The Ultimate Pitch

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“How did it go?” Randi Powell walked into her best friend’s office with anticipation.

“Ugh.” Eden frowned and looked up from her computer screen.

“Ah.” Randi sighed. “When you didn’t call me last night…

I was hopeful.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

Both thirty-five years old, she and Eden Andrews had been best friends for the past thirteen years.

They’d both moved to Dallas fresh out of college, ready to change the world.

A mutual friend had introduced them and they’d instantly hit it off.

Randi sat down in the chair opposite Eden’s desk and waited. After a few moments she said, “Well, what was wrong with her?”

Eden sighed dramatically as her shoulders slumped. “All she talked about was running.” She gave Randi an exasperated look and continued. “You know me. The only running I’ll be doing is away from someone chasing me.”

Randi giggled and tried not to laugh. “Unless you’re running to find your seat at a Taylor Swift concert,” she muttered.

“I don’t mind doing yoga with you, but I don’t talk about it nonstop,” Eden said, ignoring Randi’s comment.

“I should hope not.” Randi paused. “Surely you talked about something else.”

“Uh, yeah. You.”

“Me!” Randi exclaimed.

“I told her how you’re always willing to try new things, including running. That led to talking about when I moved here and how we became friends.” Eden shrugged. “You know, the getting to know you kind of stuff.”

“Did you have dinner?”

“No, we ended up just having a couple of drinks.”

“What did you learn about her? Is she a reader?”

“A reader?”

“Yes, you’re a reader. You work for a marketing company that specializes in promoting indie authors. Plus, you read a lot of books!”

“Yeah, I don’t know, she didn’t strike me as the reader type,” Eden said, narrowing her eyes. “Maybe more like audiobooks, so she could listen to them while running.” She chuckled.

“Was she pretty?”

Eden scoffed. “Like that matters. Talk about shallow.”

“It is and it isn’t. She has to be pretty, to you. You’re the one who’s going to be looking at her.” Randi paused. “Who was that girl you dated last summer? What was her name?”

“Summer,” Eden stated. “Her name was Summer.”

“Oh yeah, why can’t I remember that?” Randi smirked. “Anyway, she was gorgeous.”

“Yes, and she knew it. She loved it when everyone else commented on her beauty. Did you know that I found out later that she was dating two other people while we were dating? So looks aren’t that important to me.

Besides, there aren’t a lot of people like you, Randi.

You’re pretty on the outside and even prettier on the inside. ”

Randi dropped her gaze and felt her cheeks warm. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “But we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you.”

“What has Eden done now?” Analise Reilly walked into Eden’s office and set a folder on her desk. As the CEO of Hook, Line & Reader she’d become accustomed to finding Randi in Eden’s office.

“Hi, Analise,” Randi said.

“Oh, last night I had another unsuccessful first date,” Eden said.

“And I came by to see what was wrong with this one,” Randi commented.

Analise chuckled. “I see. Since turning fifty the idea of dating has lost its appeal.” She tilted her head. “What were you saying about being pretty?”

“Nothing,” Randi murmured.

“Not true,” Eden said. “I was just telling Randi that people like her are few and far between. My best friend happens to be pretty on the outside and the inside.”

Randi felt Analise’s eyes on her as she smiled and shrugged. “As I said, we’re not talking about me.”

“Why not? When’s the last time you went on a date?”

“It’s been a minute,” Randi said.

“It’s hopeless.” Eden sighed. “I’m not going to find anyone on these dating apps. I’m giving up.”

“That’s it! We’re going to do Pitch a Friend,” Randi said firmly.

“What’s Pitch a Friend?” Analise asked.

“It’s an alternative to dating apps,” Randi said. “Picture this.” She stood up and swept her arm through the air. “A PowerPoint presentation illustrating all of the best features of your single friend given to a room full of other like-minded people.”

Analise smirked. “You’re going to pitch Eden to a group of singles, encouraging them to take her on a date?”

“No, I’m going to tell a group of singles a little about Eden,” Randi said.

“It’s more than a dating profile on an app.

I like to think of it as a way to get to know someone before you ask them out.

That way you don’t waste time and money on a date finding out those things that aren’t appealing to you, things you don’t have in common. ”

“Hmm,” Analise murmured. “Is this a real thing? Where do they have it?”

“Yes, it’s real! They hold these events in cities all over the country,” Randi explained. “I’m doing social media hype for one they’re having here next week at the brewery on Cedar Springs.”

“Really?”

Randi nodded and smiled at Eden. “I can do this. I’ll give the pitch of a lifetime for you, bestie. We’ll find you all kinds of options. They’ll be lining up to ask you out.”

Eden scowled. “Why does this feel dangerous?”

Randi chuckled and looked up at Analise. “Hey, they’re looking for sponsors. Hook, Line & Reader has a few sapphic authors. It could be an opportunity to get their names and books in front of new readers.”

“Okay,” Analise said. “Tell them to contact me. I want to see this pitch and who lines up to ask out my director of finance.”

“We’re going to find someone who shares your interests, Eden. It’s going to be great,” Randi said with zeal.

“This could be fun,” Analise said.

Eden groaned. “Fun? I’m not sure I’d call this fun.”

“If nothing else, maybe we’ll make new friends,” Randi said. “You know how it goes in our little world. Friends of friends can lead to happily ever after.”

Eden rolled her eyes and Randi couldn’t keep from laughing.

Eden stared at the computer screen and the report she’d been working on that afternoon, but her thoughts were on the Pitch a Friend Event, which was the next day. What would she wear? And how had she let Randi talk her into this?

