CHAPTER SIX
Will’s first week in the role of part-time office manager brought noticeable and positive changes to the office.
Though Gwen and Phil continued to debate possible names for their venture, Will used the time to optimize their website for the best user experience.
He stockpiled templates for social media creative and filmed interviews of everybody along with B-roll of office activity.
Gwen got one of her friends, a nice Omega lady named Stephanie, to play the role of a client.
“What I’ll do is edit the video down into several five to fifteen-second snippets,” he told his bosses. “Overlay some copyright free music, add a few animations, and we have enough content to promote this place for a few months.”
His proactive nature impressed Phil. “Not bad for a no-name company. And you can go back and edit these when we figure it out?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s actually good to recycle content. The program I use is easy, even without the AI features they want to force on you.”
“Good,” Gwen said, and grimaced. “We should stress in our marketing that generative AI has no place in our business, especially during the matchmaking process.”
“Done.”
Will itched to launch the social handles, but until Phil and Gwen decided on the brand he hovered in a holding pattern.
Lack of a name hadn’t discouraged interest from people searching for forever mates, however.
Phil’s networking brought in leads, several of whom met with Ray during Will’s shifts.
By Friday, half of them had signed agreements. The candidate pool rippled.
When it came to sales, Ray carried his own weight.
The connections he kept from his previous job yielded half a dozen single teachers and school district staff interested in the process.
Will’s efforts to raise awareness, talking up the agency among friends and with Big Man Tech clients, resulted in a few curious walk-ins, and the matchmakers were happy to stay late to accommodate them.
After Will’s second full week on the job, Gwen brought in cupcakes.
During a break in between appointments, after an early walk-in left, they paused to celebrate.
“Here’s to an amazing soft launch,” she said, raising her chocolate cake in a toast. “Maybe we should keep going without a name, you think? It lends a little mystery.”
“The No-Name Mating Agency, where the only name that matters is your mate’s.” Ray shook his head, laughing. “That’s a mouthful.”
Will sat at his desk, picking at his cupcake. “We can workshop it.”
“I’m down for that. I’m better at sales than marketing,” Ray said. “I am happy to bow to your expertise.”
They locked gazes from their respective workspaces.
Ray worked his tongue around the perimeter of his cupcake, lapping up the buttercream topping.
Will thought it silly and seductive at the same time, and crammed half of his cake into his mouth to mask his amusement.
Over the last two weeks they’d gotten on well, with Ray being a laid back and considerate co-worker.
Unlike Will, the older man had mastered the industrial coffee brewer and had a warm pot ready when Will worked a morning shift.
The Daily Bean took a hit as a result, but Will patronized the cafe at lunch when he had the spare cash.
“Well, if this keeps up, we’ll need to get on the stick and hire a fourth counselor yesterday,” Gwen said, pointing her half-eaten cake toward the vacant cubicle. “Maybe renovate the setup altogether and add two more.”
Phil, stretched out on the couch in the lobby area, pulled the fluted wrapper from a red velvet cake topped with a bulbous dollop of white icing.
“I’d suggest we cut this front space in half and move Will’s desk closer to the door, but I didn’t think we’d get as many walks-in as we have.
” He pursed his lips before taking a bite, speaking again after swallowing.
“How are you getting people to come?” he asked Will.
“Oh.” Will set his crumb-filled wrapper on a napkin. “Whenever I see an opportunity to bring it into conversation, I tell people about your approach to finding mates,” he said. “I think, too, people are more disenchanted with the apps than we realize.”
Phil considered Will’s answer and nodded. “I’m hoping not to jinx it, but one of your referrals may have an Alpha soon. I plan on introducing them this afternoon. If they work out, you’ll have scored first over the actual matchmakers.”
“Hey, cool.” Will sat up straighter. “Can I have a raise and a company credit card?”
The joke landed. Gwen sprayed a few crumbs before clapping her hand over her mouth. “Are you kidding? Even I don’t have a corporate account yet,” she said after regaining air. “Tell you what, if you get the first successful match I’ll buy you a pizza.”
“Are we talking a whole pizza or one of those personal pan deals?” Ray asked. “Like how the library used to give out when you read ten books over the summer.”
