Page 31 of Love’s a Script (Hearts Collide #1)

Chapter Thirty-One

Ruben arrived at work after a restless sleep the night prior.

He hadn’t been able to slow down his thoughts long enough to relax, but as a result, he’d come to a revelation that might’ve otherwise taken him weeks.

On the ride up to the station’s floor, he placed his head against the back wall of the elevator and closed his eyes, steeling himself.

Not many people were in the office yet, but Ruben was only looking for one in particular.

“Can we have a quick chat?” he asked Chesa when he found her refilling the water in the Keurig. His cohost followed him to the conference room where a box of muffins had already been positioned on the table for the upcoming morning meeting.

“What’s up?” Chesa asked, taking a seat as Ruben remained standing, his hands in his pockets.

“I’m ending the matchmaking.”

Calmly, Chesa said, “Okay.” She let the quietness hang, and he almost smiled at her using an interviewing tactic they often employed with guests. People were typically uncomfortable with silence and rushed to fill it, and in the process, they revealed more than they’d intended.

“My head’s just not in it anymore,” he said.

Chesa nodded. More silence.

“And it wouldn’t be fair to the women I’m matched with if I continue.”

A couple of evenings ago, Ruben spent three hours in front of a twelve-by-sixteen-inch canvas with his date Larissa, a hairstylist, in a beginner acrylic painting class where they worked on rendering a bouquet with pale petals and wide leaves.

The repetitive brush strokes and the ammonia from the paint had lulled Ruben into an almost meditative state.

And for long periods, he’d forgotten he was on a date.

The conversation that did arise was uninspired, and at one point, after posing a question to Larissa about her morning commute, she responded, “You know you already asked me that, right?”

Chesa leaned forward in her seat. “What happened?”

“I’ve lost perspective,” Ruben said, sighing. “I got too close to my matchmaker.”

His cohost did her best not to look shocked, but he saw her brain turning. “Are you dating her?”

Ruben knew the question was coming, but still, it sent a jolt through him. “No, it’s not a relationship I’ll be pursuing.”

He was frustrated that he wasn’t able to complete the matchmaking process. And while he didn’t blame anyone but himself for that, he was committed to maintaining his distance from Mary, if only on principle.

“She wasn’t an official source,” Chesa said. “And this was immersive reporting about your subjective experience, so no expectation of impartiality. We’re good.”

“Except we have commentary about Hearts Collide as an agency. But I’m ready to disclose conflict of interest.”

“I say we scrap the matchmaking angle from the feature altogether,” Chesa said, definitively.

Ruben shook his head. “No, absolutely not. We liked it as a framing device, and we’d have to rework the script.”

“So get out your red pen. It was a fun framing device that was never integral to the feature. And if I can be honest, your anecdotes about matchmaking were kind of a snooze.”

It was the first time he’d really laughed in days, and he was grateful to have Chesa as a friend and colleague.

“Plus,” she continued, “Hugh will be excited to hear that now we have space to talk about sex robots. I’ll give you the honor of informing him.”

* * *

Love was in the air at Hearts Collide. All morning, an unusual number of Mary’s clients arrived for their meetings with glowing updates.

“I think this is it, Mary,” said Summer, an esthetician and relationship late bloomer. “I think Henry might be The One.”

Her ten o’clock client, Aja, couldn’t stop giggling as she recounted her second date with a pilot with whom she had 78 percent compatibility. “I never would’ve gone for him in my regular life, but he’s incredible,” Aja said.

Even Felix, a prickly, corporate lawyer Mary had been working with for half a year, had something positive to report. He usually began his assessments of his recent matches with a critique, but today he simply said, “I like him.”

Never in all her years of matchmaking had Mary envied her clients’ successes, but each of her honest, heartfelt congratulations that morning was stained with self-pity.

She could’ve been among those gleaming, charmed faces.

She was glad when her break at noon arrived.

She abandoned her packed lunch to head to a nearby eatery, hoping the fresh air and sunshine on the walk over would shed her funk.

