All This Time

8 ⦿ in which i meet the green-eyed monster

"He's a ghostwriter," I lie.

"Ah." Marcus looks placated and picks at a grape idly. "And you're a student, yes?"

The entire table is listening to our conversation. My cheeks burn.

"She's got a 4.0 GPA and she's graduating this spring with full honors," Xander touts, his voice loud and defensive.

"Very commendable," the van der Waals patriarch smiles.

"Good heavens, Father, are you making conversation or asking for her resume?" Graeme mutters under her breath.

"My friend Brett and I have a start-up business. She's a graphic design major with a computer science minor, so she knows how to write code," I start to ramble. "We just launched our website last year. We're virtual dating assistants."

"What in the world...?" Levi starts to say, but Marcus cuts him off.

"Very enterprising." He leans forward on his elbows and gives me a serious you're-in-the-boardroom expression. "Now what does that entail, exactly?"

I feel oddly like I'm about to present my business proposal to a man who is most likely a multi-billionaire. "Online dating is supposed to make things easier for the modern man or woman. Instead, it usually involves signing up for a dozen different websites and hoping against all hope that you'll meet even one person who you hit it off with. It rarely works out the way people intend and they usually cancel their accounts within the year."

I delicately spear a piece of grapefruit with my fork and pop it into my mouth. The table is patient, waiting for me to continue. Xander gives me an encouraging smile and a subtle thumbs-up before his hands disappear sedately under the tablecloth.

"Basically, they outsource dating to our website. We manage all their accounts and using Brett's software, we consolidate all their information to one hub so we can see their entire dating pool and social engagement calendar at a glance. We act as them, writing to prospective dates, and if we think there's a match, we set it up for them."

"Clever," Wolfram comments, but the words sound like more of a judgment than an accolade.

"And you get paid for this?" Rhona asks. "It sounds quite ingenious."

"What's so ingenious about scamming pathetic losers into parting with a few dollars?" Graeme scoffs. A look from her mother quiets her vitriol, but it doesn't stop her from glaring daggers at me.

"It's how we met," Xander announces, drawing every single pair of eyes to him within 0.01 seconds. "Not through her website," he hastens to amend. "I was a reporter for the campus newspaper and my editor gave me an assignment." He flashes everyone a disarming smile. "That assignment was to interview the brains behind the website. We've been friends ever since."

"We're planning on using the profits to move into a brick-and-mortar office after we graduate." It's hard to look Marcus in the face as I speak. His eyes probe mine like he wants to peel away every my history one layer at a time until there is nothing to bare me from his view. His gaze isn't sexual, not at all, but the intense stare of a man who wants to solve an enigma that confuses him.

"What a lovely story," Graeme says, but her subtext says fuck you, Charlotte.

"That kind of initiative and enterprise is exactly what we need at our company," Marcus voices, standing up. "I have a video conference now, so I'll take my leave. But Charlotte, I do hope you'll consider joining us at the company after you graduate. As I'm sure Xander can tell you, it's a good opportunity and we don't often have vacancies in our entry-level positions. Why don't you email me a copy of your resume before you leave us, and we'll see if we can't find the right department for you." He sends me and Xander an engaging smile, effectively leaving out his own wife and children, before departing from the table.