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Sienna Vance leaned forward in her chair and licked her lips, readying herself to deliver some much-needed straight talk. She didn’t like this part. But it had to be done.

‘In conclusion…’ Sienna said into her mic, ‘…if she doesn’t text you back for three days on a regular basis, it isn’t because her phone is broken, or she fell into a well, or her dog had a nervous breakdown, or whatever else she’s fobbing you off with. It’s because she finds you uninteresting. That’s the hard truth. She’s stringing you along.’

The headphones pressed against Sienna’s ears fed back a high, melancholy sigh. ‘You think?’

‘I do. My advice? Don’t be anyone’s plan B. Cut your losses, delete the chat, and reallocate your emotional capital into a high-yield savings account.’

The young woman sighed again. ‘You’re right. I know you’re right.’

Sienna glanced at the clock and flicked her eyes to the booth. Sure enough, Pip—her taciturn, hoodie-clad engineer—was giving the ‘wind it down’ signal.

‘Thanks for calling in, but that’s all the time we have. I’m Sienna Vance, and this has been Dating by Design. Stop falling in love. Start running the numbers.’

Pip gave her a nod, confirming they were off the air.

Ten years of hosting Dating by Design had turned the whole operation into a finely tuned machine. Which was just the way Sienna liked it. Just the way she liked everything, actually. That was the secret to her success: taking a hard look at someone’s life and giving it to them straight. She dealt strictly in raw facts. People were messy and ruled by emotion, but numbers didn’t lie. If the math of someone’s behaviour didn’t add up, you didn’t keep pouring effort into them, hoping for a miracle. You cut your losses and moved on.

Cold? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely. In a world where sapphic women were constantly hopping into their hormone-fuelled U-Hauls and driving straight off a cliff, Sienna was the voice telling them to hit the brakes, check the data and get real.

Sienna switched on her phone and an email pinged.

Could you pop up to my office when you’re finished, Sienna?

Sienna frowned slightly. Gemma Bates, the woman who had built Violet Audio into a rapidly growing empire of sapphic audio content, wasn’t one for casual chat. But Sienna told herself she wasn’t worried. Dating by Design did steady numbers and always had.

***

Sienna walked down the carpeted hallway and knocked softly before stepping through the doors of the executive suite.

‘Sienna, come on in. Close the door, would you?’ Gemma offered a warm smile from her leather swivel chair, motioning toward the comfortable couch across from her desk.

Sienna walked deeper into the room but remained standing. ‘If this is about the slight budget increase I proposed for next year—’

‘Oh, no, that’s fine,’ Gemma said smoothly, picking up her iPad and tapping. ‘I actually wanted to talk about your Q3 performance numbers.’ She looked at the couch pointedly. ‘Do take a seat.’

Sienna sat, expecting the usual steady upward curve on Gemma’s tablet. Instead, the line was flat. A stubborn, horizontal plateau.

‘As you can see, we’ve hit a bit of a ceiling with the twenty-five to thirty-five demographic. We aren’t growing,’ Gemma said gently.

‘I offer stability,’ Sienna replied, keeping her voice measured. ‘I thought you appreciated that.’

‘And I do,’ Gemma agreed with a reassuring nod. ‘But it’s my job to encourage growth where I see potential for it.’ Then she tapped the screen, bringing up a second line—a curve sweeping steeply upward like a launch trajectory. ‘Which is why I think pairing your authority with Robin Croft’s momentum could do wonders for both of your shows.’

Sienna’s jaw clenched slightly. Robin bloody Croft. The newest addition to the network.

Six months ago, Gemma had poached Croft after her home-recorded indie show—Meet-Cute—blew up almost overnight, signing her to bring the show to the network. At its core, Meet-Cute was also a dating advice show, and Sienna hadn’t understood why Violet Audio needed two of them, until Gemma assured her they targeted completely different audiences.

And it certainly was a wildly different take on the format. Jammed with idealised love-at-first-sight stories and relationship advice based on pure emotional instinct, it was night and day compared to Sienna’s rational approach. Sienna intentionally avoided the woman in the breakroom. To her, Robin Croft was a cocktail of amateurishness and plain bullshit.

‘Croft has been here for six months,’ Sienna pointed out mildly. ‘Of course her numbers are good. They’re driven by novelty. It’s unsustainable emotional fluff.’

‘It’s high engagement,’ Gemma corrected politely, resting her hands on the desk. ‘Which is why I’d love for the two of you to share the headlining stage at the WLW Audio Fest next month.’

Sienna went completely still. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘A debate panel,’ Gemma said. ‘The network’s premier analytical voice versus our rising star of romantic idealism. It’s going to be fantastic visibility for Dating by Design.’