Page 28 of Meet Cute Reboot
Through the door’s window, I can see Cassie sitting at a bean-shaped table, headphones already on, her expression stiff. She glances over and sees me through the glass, bugging her eyes before desperately motioning me in. I creep through as quietly as possible; some tech guy hands me a headset; I slide it on, and then sit down. I’m not joking when I say “slide on.” I’m still sweating out of every gland, not a little, but in rivers. I wipe my brow to divert the flood away from my eyeballs.
Cassie looks at me like I’m radioactive. It’s a good thing this interview isn’t being televised. Next thing I know, the tech guy points to DJ Chris Sands and he starts hammering us with questions.
“You look like you just walked out of a sauna. Is it hot out there or something?”
“Yes. Hot. Very hot,” I answer.
“Do you need a towel? Man, you are glistening like the Hope Diamond.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“What’s your girl Cassie think? That’s what matters.”
“Oh. Um,” Cassie says. “Women glisten. Men just sweat. Like pigs.”
“Ouch,” Chris says. “Well, there you have it, Luke. She called you a pig. I think this interview is over.”
We all laugh. So far, I think this is going well.
“I’m just playin’,” Chris says. “Y’all know why we’re here, but the listening audience doesn’t. Miss Cassie Sears, why don’t you get us up to speed?”
Cassie introduces herself as the CEO of MatchAI, gives a sales pitch for the app, and then explains how the two of us wound up in this room together.
“I believe in my app so much, I wanted to be the first to try it,” she says.
“So, you pressed this little Choose button here,” Chris says. He’s fiddling with his phone. Must have downloaded the app in preparation for the interview. “On morning television. For all of Charleston to see. And this sweaty beast of a man popped up?”
Cassie looks at me, her face serious. “Yes, he did.”
“Whoah,” Chris says. “But I got to admit, if he was cleaned up a bit, he might not look half bad.”
Do I really look that terrible? Does it matter? This is radio.
“He looked better on our date,” Cassie says. “Which you can see on Instagram, by the way. We streamed most of it.”
Chris leans heavily on his elbow. “How do a man and woman have a romantic dateliveon Instagram?”
“You don’t,” I say.
Cassie’s eye twitches. “The video of our date has over twenty thousand views,” she says.
“It does?” I lean back to grasp the fullness of Cassie in my vision.
“And our Reel is going on a hundred thousand.”
“Folks, you can’t see this, but Luke’s mouth is hanging open.”
I close it.
“That’s cool,” I say even though the thought of that many pupils on me is making my skin crawl.
“It sounds like you two are a hit on the interwebs,” Chris says, “but the big question is, did you two hit it off in real life?”
Cassie and I are both silent. I’m not sure if we’re playing a game here or telling the truth. I’m pretty sure it’s a game but I need Cassie to confirm it. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Nothing like dead air on the radio.” Chris laughs.
“Yes,” I jump in. “I think it’s safe to say we did hit it off. Cassie is amazing. I mean, look at her. But there’s so much more to a woman than looks, right?”