“But not like this.” Alisha tugs at her leggings. “I know you’re the matchmaker who can’t be matched, but what if you’re the only one who believes that?”
I draw circles in the dirt with the tip of my shoe and stay quiet.
“What happened is in the past, but it’s very much affecting your present and future,” Alisha says. “It seems to me you’re clinging to the idea of compatibility because you’re scared. You’re scared that you’ll lose someone you love again, and that by not honoring the traditional way of matchmaking, you’ll also lose Lunar Love.”
“I’ve lost love before,” I say, “but I don’t think I could bear losing Lunar Love.”
“No one doubted your ability to matchmake after what happened with your ex and friend. So what if you dated an animal sign that didn’t pair well with yours? You could’ve had the same result even if he were compatible.”
“But when I doubted my beliefs, that happened. It’s better to not question them anymore,” I say. I distanced myself to avoid feeling the way I feel right now. So if I still feel like this, what was it all for?
“So you want to stay on the safe path,” Alisha says, air quotingsafe. “You’re not someone who sits back idly while others take risks. You go after what you want. You always have. Just as you’d do everything you could to save Lunar Love, why wouldn’t you do everything you could to be happy?”
Her words cut to the core. I’ll risk everything I have for Lunar Love, for clients, for family, but not for myself.
Alisha smiles. “Remember the woman who came in because her parents sent her to us when they discovered that the guy on her screensaver was Henry Golding, and her engagement ring was actually costume jewelry? You worked day and night, went around town on Singles Scoutings, and thought through different trait matchups to find her someone to bring home for Lunar New Year. You wanted their relationship to be more than that, though.”
For the first time all week, I feel my cheeks widen in a smile. “She had to want to find love for the right reasons. I still remember her face when I told her we weren’t a rent-a-boyfriend agency.”
“Exactly.” Alisha nods, her high ponytail swinging from side to side. “You worked with her, coached her, taught her. And she eventually came around to wanting love for herself, not for her family’s sake.”
I nod. “You’re right.”
“You work hard to put love out into the world. And your method works.” She pulls her phone from her waist pack and taps into Twitter. “Look, two of your clients posted using the #LoveInTheMoonlight hashtag.”
Two smiling faces shine back at me, along with a few nice words about us. A surge of promise jolts through my veins. What was once an idea is now a living concept out in the world. Two strangers were brought together because of Lunar Love.
“But your method is also not the law,” she continues. “I can’t tell you what to do. No one can. Maybe think of yourself as your own client. Maybe you’d be telling her something different than what you’re telling yourself.”
I consider her words. “Thank you,” I say, leaning over for a hug. “I may have been slightly irrational.”
We sit quietly for a few minutes. “You know, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth are both Year of the Rat,” Alisha offers, breaking the silence.
“That changes everything,” I joke.
“There’s also something else I wanted to show you,” Alisha says, scrolling through her emails.
“We’re supposed to be disconnected right now. Immersed in nature,” I say.
“The worddisconnectedis not in my vocabulary. This morning, my friend sent me a link to the latestDating in La La Landepisode. Lunar Love gets a shout-out at eight minutes and twenty seconds.” Alisha looks nervous when she shows me her screen. “It’s the podcast episode with Bennett,” she says. “Do you want to listen?”
My heart starts pounding in my ears. It’sthepodcast episode. The one we wagered on. The one that I lost.
Alisha already has the podcast launched on her phone. She slides to the specific time in the episode and hovers her finger over the Play button.
“Play it,” I say, bracing myself. If he has something to say about Lunar Love, I need to know what it is.
My throat tightens when the sound of Bennett’s voice fills the air.
“The only reason I’m on this podcast is because of a silly wager,” Bennett says. “But—”
Marcus’s voice interjects. “That’s episode thirteen, for those who want more context. I’ll link to it in the program notes. Please, continue.”
By the way Bennett clears his throat, I can tell he’s annoyed. “As I was saying, I’m here because of three very important women who paved the way for a business like mine to even exist. And I’m not talking about apps. I mean Chinese zodiac matchmaking. In 1970, a woman named June Huang started Lunar Love, a matchmaking company here in Los Angeles, and she built it up to be one of the most special matchmaking businesses that exists today.”
My nose and eyes sting as I hold back tears.
“Lunar Love is truly one-of-a-kind,” Bennett continues. “I honestly don’t consider ZodiaCupid to be their competition. They’re in a league of their own. June was my inspiration, and I’m lucky to have learned a lot from her. Over the years, one of June’s daughters took over, and now, one of June’s granddaughters, Olivia, is in charge. I consider myself lucky to have also learned a lot from Olivia, too. She was actually supposed to be on this podcast today instead of me. In no way did I win this wager. In fact, I lost pretty badly.”
