“Hey, I don’t remember buying that,” Vanessa said.
“You didn’t,” he replied. “I brought this one from home. I figured we’d have good reason to celebrate at the end of the night.” The cork released with an ear-splitting pop, and he poured us a round of champagne.
“Congratulations, Melanie,” he said. “You did it.”
“I always knew you had it in you,” Whit said.
“I couldn’t have done it without all of you,” I said. “Thank you all for everything.”
We clinked our glasses and sipped our drinks. Alex wrapped his arm around my shoulders, holding me close as we looked out over the Manhattan skyline. It looked postcard-perfect from up here. Not like the reality of living in the city, which was messy and flawed, and full of unsolicited dick pics.
My life in New York was far from postcard-perfect. But it was getting better every day, starting now.
EPILOGUE
The bad news is we got evicted.
Our landlord did not take too kindly to us using his rooftop for a public gathering of internet strangers. He also wasn’t thrilled to hear about Vanessa’s lock-picking skills. Ray (who got to keep his job) posted a huge, unambiguous sign on the top floor—No Roof Access—and added a high security padlock to the access door. But as of June first, all those gorgeous upgrades he gave our apartment went to some other lucky winner of the New York City real estate game.
The good news is we found another apartment. A bigger, nicer one, with all those gorgeous upgrades preinstalled. There was even a doorman! And I no longer had to commute on that miserable A train. Instead, I could walk to work, since our new place was a stone’s throw away from inPerson HQ.
We called it HQ because it sounded cool, but really, it was a modest open office space in Chelsea, just big enough to hold our small, but growing, staff. Priya sat right next to me, since I figured it was important to work in close proximity to my chief technical officer. Vanessa had a desk, too, but she was rarely ever in it. Which was fine by me, considering an event coordinator does most of her work in the field.
Whitney got a new office at her job, too—a corner office, with a view. It came along with a sweet promotion and a massive raise, all for bringing a client as edgy and buzzworthy as inPerson to PointBreak PR.
As for Lia, she spent a week in Cabo by herself, replacing all those deleted Instagram photos of Jay with smiley solo selfies on the beach. Meanwhile, Dani filled her feed with increasingly mushy couple photos. But I couldn’t really fault her; Yvelise was her perfect match.
Alex wasn’t unemployed for very long. Once inPerson took off, I didn’t have time to devote to growing the New York Techie Support Network anymore. So, he grabbed the reins, and transformed it from an informal, haphazard get-together to a full-blown business, designing a companion app to help connect underrepresented voices in tech with companies that value inclusion. Basically, it’s a way to help start-ups hire a more diverse staff and, in time, eliminate toxic work environments like the one we had at Hatch. After BuzzFeed ran a feature on his new app, an angel investor snatched it up, and he’s currently in the process of taking it from New York to other cities around the country. Eventually, he plans to take it around the world.
And yes, the two of us are still going strong.
In case you’re wondering, Fluttr is still the most popular dating app in the city. All that swiping is kind of addictive. But inPerson continues to grow. And I’d like to think it’s part of a bigger movement. The movement to #GetOffTheInternet.
Because, you know, you can’t trust anything you read there.
* * *
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So much of this story revolves around the power of women and the importance of female friendships. I’m beyond grateful to have so many strong, intelligent, supportive women in my corner—both professionally and personally.
Thanks to my super-agent, Jessica Watterson, for being a badass advocate and an all-around wonderful person—and thanks to Elise Capron for playing matchmaker. Thanks to my editor, Brittany Lavery, for believing in this story and bringing out the best in it. Thanks to Laci Ann and Gigi Lau, the talented artist and designer who created the beautiful cover. Thanks to the publicity and marketing dream team of Steph Tzogas, Lisa Wray, and Heather Connor. And thanks to everyone at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and Graydon House for the support.
My girlfriends have all helped me through the difficult task of writing this book. Whether you offered to read my half-finished manuscript when I was a panicky mess, or bought me a drink at the Craftsman when I needed to vent, or talked me through my writer’s block, or hung out with my son so I could get some work done, or simply offered words of encouragement, you’ve helped me more than you probably know. For all of this and more, my thanks go to (in no particular order): Margaret Chantung, Christa Gallego, Kate O’Brien, Lisa Pannek, Jordan Pascoe, Erica Jo Gilles, Rosy Catanach, Mandy Tang, Elizabeth Salaam, Gauri Savla, Cathy Atkins, Lauren McFall, Sarah Apuzzo, Kathleen Barber, Chelsea Resnick, Suzanne Park, Laura Heffernan, Helen Hoang, Renée Carlino and, of course, always and forever, Marci Blaszka and Jessica Schwarz.
Finally, thank you to the two guys who make my life complete: Emilio and Andrew. I love you both more than words can say.
ISBN-13: 9781488036613
How to Hack a Heartbreak
Copyright © 2019 by Allison Amini
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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