She scoffed and shook her head. Randi had been talking her into things almost from the moment they’d met.

She’d never let Randi know, but most of the time it was fun.

Whether it was an activity she would never do on her own, like the time they made watercolor Christmas cards, which to her surprise turned out well.

Or the time Randi dragged her to a game night with several of Randi’s then work friends.

Her best friend tended to move from job to job, but she kept many of the work friends she made along the way.

They’d won several of the games and even brought the game Codenames back to their friend group. Eden and Randi were the reigning champions and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon. They’d been friends for years now and knew how each other thought, which was a big asset in that game.

She sighed then smiled. Her best friend could be pushy, even whiny, but Eden knew she always had her best interests at heart.

Just like now. Eden openly complained about her unlucky streak with dating and wanting someone to share her life.

At thirty-five she was by no means past her prime, but dating was hard.

She kept doing it because the thought of coming home to someone who wanted to see her was appealing.

Of course, her four-legged furry feline, Letty, was definitely in this category.

Eden wasn’t sure if Letty was happy to see her because she gave her a few head butts and back rubs or if it was because Eden filled her bowl with food.

The skittish, yet sometimes vocal cat had wandered up to Eden’s house more than a year ago.

She was skinny, hungry, and had looked at Eden warily.

That’s when she noticed the cat’s right eye was an unattractive, weepy indention where her eyeball should have been.

One of Eden’s smartass friends called her Lefty, which Eden couldn’t abide.

So the cat’s name morphed into Letty which was somehow appropriate for her.

She was mostly white with pretty gray streaks curling down her back and another patch of gray on top of her head. Letty was a beauty.

Once Eden was sure the cat planned to stay she took her to the vet and found out she was healthy except for the eye infection.

The vet surmised that the eye had probably been injured and had come out on its own.

She performed a procedure to clean the tissue, sew it up, and now Letty looked like she was permanently winking.

It was the cutest thing, especially when she would loudly meow her wishes.

Eden had become pretty good at understanding her cat’s conversational style which mainly involved loud meows when she was hungry, more subdued growls when she wanted a little love, and a crabby snarl with a meow when she didn’t want to be bothered.

When she thought about it, Eden realized Letty had adopted her instead of the other way around. Whatever the origin of this unlikely pairing, Eden did have someone who was happy to see her when she got home from work, but she wanted more.

This Pitch a Friend event had her nervous and excited at the same time.

There was an element of awkwardness imagining listening to Randi go on and on about her attributes, but she knew Randi would be engaging.

Promotion was Randi’s thing. Although she moved from job to job it was because she was so talented with marketing, social media and communication, not because of negative reasons.

Companies wanted someone creative, outgoing, and capable.

Eden’s phone rang, bringing her out of her circling thoughts that kept coming back to the Pitch a Friend event. “Eden Andrews,” she replied, picking up the phone.

“Hi, Eden, it’s Ginger at The Plot Twist. Sorry to interrupt you.”

“Hi, Ginger. How can I help you?”

“You will not believe how popular your Hook, Line & Reader bookmarks have been. Oh, and the stickers are all gone!” Ginger exclaimed.

“I’m glad your readers like them.”

“That’s why I’m calling. I have book club tonight at the store and I was hoping you could replenish my stickers and maybe include some bookmarks, too,” she said tentatively.

Analise stopped in Eden’s doorway and raised her brows. Eden motioned her in as she spoke to Ginger. “I could drop them by on my way home.”

“Oh, that would be great! Thank you so much,” Ginger said. “I’m ready to host another author signing. Please let me know when you’re ready.”

“We’re actually trying to sign an up and coming sapphic author who is growing in popularity with every book she releases,” Eden said.

“Oh, I’d love that. I’m increasing our sapphic library every week and gaining new customers as I do. I think we could hold an awesome event.”

“I’ll share that with Analise,” Eden said. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Thanks again. Bye.”

“Bye.” Eden looked at Analise and smiled. “That was Ginger at The Plot Twist. It seems that our stickers and bookmarks are quite popular.”

“That’s good news,” Analise said. “Was she interested in another author event?”

“Very!” Eden exclaimed. “Her sapphic clientele is growing.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Analise said. “I just scheduled an informal meeting with Cari DeWare.”

Eden gasped. They had been trying to sign her for months. They believed their service could rocket the fairly new author’s career into bestseller status.

“There's a problem though,” Analise said. “It’s tomorrow night and that’s the Pitch a Friend event. I wanted to be there to support you.”

“Meet her there,” Eden suggested. “The event is inclusive, but I know there will be a strong queer vibe in attendance. She might love it.”

“You think?”

Eden quickly nodded. “She can see our commitment to the community and it would be a great place to hold a future event to introduce an upcoming author.”

“Hmm,” Analise murmured. She narrowed her gaze at Eden. “Have you said anything to Randi lately about coming to work with us? Imagine her working with our sapphic authors.”

“I know.” Eden sighed. “I mention it every time she changes jobs. It’s your turn.”

Analise groaned. “I don’t know why she won’t give us a chance. You're her best friend. You’d think that would be a bonus.”

Eden winced. “Maybe she’s afraid she wouldn’t like it and she does like us. You know, the don’t want to ruin a friendship thing.”

“You’ve been friends for years,” Analise said. “I highly doubt anything could happen that would change that. Besides, you work in finance, she’d be in the creative department.”

Eden nodded. “As I said, it’s your turn. You’ll see her tomorrow night.”

Analise nodded and left Eden’s office.

“Tomorrow night,” she murmured as a flutter of anxiety laced with excitement swirled in her stomach.