"Today is fine."
I heard the breath of a chuckle. "Well, it does happen that we have an opening at eleven o'clock. Shall I put you in? May I have your email and phone number?"
"Yes." I gave them to her while my stomach churned with butterflies. Why was this making me nervous?
“I’ll send you an email with our address and our intake questionnaire. Please fill it out at least two hours before your appointment. I’m very happy to be of service.” She hung up without a goodbye.
I stared at my phone. How odd. Eh, maybe I’d woken her up. Still, I couldn’t help but be at least a little bit curious about this exclusive dating agency. The chance to meet just one reasonably attractive guy who might potentially make something more was tempting, let alone six, and the worst-case scenario was that I didn’t find what I was looking for and I moved on. Like I’d told Cathy, it couldn’t be any worse than what I was doing now, and I was eager to see what this mysterious dating agency had in store for me.
Later the next morning, after answering the questions, some simple, some quite strange—had I had any near death experiences? Really? I headed across town to the meeting.
I couldn’t get the potential out of my mind. Was this a total mistake? Yes, my friend had some success, but it was a dating agency. No matter how exclusive it was, it might still be like flipping a coin or sticking my hand in the dating pool, checking for piranha. I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but I wanted to at least give it a shot. Doing something for myself for once wasn’t totally out of bounds, so I tried to hold onto my excitement as I drove, my fingers drumming on the steering wheel as I chair danced to the music on the radio. Something else that I didn’t normally do, but I was in a good mood now that I’d gotten out of my own head, so I might as well enjoy it while I could.
Before I left for the appointment, I remoted into work and put out fires as needed. It’d been an average night, but I had no intention of getting behind. I simply had no wish to interact with Franklin if I could possibly avoid it. To be effective, I needed to keep a finger on the pulse of things.
He paid me well, and I deserved every penny.
For a wonder, traffic in the morning was light, and I arrived a few minutes early. I liked being on time. Still, this was a bit much. The agency was in a converted family home, nestled between other houses containing a dental practice and insurance agency. They were all of an older style, like stately grandparents looking down at the people passing by. Old trees and a quiet atmosphere of the street added a pleasant ambience, like an island of quiet in a busy room. The roadway even had an empty parking space, which was amazing. It looked like everything was coming up Andromeda this morning, which allowed me to hold onto my good mood as I climbed out of my car and walked up the stone path that led to the front door.
It was an attractive building, large and airy with a wraparound porch and many windows. This was an older section of town. Given the rent had to be exorbitant, they must’ve been successful. Either that, or they were in debt up to their noses, although I doubted it.
A pleasant man, who looked fresh out of college, ushered me up a flight of stairs to the agency owner's office. A Ms. Anne Fortuna. Maybe it was an omen? The name could mean lucky… I vaguely remembered something about a goddess of luck with the same name, but surely that was a coincidence, as goddesses weren’t real. Heh.
She took my hand when I came in, patting it and gesturing toward a cozy little chair arrangement set up around a small table, the grouping calculated to foster trust and confidence. Logically, I knew that, but it didn’t change the way I felt. Actually, if anything, I was kind of impressed by the thought she’d put into it. A folder sat on the table, presumably a file with the interpretation of my questionnaire, or possible information on the people that I was supposed to go on a date with. I would have taken a peek the second that she gave me a chance, but I didn’t think she was going to give me one. Even patting my hand was meant to put me at ease, and it was working. She reminded me of a kindly old grandmother, which wasn’t as off putting as I would have expected.
The owner was quite tall—I placed her in the neighborhood of slightly over six feet, and perhaps a decade older than me, with large dark eyes and black-streaked white hair worn in a sharp, efficient bob.
Her clothing both flattered her and projected professionalism. I made a mental note to find out where she shopped at some point in this conversation. If they could do the same for me, I was their next loyal client. I liked clothes almost as much as I liked heels, and if I liked them, then I was going to stick with them.
“Ms. Quinn?”
“Call me Andromeda.” I settled in one of the chairs. It was surprisingly comfortable, and so plush that I sank into it.
“Please, call me Anne. The message you left said that Catherine referred you?" As she spoke, she retrieved a teapot and two cups. She sat down opposite me and poured out a flowery smelling tea in the cups, offering me one with a gesture.
I waited for her to take a sip, then I sampled the brew as well. I wasn’t normally a fan of herbal teas, but this one had a tart edge to it I enjoyed. Another thing to ask her about once we were finished with business. "Yes. She said that she had high hopes for your agency’s services."
Anne’s answering smile was brilliant as the sun. I blinked. "Yes! We all hope our clients find joy. Making people happy is one of the reasons I opened this agency."
I certainly hoped she’d succeed with me…
She continued, "So, on to our process. After some questionnaires to establish a compatibility baseline, we use a sophisticated algorithm to generate potential matches. We typically offer the six best potentials and then you pick one who appeals. After that, a meeting is arranged at a bar and grill that the agency also owns, to ensure maximum safety for both parties. The folder has a graph of successes versus failures, as well as the questionnaires.”
The graph indicated a fair number of satisfied customers, though I knew as well as anyone that data could be manipulated. Still, it looked impressive.
"What is your success rate?"
"More than fifty percent of the time our clients have found a long-term match where long-term is five years or more. It’s more than eighty percent if you move the bar to a single year."
"And how many attempts do you guarantee?"
"As I said, six. Usually a match is found in the first three."
Okay, then. I’d try it. I liked the fact that they were doing their best to guarantee safety, which was nice. I appreciated that. “I finish by filling out more of these forms?”
“Yes. The interview is this conversation. Once the rest of the forms are filled out and the background check is complete, it takes about an hour for the matches to be generated and pulled. Enough time to eat lunch, say?” The twinkle in her eyes made me smile.
We discussed payment options. Their fees were surprisingly reasonable. It wasn’t that I was worried about the money, because I wasn’t. It was more that my natural instincts warned me that I needed to do my due diligence to make sure that I wasn’t going to get scammed.
