Meeting His Match

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Mac left the meeting with Brad and Gem filled with a new purpose: find out who Gem really was. He’d come to the studio today as a formality. It didn’t matter to him what Brad had planned. Mac knew he’d win the competition. He’d prove to his mother he was more than ready to take over Everyday Love. Gem had been nothing more than a pretty face on the Internet.

When he’d seen her mask slip at their introduction, he’d been intrigued. He immediately knew there was more to her than the brief bit he’d watched online. He didn’t believe for a moment she worried about a level playing field. She had to know she was out of her league.

Yet she pushed.

Whatever happened during that moment when he’d offered a meeting with his mom caused a spark. He felt what Brad had seen. Mac knew himself well enough to know that if Gem truly was nothing more than an Internet confection, that wouldn’t have happened. She asked smart questions, held some safe suspicions.

Outside the studio, she nodded at him and rushed off to her car. He tried not to watch the muscles of her calves lengthen or the sway of her a*s in her dress. He failed. Pulling his phone out again, he called Paul.

“What’s up?”

“I need you to dig into this Gem person.”

“You do know I work for your mom, not you, right?”

“Trust me. This is information we all need. Gem is a pseudonym. I just left our first meeting, and even with no cameras involved, she insisted on using Gem. No last name. Nothing.”

“So?”

“There’s more to her. That’s all I’m saying.” Mac unlocked his car and climbed in.

“I’ll see what I can find out. Call you later.”

They disconnected and Mac went to the office. His mother was meeting with clients, so he had some time. At his desk, he booted up his computer and Googled “Dating Gem.” In addition to the videos, she had a blog. He scrolled through the pages of posts to get to the first one. He knew he’d find the most personal information there. Before she’d honed her craft and her online persona, she would’ve been closest to her real self at the beginning.

Her first post was relatively short, explaining the title of the site. Growing up, her grandmother had told her if a guy didn’t treat her like a precious gem, he didn’t deserve her. Gem had decided she would explore the world of dating and share her own dating gems with her audience.

Mac wondered at what point Gem had become her name. It didn’t seem like that had been her intention at the beginning. He read a few posts and gleaned a bit about her, just as he’d thought. She was divorced and from what he could tell, the guy did a number on her. If he had to guess, her ex had cheated.

After a few months of online dating, she’d given up. Too many liars. No s**t.

Then she had a slew of posts that were book and video reviews of pick-up artists and dating experts. This was the beginning of her change. Her dating posts after that point were reports of her attempts at implementing what she’d learned from her self-education.

She appeared to have great success. Not all that surprising. He’d seen a couple of her videos and now he’d met her. She was beautiful and engaging. In her videos, she tended to disguise her intelligence, leaning towards bubbly frothiness, but in person, she failed at hiding it.

The more he learned, the more he wanted to know. The problem was, he wasn’t wholly convinced it was all about the TV show and competition.

Paul called and said he’d had no luck getting Gem’s real name. Confidentiality and all that. Mac decided his mother was his best chance to get anything. He strode down the hall to his mom’s office and knocked.

“Come in.”

He pushed through the door. Upon entering, he was reminded why he preferred to meet in his office. Hers was too frilly and fussy. His mom believed the best way to get people to open up was to make them feel at home. Mac didn’t disagree, but this space was just a bit too comfortable.

“Mom.” He took a seat across from the desk.

“What can I do for you?”

“Did your assistant tell you about the meeting with Gem tomorrow?”

“Who?”

“Gem. From the TV show?”

“I haven’t looked at tomorrow’s schedule yet.”

“We had our first meeting today. Long story short, she feels at a disadvantage because I have a successful matchmaking company behind me. I told her she could talk to you, get whatever insight she thinks she needs.”

“Oh, Malcolm. How silly are you? You’re going to give away all of your knowledge and training? Your edge? How do you expect to win?”

He sighed. “I’ll win by being better at helping people find love. I have faith in myself. Wish you did too.”

He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “I want this to be fair. I want the show to showcase the fact that I’m honest. Trustworthy.”

“So what exactly do you need from me?”

“Answer her questions.” He shifted back in the seat. “I also want your take on her.”

The corner of his mom’s mouth inched up. “Now that sounds interesting.”

“After meeting her today and digging into her blog a little more, I can’t get a read on her. Nothing matches.”

“And?”

“And I want to understand who she is so I know how to best beat her.”

“Is that all?”

“Of course. What else would there be?”

She shook her head as if he missed the point of the conversation. He knew that head shake better than any other movement his mother made. Right now, he didn’t want to know the reason behind it.