“No, I know. Starlight is all about quality. That’s why I love it more than the other brands.”
“You mean therealKorean brands.”
Jisoo looked at her, and Julia fought the fidget that was screaming to manifest with the attention. “Starlight isn’t considered a real Korean brand?” Jisoo asked. “Funny, because everyone I know thinks it is. In fact, it’s like a source of pride for us Korean Americans to have this in the marketplace. A company founded by a second gen? That’s something to celebrate.”
Julia wasn’t sure how to take that. It was a huge compliment. It was what she’d wanted to hear from her customers, her investors, her own family. It was a statement that showed someone got it, understood what Julia wanted to do when she created Starlight.
She just didn’t expect it from Jisoo.
But wasn’t Jisoo exactly the target consumer? Maybe she was doing something right.
Julia felt the vibration of her phone and quickly looked down at the unknown number. She usually didn’t pick up direct phone calls from people she wasn’t sure of, but she’d been hoping with all the recent attention and success that she’d be getting more communication from potential investors.
“Hello?”
“May I speak to Julia Song, please?”
“This is.”
“Julia, hello. This is Michael Lee. I got your phone number from my...” he stalled “. . . well, from my mother, of all people.” He laughed, and it gave away his nervousness. Juliaracked her brain to identify the name. Was this a budding businessman who needed some advice? Or was this someone looking for product for his—
“I usually don’t let my mother set me up on dates, but when I googled you, I was surprised to find that you were legit. Quite impressive,” he said.
Oh shit. It was a setup. The first. Without any forewarning. Julia was going to give her mom an earful after this.
“Uh, oh, um, hi.” Julia was still processing the fact that this guy had googled her. The nerve. After she hung up with him, got rid of Jisoo, gave her mom an earful, and googled Michael Lee herself, she was going to have to look up what he might have found online about her.
“So I was wondering if you have a free night next week for dinner?”
Julia closed her eyes and counted to three. She could do this. So what that it was an incredibly busy time for her at work and she rarely left the office before eight? It didn’t have to be awful, she reminded herself of Tae’s words. Just dive in and get it over with, see what could happen.
“Sure, dinner sounds great. How does Wednesday work for you?” she asked.
“Wednesday is perfect. How about I text you the name of the restaurant and we meet at, say, seven?”
“Maybe seven thirty so we can avoid any potential traffic,” Julia suggested.
“I doubt that will be an issue at seven.”
Was this guy nuts? Depending on where the restaurant was, seven o’clock could be the worst time in LA for traffic. But whatever. Julia stifled her irritated sigh. “Okay. Great. I’ll wait for your text. See you then.”
“Really looking forward to it, Julia.”
Julia hung up the phone and dropped her head.
“They call you directly.”
Julia shot her head back up and stared at Jisoo. She had totally forgotten she wasn’t alone. Had Jisoo eavesdropped on the conversation? Granted, they were in a ten-foot by twelve-foot product closet with no other sound. But rude.
“The setups. I was surprised too. I was getting calls from numbers I didn’t recognize with random men’s voices on the other side. I thought my mom would at least give me a heads-up, ya know?”
That’s right, Jisoo had been set up too. She, of all people, understood exactly what Julia was going through.
“How awkward is it, on a scale of one to ten?” Julia asked.
“Ten being walking down the street with your skirt tucked into your underwear, I’d say at least a nine.”
“Shit.”
