Meeting His Match

Chapter 3-2

Natalie hadn’t been sure how to dress for her meeting with Gail Sterling. Sure, this was all part of preparation for the show, but Natalie didn’t like being Gem all the time. She’d begun to question if she had it in her to maintain it. She settled on Gem’s hair and makeup, but Natalie’s wardrobe.

Thinking about her wardrobe made her realize she’d have to invest in more outfits for Gem. Her selection was enough for clubbing and dates, especially since she rarely went on more than four dates with any guy. Beyond four, it started to feel like a relationship. If she had to be working with clients and going out with them, she needed more options. She tabled the idea for later and left for her meeting.

She parked on the street near the Everyday Love office. She’d prepared a notebook with some questions just in case she needed them. Inside the building, Natalie rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. The building was located in Chicago’s Gold Coast, so the business must’ve been doing well enough to afford these rent prices. The location had Natalie questioning her expectations.

According to the web site, Everyday Love had been created with the idea that everyone, regardless of the size of his or her bank account, deserved help to find love. Having offices in this part of the city created an image of people with money. Much like Malcolm Sterling himself.

His suit had been bespoke, fitting him perfectly. Definitely not off the rack. Natalie had always loved a man in a good suit.

She shook her head as the elevator doors opened. She absolutely did not need to think about how good Malcolm looked in a suit. Or what he might look like out of it. Heat crawled up her neck with that thought.

Natalie bit the inside of her cheek and walked to the reception desk. “Hi, I’m Gem. I have a meeting with Gail Sterling.”

The receptionist nodded and stood. “Right this way.”

Natalie followed her down a hall, passing two other offices with closed doors. She briefly wondered if Malcolm was behind one of them. Would he be part of her meeting with his mom?

At the end of the hall, the receptionist swung the door open and waited until Natalie walked through. Then she left.

Gail Sterling stood behind her desk looking as exquisite as she did online. In a classy suit that probably cost more than one of Natalie’s librarian paychecks, she came forward with a smile.

“You must be Gem.”

Natalie halted for a minute. Yeah, answering to Gem all the time would take some getting used to. “Hi, Mrs. Sterling. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Gail, please.” She pointed to a leather couch against the back wall. “Have a seat and let me know how I can help you.”

They sat and Natalie pulled her notebook from her bag. “I’m not quite sure how, or even if, you can help me. As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m not a matchmaker, yet the producers of this show expect me to compete against your son. It seems a little unfair for him to have all of your expertise at his back while I’ve got nothing but my own experiences.”

Gail laughed quietly. “Well, your personal experiences might count for more than you’d expect. While it’s true Malcolm grew up being surrounded by this business, I won’t be helping him during the show. He needs to do this on his own.”

Hmm…Natalie found that interesting. She hadn’t gotten a hint of tension from Malcolm when he brought up his mother. If they didn’t get along, why would he do this show?

“Oh, I think I’m going to like you,” Gail said. “I can see your wheels turning as I speak. Just out with it. What do you want to know?”

Natalie cleared her throat. She hadn’t expected Gail to be so upfront. “I was wondering why you aren’t willing to help Malcolm. I mean, obviously, if he succeeds, your company benefits.”

“You’re right. However, I need to see how Malcolm will do on his own. He wants to take over when I retire, which will be soon. I love my son dearly, but he’s always been too business-oriented for my liking. Not everything can be boiled down to a transaction. I need to know he has the heart for the job.”

This interview was far more interesting than Natalie had imagined and she’d only been in the office for five minutes. “Can you explain what you mean by having the heart? This is a business for you. You can’t ignore that.”

“I never ignore it. But it’s only part of the equation for success. You have to believe in true love. You have to believe in the magic of falling for the right person.” Gail winked. “I’m not sure my son does. Do you?”

Natalie’s heart raced. Did she? Part of her longed for the passion of falling in love, but she wasn’t so sure about the true love and soul mate stuff. Once upon a time she had. “I believe it’s possible to find the right person to love, yes. If Malcolm doesn’t believe in that—in love—why would he surround himself by it every day?”

“Good question. I’m not sure of the answer.” She sighed. “I’m afraid we’ve gotten off course. I think you were supposed to ask me about matchmaking.”

“Yes.” Natalie fumbled with the notebook. “What’s your process? How do you start?”

“These days, it’s a lot more complicated than it was when we began.”

“We?”

“My husband and I founded Everyday Love together. We were married for thirty happy years. Throughout that time, we helped forge hundreds of successful relationships.”

Natalie envied the look of happiness on the older woman’s face.

“My process, back when we started was simple enough, and it’s still the first step today. I talk with the client. I listen to what he or she wants. Sometimes I get someone who I don’t believe is looking for love and commitment. It’s evident in that first conversation, so I suggest he or she comes back when truly ready.”

“I bet that doesn’t go over real well.”

“Not usually. But given time, they discover I’m right. And when they return, they’re glad I turned them away the first time.”

“What about those you don’t turn away? How do you know they’re ready?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Gail crossed her legs and leaned against the arm of the couch, studying Natalie. “It’s mostly a feeling. I ask them questions about past relationships to discover their current mindset. It’s not enough for them to say they’re ready for love.”

“Unless you can teach me to know the feeling, this doesn’t help much.”

“If you’d like, you can spend a day here in the office. See how we interact with clients.”

“We?”

“My staff.”

“How many matchmakers do you have on staff?”

“Just me.”

She didn’t count Malcolm. Curious.

“But I have others who do some of the beginning interviews and they help decide who we pair up. They work on generating information for our database, and they help with all of the networking.”

The more Natalie heard, the more complicated it appeared.

“Tell me about yourself, Gem.”

Natalie started at the demand. She hadn’t considered Gail wanting to know about her. She should’ve expected it. As much as Natalie wanted to learn about Gail and Malcolm, of course Malcolm would want to know who he was up against. “What do you want to know?”

“I suppose I’d like to know who you really are because Gem isn’t your real name, but I won’t invade your privacy. Why don’t you tell me about why you’ve agreed to do this show with my son.”

“In all honesty, I could use the money. I was recently laid off from my day job, and I’m using this to fill in until I find something else.”

That earned another laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m imagining the look on Malcolm’s face when he loses to someone who has no desire to make this her living.”

“What makes you think I’ll win?”

“I see it in your eyes. You like to help people and you believe in love.” Gail shifted forward and stared into Natalie’s eyes. “Even if you don’t believe in it for yourself. For now.”

“What?”

This sent off another round of laughter, and Natalie began to question if Gail was retiring because she was losing her mind. “Don’t mind me, Gem. Sometimes I can’t help but say what I see when I read people. You’re a beautiful, unattached woman and I immediately want to help.”

“No offense, but what makes you think I need or want your help?”

“Because sometimes we can’t do it alone. We can be wonderful at helping others but be completely terrible at understanding what we need for ourselves.” She patted Natalie’s hand and then stood. “You’ll see.”

Natalie watched speechlessly as Gail moved across the room.

Gail spun. “Come on, then. I’ll introduce you to the staff. You can talk to whomever you’d like.”

Natalie stood and tucked her notebook away. She realized taking notes wasn’t the best way to learn here. She just needed to open her ears and her mind and see what she discovered.