While she waited for her ordered sandwich and soup at the end of the counter, Eden entered the restaurant. She was hard to miss with her height and striking dark skin, but Mary pretended not to see her, even when Eden joined the crammed waiting corner.

A fleeting tightness gripped Mary’s chest as she thought of how, not too long ago, they would’ve been waiting for their lunches together.

They had maintained the utmost professionalism for the past weeks, but they hadn’t talked beyond the “good mornings” and “have a good evenings.” So it was puzzling when Eden edged toward Mary until they were standing side by side and said, “It’s taking longer than usual. ”

Mary replied politely, “I think one of their sandwich presses is down.”

They didn’t swap more words for a minute or two, then Eden suddenly turned to face Mary fully and asked, “Can we talk?”

Mary couldn’t think to do anything but nod and move to the side wall for privacy.

“I know you really wanted cruise lead,” Eden began, cutting through the noise of chatter and sizzling food. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted space or if I should say sorry, so instead I’ve been awkward about it all.”

The admission threw Mary since she’d believed it had been her who’d been awkward.

“I didn’t know you wanted the position,” Mary said. “Whenever it came up, it sounded like the last thing you’d ever do, so I was confused when you accepted it and when I heard that you’d directly asked Cassidy for it.”

“I wasn’t trying to be sneaky or duplicitous,” Eden said adamantly. “I hated the chaos and competition in the office and didn’t want to contribute to it, especially between us, because, you know, I’m the closest to you out of everyone.”

Mary absorbed Eden’s words, laughing lightly. “See, I thought I’d maybe overestimated our camaraderie because I thought you would’ve at least told me you wanted the role.”

“I didn’t think it was worth mentioning because I didn’t think I was going to get it,” Eden said. “To me, it was either you or Francine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. You’re personable. Your clients adore you. They invite you to their weddings. Half of the reviews on our site specifically name you and sing your praises. Like, a main reason I wanted cruise lead was to get better at interacting with clients. Be more like you.”

It was the first time Mary heard anything close to self-deprecation from Eden, and it moved her to admit, “I try really, really hard, and it’s exhausting. I feel like a wind-up toy sometimes. I’ve actually admired and tried to emulate your chill aura.”

“Grass is always greener, right?”

Mary’s order was called out, and she retrieved it before returning to Eden and asking, “Have you started planning?”

Eden let out a long exhale. “Yeah, Cassidy sent over this giant dossier that I need to show you. There’s a bunch of travel vaccines I need to get and CPR training that starts next weekend.

Funnily enough, the thing I’m most stressed about is what I’m going to pack.

I think I might have to buy a new wardrobe. ”

Mary nodded. The all-black outfits Eden preferred wouldn’t be suitable for a sunny cruise deck. “I have hats you could borrow.”

They both cracked up at the thought of Eden in wide-brim straw hats, and from there, they slipped into talking, as they once did, about work, office gossip, and the notable clients they’d seen in the past weeks. Which inevitably led Mary to confess. “I fell for the radio host.”

“Shit,” Eden said, grimacing. “I’m sorry.”

“I tried to follow your advice and keep contact to a minimum,” Mary said, “but at every turn, there was an opportunity to sabotage myself.”

“You know he’s no longer part of the agency.”

Mary’s shoulders tensed. “He met someone?”

“No. At least no one in our database. He terminated his contract early in the week and came in to talk to Cassidy.”

“Did he give a reason?”

“Not anything specific. But he did assure us that the agency would still be cited in the feature.”

Mary had entertained a notion that if Ruben hadn’t been committed to matchmaking for the feature, things between them could’ve unfolded favorably. But it had been days since he’d left the agency, and he hadn’t reached out.

Eden’s order was called, and they started the trek back to the office together.

“Next time, shake me if I start to fall for a client, okay?”

“Deal,” Eden said. “And if you still have raw emotions about it, I know a place with cheap drinks where we can sing karaoke at the top of our lungs.”

Mary didn’t know what surprised her more, the invite or that Eden did karaoke. Regardless, she was heartened and replied, “Yeah, I’d love that.”