Meredith grinned as she chose that option while Brogan instructed her. After a few moments she sat back to see the site practically create her profile on its own.
“This is so cool,” she whispered. “It’s adding my movie and music preferences too so it can match me with someone with similar tastes. Insane.”
Brogan laughed. “Insane in a good way, I’m sure. Okay, Asher. Your turn,” he said and pushed the laptop towards him. Asher began clicking away without a word and within minutes he was done and pushing the laptop back towards Brogan.
Brogan smiled like a proud father. “Excellent. We now have our first two clients. Of course, you two weren’t charged since you’re owners and I pre-authorized you two but everyone else will be taken through the billing process before they’re matched with anyone.”
Meredith heard a beeping sound and Brogan’s head whipped up in surprise. “Interesting,” he said softly as he tapped on a few keys. “Looks like Your One and Only has its first official match.”
Meredith’s mouth fell open as she turned and stared at Asher. Asher’s mouth tilted up on the side as he pulled the laptop towards him again. Brogan turned and looked at her with a happy grin.
“You and I are a perfect match on all four levels,” Asher said softly turning the laptop towards her.
Meredith grabbed it with both hands and stared at it. The screen was covered in hearts with the four levels of connection highlighted in different shades of pink. Mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. And right next to them, arrows pointing to Asher’s name and picture.
“Why is it going so crazy?” she asked in a shaky voice turning to look at Brogan.
Brogan grinned at her and shrugged. “Because it’s very rare. I’ve done a little research on this. Most people are satisfied if they’re matched on just two levels. And they’re asked that in the beginning. You specified that you’d only be satisfied with a four level connection. I think I’d be ecstatic myself if I got a three level connection. So I programmed the site to go a little crazy so people know just how special this is. Now if you’ll look at the bottom of the page, it’s asking you if want to meet up with Asher, call him or just send a message.”
Meredith glanced at the bottom of the page and then looked at Asher helplessly. “Hi,” she said breathlessly.
Asher grinned at her and reached over and touched the back of her hand. “Hey.”
Brogan cleared his throat. “Of course since you’re both part owners, you won’t be eligible for the free dinner at The Iron Skillet. We’ll be getting new clients as soon as we get up and going and we place our ads on Facebook and twitter. I ran into Kam this morning and he promised to remind Pule that he needs to sign up today. We’re all contacting our single friends and relatives and giving them a special introductory rate. I say by the end of next week we’ll have a few hundred users. Meredith, you better start planning our first mixer. I’m thinking a couple weeks from now would be perfect.”
Meredith nodded her head, still reeling from being matched so quickly with Asher. “I will,” she said looking at her hands since she could feel the weight of Asher’s gaze on her.
Brogan reached over and touched her shoulder. “I’ll understand if you’re tired and you need extra time. At this time in your life you have to take things easy. You’re going through so many changes, physically and emotionally that we’ll change our pace to match yours. Whatever you need, Meredith, you say the word,” he said kindly, looking into her eyes.
Meredith blinked in surprise and then smiled. “Brogan, you are the most thoughtful man in the world. And you’re right. I swear life is changing so fast on me that I can’t keep up. And I’m so emotional. I just hope that in a few months life calms down and I’ll be able to catch my breath.”
Brogan laughed and stood up. “That and I hear it takes a few months to get your energy back.”
Meredith tilted her head in confusion. “Energy?”
Brogan patted her on the back. “You’ll see. Just talk to Jane. She’ll walk you through everything and with Asher at your side, I have no worries. Just make sure you keep me in the loop in case you want to uh, use your own business to plan a big event before too long,” he said with a knowing grin before walking away.
Meredith turned to stare at his retreating figure and frowned. “Am I missing something or is Brogan acting a little weird today?”
Asher cleared his throat. “Is that a new shirt? It looks gorgeous on you.”
Meredith grinned and turned back to Asher. He really was a sweetheart. “It’s the oldest shirt I own, but thank you.”
Asher blew out a breath as if he was relieved. “Can I give you a ride home or somewhere?”
Meredith nodded. “I’ve been walking everywhere these days to save gas. It’s weird though, because I sort of enjoy it. I feel more alive now that I’m getting so much exercise. And if you tell Cleo I said that, I’ll kill you,” she said in a deadly calm voice that had Asher laughing.
Jane had already left so she waved at Tai since he was busy talking to a customer and walked out with Asher. “Could you give me a ride to the store first? It’s such a pain buying groceries and then walking five blocks home. Talk about an upper arm work out.”
Asher grinned and opened the door for her. “You might have to bribe me to keep my mouth shut to Cleo.”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised? Fine, what do I have to do?”
She watched as Asher walked around to his side of the car and got in. “Just a little kiss,” he said turning the key in the ignition and pulling out.
Meredith frowned as she studied Asher’s handsome profile. She missed kissing Asher. She hadn’t thought much about kissing him in the beginning. But then something had changed. The kisses had changed. And now everything meant more than she thought it would.
“Asher, you know I shouldn’t kiss you,” she said quietly turning to look out the window, feeling depressed about it.
