We didn’t even have to look at each other to speak in sync. ‘NO.’
‘Whatever it is’ – I looked to Rory for backup – ‘solid no.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ Ella chuckled. ‘Worth a shot. They were very keen to discuss a small investment in the company.’
‘That makes literally no sense.’ Rory sat back in his seat.
Link was the most popular dating app in the UK, as determined by their number of downloads (not by number of five-star reviews). It was also the app that had kick-started our research into creating an alternative, and was our biggest competitor. It made no sense for them to want to invest.
‘Press-wise, I’d be worried about what it might say about our integrity.’ Harriet said, wincing slightly.
‘Okay, so a resounding no to that one.’ Ella exchanged a look with Andrew. It must have been a considerable amount of money that they were willing to offer. Tough shit. I’d rather our company collapse than accept help from them. ‘That’s the last point on the list. I’ll make contact with GetThere, let them know that at the very least we’d love to meet the team.’
‘Make sure you tell Link to kiss my ass too.’ Rory stood up. ‘You coming, Pen?’
I stood up, saying bye to everyone and following him out of the room. ‘You do know what a professional meeting is, right?’
He grinned. ‘I’ve seen Ella and Harriet sink enough pints in the pub to know that they won’t be offended. And Andrew will be too focused on the money we might have just lost to care if I swore at the end of the meeting.’
‘True.’ I rolled my neck, the tiredness catching up with me as we made a beeline for the coffee machine. ‘That was weird, right?’
Rory pressed the button for a black coffee. ‘Weird, but irrelevant. We know where we stand.’
We watched the coffee drip from the machine in silence for a few seconds.
‘Any news on finding Prince Charming?’ Dexter came up behind us, clasping his hands to his chest. ‘We placed bets that you’d have given up by now.’
I shot him the finger, his jabs momentarily distracting me.
‘Any news on that code we asked you to fix last week?’ Rory was joking, but it was clearly a shutdown.
Dexter rolled his eyes and went back to his desk, calling out behind him. ‘Remember when you were the fun one?’
Rory passed me a coffee, pulling his phone from his back pocket. ‘I’m going to ring Maeve. See you later?’
He must have caught my expression because he stopped in his tracks. ‘Don’t worry about it, Pen. It was probably a spur of the moment offer from a team that only knows how to design an app badly.’ Rory touched my elbow lightly. ‘Forget about it.’
But Level was our whole world, and it was weird that Link had wanted a piece of it. I didn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of the day.
9
I climbed the steps out of the Tube station at London Bridge, narrowly avoiding an elbow. The culprit didn’t even pause, just continued shoving her way up. I refused to believe anyone was in that much of a rush, and I was a Londoner born and bred. Maeve answered on the first ring.
‘Penny, I literally spoke to you half an hour ago.’
It was good that she sounded exasperated; that felt like progress. If she was getting annoyed by us all checking in, she was feeling better. She’d given herself a talking to last night after a solid week of moping; watching a psychologist psychoanalyse themselves had been weird the first time she’d ever done it, but I was used to it now. You just had to leave her to it, safe in the knowledge that the advice she’d give herself was miles better than what you could realistically offer.
‘It was actually thirty-five minutes ago’ – I got my bearings, momentarily distracted by the homemade pasta in the window of Padella – ‘and I will not apologise for being a helicopter parent. Are you sure that you’re okay about this?’
A heavy sigh from the other end of the line. ‘Sure about my best friend going on a first date she’s excited about? Yes, I’m quite sure.’
Excited was a strong word, but I didn’t correct her.
‘Plus, Isla is right here.’
There was a shuffle on the other end of the line, and then Isla chimed in. ‘Right here indeed. Armed with a box set of The O.C. and all the bags of Cadbury-related joy that Tesco Express had to offer. Go have fun.’
I pictured the two of them wallowing in the post-breakup chocolate haze and almost jumped back on the Tube.
‘And no,’ Maeve said, reading my mind, ‘you aren’t invited to our pity party. I will quite literally barricade the door.’
Rude. I said my goodbyes and hung up, pulling up Citymapper to try and find the pub that Isaac had suggested. I was an East London girl – I still needed a map from time to time. The pub was small and cute enough for a date, and I settled into a faded leather booth at the back, favouring the privacy. I’d spied on and judged enough first dates in restaurants to know that as soon as the general public got a whiff of awkward icebreakers, they would listen in for the rest of the evening. I took a quick look in my phone camera, tilting my chin to double check for any embarrassing bronzer smudges or bits in my teeth. Would he recognise me from the app? Both of my previous first dates had – that was quite frankly the only success; everything that followed had been downhill from there – but there was always the risk that your set of photos was a bit too far from your day-to-day look. Maeve had perked up at the opportunity to get me dressed up for a night out, which I’d decided to let her take control of. She’d chosen a red pleather skirt and black bodysuit combo, with gold hoops, hair up, and a pair of black, heeled ankle boots. I was hoping the finished product said ‘fun and flirty, but not up for being pissed about’. Maeve had assured me that it did, but she’d say anything to get me to abandon my neutrals.
‘Penny?’
I looked up, halfway through re-reading the wine list. Isaac was standing over me, leaning on the table and rocking on his heels, waiting for confirmation.
‘That’s me.’
His profile did not do him justice.
Trying to forget that I was absolutely shitting it, I jumped up to hug him. The embrace itself was a solid 8/10 (the man was built, but not so built that it felt like meeting a concrete wall), but things went south when I pulled away. I felt the abrupt tug as my earring caught on the threading of his jumper, leaving us stuck together. I tugged a little bit further, but it only left us more stuck. Could the ground actually swallow people up? I prayed.
‘Excellent start.’ Isaac looked at me sideways, his eyeballs straining to make contact in our predicament. ‘Interesting tactic to ensure that I didn’t take one look at you and leave.’
I snorted. ‘Right back at you. These threads are suspiciously loose.’
He laughed, gingerly trying to extricate my earring. ‘There goes the entire date. Is there an ick kicking in?’
