just let it go.
“If I remember correctly, you also brought Finder to market with a friend by your side. I’m forgetting his name . . . Rick something?”
“Ulster. Rick Ulster. And yes, I did believe he was my friend.”
Zara closed her eyes, hating the regret in his voice. She decided to inject some humor into the discussion. “I can’t blame Ulster for not being able to compete with Ally. No one is as wonderful as Ally, Lance. It’d be unfair to pit anyone against her.”
He remained quiet, and Ally instantly regretted joking about it. Lance’s silence and mellow tone at the other end was proof that he wasn’t amused.
“I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s not your fault. Rick’s still my friend. I mean, we keep in touch, if that means anything. But he turned out to not be the kind of person I wanted to keep working with. You and Ally are a pretty solid team. You help each other be better. Rick disappointed me and Finder to no end. I just really wish I’d had the luxury of having a partner I could respect.”
“Yeah, I guess I am pretty lucky.”
“Luckier than most.”
“I do remember Ally telling me something about Finder’s cofounder being ousted from the company. It was a couple years back. That’s around the time Ally had started working on Soul Mate.”
“She must have been ecstatic that Finder was going down to clear the space for her app.” He chuckled, but it was a mirthless sound.
Zara smiled. “It was common knowledge that the man who cofounded Finder next to Ulster was a force to be reckoned with. No one could dare underestimate Finder with that particular man in the Chief Commanding office.”
“Wait a minute, you knew about all of this? Me and Ulster?”
“Well, Ally talked about it. I remember her saying that Ulster leaving didn’t actually weaken the company, but you having solo control of the reins would make Finder a bigger challenge to fight when the time came.”
“How did you know all this and not know about me when you met me at the beach? Didn’t you know who I was when I told you my name?”
“Nope. I don’t remember Ally ever mentioning your name. Or maybe she did, but I was traveling for work when the Ulster drama broke. I was in the middle of chasing a pretty big client. There as a lot of pressure, and I was completely cut off from all news outlets. Ally was my only contact, via phone, on this matter. And she mentioned fleetingly about what had happened. But trust me you, if I’d known who you were, that night in Montauk would’ve ended very differently.”
“How so?”
“What do you mean, how so? If I’d known you were the man who Ally called her biggest competition, I would’ve bailed across the beach into a cab and back to New York. I swear I wouldn’t even grab my suitcase from the beach house we were staying at.”
Lance was laughing now, the voice low and throaty. “That bad? I can picture you taking off in your green wrap dress billowing behind you.”
Zara paused. “You remember what I was wearing?”
“How could I not? Don’t you remember what I was wearing?”
Zara turned to stone. She did. She remembered every single detail. The folded shirtsleeves over strong forearms. Folded trousers that came halfway up his calves. She remembered the way the fire glow had angled across the hard planes of his face. How she’d craned her neck to figure out what color his sensational eyes were.
“I guess the evening only left a massive impact on me.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry; it’s not a test.”
“I remember,” Zara burst out before she could stop herself. “Every little detail.”
The smile was in his voice when he spoke again. “Maybe you and I should join forces. You and me. Partners in business. How do you feel about jumping ship?”
Zara burst out laughing, glad that he had quickly changed the topic. The magical night in Montauk had clearly left an impact on both of them, but talking about it would only complicate things. Zara was glad that Lance avoided “complicated” like the plague.
“Are you making me a job offer, Lance?” she asked incredulously.
He only laughed at the other end. “If I wasn’t terrified of Ally coming after me to put a stake through my cold heart, I’d do exactly that.”
Zara curled her legs underneath her, feeling special and wanted. She did what he had done earlier—she steered the conversation away from Lance and Zara. “I totally understand what you mean about Ulster. Good partnerships are terribly underrated. They make or break everything you do in life.”
“True that.”
Sleep miles from her mind, Zara was as fresh and awake as if she’d just had nine hours of sleep. “Speaking about partnerships always makes me think of my parents. They’re such a fantastic team.”
“They’re still married, I presume?”
“For almost forty years.”
“That’s . . . nice. Wow. I . . . Uhh . . . wouldn’t know what that’s like. My parents divorced when I was ten.”
Zara bit her lip and refrained from speaking. It seemed like he had more to say, and she wanted to hear it. Every speck of her being wanted to know all she could about Lance Chase.
“Seeing the divorce, and all the drama that follows, really clouded my belief in marriage. Even just relationships. I can’t help but see relationships as temporary. Everybody moves on. People change.”
“I guess our experiences define our future mindset, don’t they? I always visualize relationships as a lifetime kind of partnership—with the right person, of course.”
His laugh made her grow warm in her navel. “Your insight into things always ends up giving me a lot to think about.”
&nb
sp; “I keep you busy,” she added cheekily.
“All the time.”
Zara tried not to read too much into that phrase. Maybe she needed to stop trying to pick up on signs and make herself more miserable. Take everything at face value. He hadn’t actually said he wanted to date her. He agreed that it was a no-go area considering their circumstances. And that’s what she had to focus on.
She sighed and glanced at the clock. “I guess I should go. Thanks for calling me and everything. It’s really sweet.”
“Pleasure’s all mine. Goodnight, Zara.”
“Goodnight.”
Hanging up, she stared at the ceiling for long minutes. Everything about Lance made her jittery and warm. Was Yasmin, the family lawyer, right about conflicts of interest? Was it just the fun of knowing you shouldn’t be even thinking about it?
But it’s all she could think about.
“God! This is a disaster.”
She got off the chair and flung herself headfirst onto the bed, groaning into the mattress.
Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
ELEVEN
Liaison with the Competition
Thank you!”
Zara took the shirt from her dry cleaner Luigi, holding it up to see it in the light filtering through the glass windows. It looked clean all right, the coffee stain long gone. It felt nice holding something that belonged to Lance. Almost intimate. It had taken a lot of self-counseling to hand over his shirt to the dry cleaners in the first place. Letting go of the shirt that smelled like him was a challenge in itself.
Sighing, she walked out of the cleaner’s and turned toward Lance’s office. It was only two blocks down. The shirt was the perfect excuse to see him.
It was almost 6 p.m., which meant that most of the employees would be long gone. Lance, she knew, liked working late in his office. Hoping he was overworking himself, she decided now was a good time to see him.
Halting on the sidewalk, she glanced at Jack’s Frothies and grinned to herself. On a whim, she hopped inside and ordered a Macchiato for Lance and a Frappuccino for herself. She was feeling kind of crazy today. Might as well go all out and enjoy the few minutes she spent in Lance’s company. Lance had a way of fixing the barrage of work-related frenzies buzzing in her head.