Asher shrugged and pulled up at a stoplight. “I don’t know that at all,” he said lightly. “Especially knowing that according to Brogan’s algorithms, you and I are a perfect match. When you think about it that way and add in the fact that we actually like each other, care about each other and enjoy being with one another, there’s absolutely no reason at all not to kiss me in order to keep me from telling Cleo that you’re now in love with exercise. I’m almost positive she won’t take that information and use it to force you to go to all of her yoga classes.”
Meredith laughed and let her shoulders relax. “Very slick, Ash. You should work for the mob or the government. But I guess I have been acting a little silly. I just want things to be easy with you again.”
Asher frowned at that and turned a corner. “When has easy ever meant right? Usually things in life that are easy aren’t worth having.”
Meredith winced and felt stupid. When he put it that way, she sounded incredibly immature. “Fine, I’ll kiss you,” she said grumpily as he pulled into the grocery store parking lot.
Asher turned off the car and angled his body towards her. “Come here,” he said in a low voice.
Meredith grinned, feeling her stomach flip over in the way it usually did now whenever Asher looked at her or kissed her. She leaned over and lifted her lips to his. She felt a very soft pressure and then it was gone. She blinked in surprise. The kiss hadn’t been anything like Asher’s usual kisses.
“Oh,” she said in a whisper as she suddenly ached to be kissed with his usual passion.
Asher smiled slowly and got out of the car, walking around to open the door for her. She stepped out and stood up, coming face to face with Anne Downing.
“Brogan told me about you two! I didn’t believe it at first, but after seeing that kiss … Congratulations, dear. Tell me if you need anything. And as far as my wedding arrangements, you just let me know if the mornings work better for you or the afternoons. I’ll work around how you’re feeling. The first few months are the worst,” she said, leaning
over and kissing her on the cheek before hopping in her car and driving away.
Meredith frowned after her and turned to shake her head at Asher. “What’s going on with this world? Honestly, people are so weird. First Brogan and now Anne. Why are people talking about my energy levels and how I’m feeling? Do I look sick?”
Asher looked up at the sky and stuck his hands in the pockets. “People are strange. Come on. I’ll help you shop.”
After grabbing a few necessities including five Symphony bars that she needed for emotional well-being, she had Asher drop her off at home. He seemed eager to get to work, so she stood at the corner and waved as he drove away. She stared after his car and felt strange for a moment. Like she was missing something. Or someone.
Chapter 15 – Besties
Meredith put away her groceries and grabbed her laptop. She clicked onto Youroneandonly.com and squealed when she saw that they had 5 more profiles. Three girls and two men had joined just since their meeting that morning. She glanced through the men’s profiles and was irritated that Pule’s wasn’t one of them. He’d promised her he’d sign up. And he better keep his word.
She clicked through a few emails and came to one from Jo. Her plans for the reception were coming along nicely. She just needed to collect the deposit on the venue and they were in business.
Hey, Meredith. Just wanted to let you know that we decided to elope. Sorry! We’re here in Vegas right now and having the time of our lives. I just couldn’t do it. All that stress and money when I don’t really even have any family just seemed stupid all of a sudden. I hope we can still be friends though.
Good luck with everything, Jo
Meredith gasped in horror. She’d just lost one of her two clients. “Agh!” she screamed and felt like throwing her laptop. “This cannot be happening to me,” she said out loud, standing up to pace around her small apartment.
Now, all she had was Anne Downing and the woman was notorious for changing her mind a thousand times a day. She could very well get irritated with her and fire her on a whim. Meredith grabbed her hair and shook her head in frustration. So that left her with what? A hobby really. Wedding planning was now a hobby. Her real business was now matchmaking. Well, thank heavens she had something. She could now spend all of her time and energy on planning the social mixers for all of the singles on their site and helping Anne Downing on the side.
What other choice did she have? Meredith groaned and walked into the kitchen and grabbed one of her Symphony bars. This called for some chocolate. She whimpered a little and wished Cleo was home so she could whine and complain. Cleo was the best listener in the world. Not only did she listen, but she usually offered good advice if you ignored all of the meditation she tried to throw in.
She grabbed her phone and began texting Asher and then stopped, putting her phone down. Normally she wouldn’t hesitate to tell Asher everything going on with her life, but that little kiss in the car coupled with the fact that they were a four level connection, made her hesitate. He might read more into it than she wanted him to.
She collapsed on the couch and pulled her laptop over again, clicking on their site. She smiled as she saw that in just ten minutes time two more people had signed up. Those Facebook and Twitter ads were a good investment. At this rate they would have over a hundred clients by the end of the day. Offering an introductory offer to sign up had been genius. Brogan really did have a brilliant mind. She clicked on the profiles.
Still no Pule. “Darn that man,” she muttered as she reached for her phone.
He picked up on the first ring.
“Pule Matafeo, are you my friend or aren’t you?” she asked without a greeting.
Pule laughed. “Of course I am. What have I done now?”
Meredith could hear the smile in his voice and she relaxed. “You promised you’d be our first client and you’re not. If you don’t sign up today, I’m going to be forced to think that you don’t care.”