Phil stood, balling up his empty wrapper in his fist. “By that logic, Will needs to match nine more couples before he gets a free lunch.” He edged closer to Will’s and leaned in. “Match twenty and we’ll buy you two, that way you can enjoy a lunch date.”
Will flicked his gaze at Ray, a gut reaction. If either Phil or Gwen noticed, they were gracious enough not to draw attention to it. Nonetheless, Will felt his face flush hot and he reached for his water bottle to cool off.
Ray still watched him over his last bite of cupcake.
~*~
With the “just co-workers and friends” status ending in another two weeks, Ray wanted to burst. Whenever he spent time alone in the office with Will, he discovered more commonalities between them, and a growing desire to share in each other’s favorite leisure activities.
Will’s interest in online gaming appealed to Ray, so much that Ray created an account on Will’s favorite platform and observed a multi-player campaign.
He liked the roleplay aspect of it, and considered signing up for a few games on his own.
They also befriended each other on a movie-centric social network, where Ray discovered something else fascinating about Will.
You watch a lot of horror. Any particular sub-genre you prefer?
he’d asked one morning while pouring a mug of coffee for Will.
Not that BDSM and horror were mutually exclusive, but Ray figured if Will enjoyed non-mainstream cinema he might have an open mind about certain types of play.
Will shrugged and sipped his coffee. I like suspense, psychological horror. Some body horror, but nothing too gory. Horror is an art form, and when it slides into gratuitous violence I get turned off.
Ray filed that bit of trivia into a mental folder.
He wouldn’t invite Will to Velvet Sands on the first date, of course, but he wanted a first date.
A home-cooked meal and a movie on the couch topped his list of ideas.
Private, intimate, and the perfect opportunity to scent the pretty Omega without distraction.
Gwen’s raised voice in the office brought him out his reverie. Phil was walking back to his desk when Gwen tagged him. “Did he tell you about his idea for First Friday?” she asked, gesturing to Will.
Ray leaned forward, interested. Earlier today, a rep from the downtown chamber of commerce had dropped off an information packet about the event.
They scheduled the first block party of the year for May instead of summer, and encouraged businesses to submit their promotions ahead of time for added exposure.
What an unnamed match-making agency could offer baffled him.
Date four Alphas, get the fifth one free?
“Yeah, I like that,” Phil was saying, his gaze on Will.
“Gwen and I talked about an open house, but mainly as a low-pressure meet and greet with us counselors. A client interview demonstration would demystify the process and even help people understand what to look for in a mate. It isn’t all about an Alpha latching onto the first Omega they scent.
It’s about how our system matches people with the right chemistry. Then comes the latching.”
Phil grabbed a notepad from his desk. “All we need is a fearless volunteer to share personal details about themself in front of strangers we want to become clients,” he added.
“I liked Stephanie in the video Will made, but we should go with somebody different. I don’t want people thinking her ‘match’ didn’t pan out. ”
They had built a respectable pool of clients, all of whom completed the preliminary interviews.
Ray joined in on the brainstorming, tossing out first names of single relatives and acquaintances from previous jobs he thought willing to help.
“It ought to be a newbie,” he said, “unfamiliar with the process. If we use a current client, they’ll come with rehearsed answers and it shouldn’t look like a play. People might be turned off by it.”
A light rapping on the front window disrupted the chat and alerted everybody to a broad-chested, bearded man waving at them.
Gwen stood and beckoned the man to enter.
“Nice, he’s right on time.” She turned to Ray.
“I thought you might like to conduct this interview? I’m meeting a few people off-site and I double-booked myself this afternoon. ”
Phil groaned. “Shit, that reminds me. I have to jump on a call in a few. Party’s over, y’all.” He settled into his cubicle, back turned to everybody, and adjusted his headset.
“Me?” Ray binned his cupcake wrapper and reached for the hand sanitizer pump on his mirror ledge. “I mean, yeah, I can. I am expecting somebody in about thirty minutes, though,” he said. A friend of a friend, evidence of the effectiveness of word of mouth.
“We definitely need to hire another counselor, stat,” Gwen said, and turned to Will. “Is your appointment on the books? Hey, Will, you think you can reach out to Ray’s next interview and push it back?”