There was a pause on the other end before he spoke. “Well, I’d hate for you to think that,” he said in a strangely serious voice. “Tell me the web address and I’ll go sign up right now. I’m on break at the academy having lunch. If it takes more than fifteen minutes though, you’re out of luck.”
Meredith gave him the information and then hung up so he could focus on all of the questions. Who else could she force to join their site? “Tristan!” she yelled and reached for her phone again.
He answered on the fourth ring. “Yeah?” he said without a polite hello.
Meredith frowned and clicked her nails on the table. “Hey, brother dear. Have I got the opportunity of a lifetime for you,” she said in a super sweet voice.
Tristan sighed loudly. “No, I don’t want to join your multi-level marketing scam. So are you coming to dinner Sunday?”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “I’m thinking about it and this isn’t about anything multi-leveled. Look, I need your help. I need you to sign up for my dating website. I’ll even give you a code for half off the regular price. It’s practically free, it’s so cheap.”
Tristan groaned loudly. “No.”
Meredith banged her hand on the table. “Sign. Up.”
Tristan was silent for a moment. “Here’s the deal. I’m on a break from dating. You know this. I’ve been enjoying my freedom from pain. Why in the world would I want to throw myself into shark infested waters just to put money in your bank account?”
Meredith closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “It’s been over a year Tristan. When Dane died you were after me constantly to date again. It’s not healthy to stay in your cocoon forever. I know you were hurt. I was hurt. I know what it feels like and I’m not marginalizing that at all. But yes I need my business to grow and yes, you need to come out of your cave and see that there are nice women out there who aren’t heartless losers.”
Tristan snorted. “Julia would disagree with your assessment of her character.”
Meredith glared, thinking of the gorgeous, rich vampire who had sucked the life out of her brother. “Well, she hasn’t heard anything yet. I still haven’t had the chance to tell her what I really think of her.”
Tristan sighed, sounding tired all of a sudden. “Well, she’s married now. I got the invitation last month. It doesn’t matter. Look, I’ll think about it. Okay?”
Meredith nodded and smiled a little. It was a start. “Sounds good. And Tris? I love you.”
Tristan made a grumbling sound on the other line and hung up. Meredith smiled at her phone and knew her brother loved her. “Next in line,” she said and went down the list of her contacts.
By the end of the hour she had gently or maybe not so gently, pressured twenty of her friends and acquaintances into joining their site. She sent a text to Brogan asking for numbers and how many matches were made so far. He texted her back twenty minutes later that they were up to twenty-seven clients. But only one match so far. Hers and Asher’s.
She swallowed hard and pushed her phone away. How could that be? How could she and Asher be the only match out of twenty-seven people? It didn’t make sense. She’d ask again that night. By evening there was sure to be more matches. Meredith smiled grimly. There better be. She worked for the next half hour making flyers to hang up at Cleo’s yoga studio, Tai’s Diner, Belinda’s Bakery and the employee lounge at The Iron Skillet. She included the code for a discount rate and tear aways for people who wanted to take their web address and code.
Brogan was working on an app for I-Phones and Androids but that wouldn’t be up until next week sometime. Until then, they were doing this the old fashioned way. Putting it out there in everyone’s faces any way they could. Most people had to see something at least a few times before they caved and actually did something about it. Well, she could do her part. She changed into her jeans and tennis shoes and grabbed a warm jacket, white fluffy scarf and matching hat so she could walk around town with her flyers. She locked up and ran down the stairs, excited to get out of the house and away fr
om thoughts of failure and impending financial doom.
Her first stop was the bakery. She stopped in and chatted with Layla for a moment. She had no idea how Layla could look so gorgeous and work part-time, be a mom and step-mom and a wife. She was juggling so many balls so effortlessly she could be the poster girl for the woman who had it all.
She stared longingly at a simple glazed donut and sighed. Not in her budget. At least not yet.
“You know, those glazed donuts haven’t been selling well. They’re so old fashioned and everybody wants the cronuts or cupcakes these days. I was going to put up a sign this morning and totally forgot. We’re selling them for only twenty-five cents in case you’re interested,” Layla said with a friendly smile.
Meredith licked her lips as she stared at the decadent glazed sugar and looked through her purse. Who couldn’t afford a quarter? She groaned as she looked through her empty change purse and then dug around in her jean pockets. She felt something hard and smooth at the bottom and squealed as she pulled out a shiny quarter. She jumped up and down excitedly. “I get a donut!” she shouted, more excited than she had been on Christmas morning.
Layla laughed and pulled out a donut for her, taking the quarter and motioning to the table. “Why not have a seat and we can chat?”
Meredith nodded eagerly. She secretly loved talking to Layla just as much as she did Jane. There was just something so calm and serene about her that had her relaxing and pouring her heart out. As soon as she sat down she was telling Layla all about her wedding planning business, Jo’s elopement, the dating website and Asher.
When she was done talking, she looked down and realized that her donut was gone and that she felt much better about life in general.
Layla frowned at her and crossed her arms over her chest. “I get that you want to make a living and be successful. But you know what it’s like to be hurt. You know what it’s like to lose someone you love. How could you do that to Asher knowing that you have feelings for him too?” she asked with her forehead pinched and lined.
My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy Page 12