Disclaimer: We don't own Twilight, but between the two of us, we own a shit-load of apps. You'll see why this is important soon.
Chapter 7
"Well, don't you look professional," Jasper quips, as he slides into the passenger seat of my car.
"It's all about the first impression, right?" I ask, looking over my shoulder as I back out of his driveway. I notice he's put a tie on today, too.
"Yeah, I guess. You're used to this suit and tie thing, but I'm not," he says, tugging at the material wrapped around his neck.
"Nervous?"
"Nah, you?"
"Not really, I just want this meeting to go well. You have no idea how badly I'd love to tell Mr. Crowley to fuck off." The day that I don't work at Crowley & Crowley Accounting will be a day to celebrate. In college, I picked accounting as a major because I couldn't decide on anything else. Don't get me wrong, I love numbers, but I hate the dumbasses I work for. I would love to work with Jasper every day and the success of this meeting is an essential step in that direction.
"I think our pitch is solid," Jasper says, letting out a deep breath. He's always been good about bringing an element of calm to any situation. He's just naturally laid back which tends to rub off on people.
"Yeah, our presentation is going to kick ass," I add. I really do feel good about the meeting. We've done a lot of work on our project and already have a beta version of the app we've created. We just need the help of a bigger company to make our app into the Instagram of roller derby.
Jasper and I both realize that the app is directed at a limited audience, but the world of roller derby is growing in leaps and bounds and we both feel passionate about it, as do thousands of other people around the world. The app we've developed will hold stats, schedules, rules, lingo, and we'll even have a name generator in there for the derby wanna-bes. The last leg of the development process is the interactive game that we'd like to incorporate. This part of the app is above and beyond our expertise, which is where 5th Cell comes into play.
We're hoping that they'll be on board with our ideas so far, and that they'll want to help us develop the rest of the app and get it launched to the public. We have a small amount of money in our budget for their services, but we're also hoping for some financial backing, as well. For that to happen, they'd have to believe in the success of us and our app. That's what makes me nervous. If we're turned down, it will be big a blow to us … We'll take it personally, because we've put so much of ourselves, our time, and our money into getting it where it is today.
"So, do you know anything about who we'll be meeting with?" I ask Jasper, as I pull into a parking space in front of a local coffee shop.
"Not really. I just corresponded through email with the head sales rep and one of the developers. They told me where to meet and what time to be here."
"Well, it's show time," I tell him, pushing my glasses up and smoothing my tie down.
Jasper and I both get out of the car and grab our briefcases. We've rehearsed the presentation several times, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel like I'm about to puke up my shoe-laces. I haven't felt this nervous since... well, since the first time I talked to Cherry. I laugh quietly to myself. Just the thought of her brings an immediate smile to my face. I keep her in my mind as I swing the door open and walk in, with Jasper following closely behind. When we reach the dining area, I immediately halt my steps, causing Jasper to run into me. We barely miss running into a barista carrying a tray of lattes.
"What the fuck just happened? Why did you stop walking?" Jasper whisper-yells at me.
I turn to face him before asking a question of my own. "Why didn't you tell me we were meeting with Cherry?!"
Jasper gives me a blank stare and all it does is piss me off. "What in the world are you talking about?"
"Cherry! Our meeting is with Cherry, you idiot! How did you not know that?"
Jasper gives me a look that is both confused and pissed before looking over my shoulder. After a few seconds, he jumps back the way he does when he sees a spider crawling on the floor.
He looks at me with wide eyes and says, "That's not Mr. Yorkie!"
"No shit, Sherlock!"
"But, wait, how do you know for sure she's here for our meeting? It could just be a crazy coincidence."
"Look around, Jazz. Is anyone else here alone...wearing anything resembling work clothes other than the three of us?"
I watch as Jasper's eyes scan the entire room. After seeing nothing but hipsters, he finally looks back at me and lets out a sigh. "Look, all I know is that we were supposed to meet Mr. Yorkie here at nine thirty. Not once did the name 'Cherry' come up in our conversations."
"What about the name 'Bella'? Bella Swan?"
Jasper thinks for a minute before shaking his head. "Nope, just Eric Yorkie. I still think you could be wrong. Has she ever told you what she does for a living, outside of the derby?"
"No." I can't decide how I feel about the possibility that we could be working with Cherry. Part of me is pissed that I've never asked her what she does during the week; the other part is impressed as hell that she may work for 5th Cell.
"Okay, so it looks like our meeting's with Cherry. That's good, right?"
I push my glasses up again and my hand moves up into my hair, a true sign of my nervousness.
"I don't know. It could be good, but what if she hates the app? She might stop her guitar lessons or talking to me at Willie's. I'm finally getting to know her. I don't want to mess it up so soon."
"Dude, calm down! Do you really think Cherry's that kind of girl? Let's just go over and talk to her. Technically, we're now late for our meeting and I really don't want to start our new partnership with Cherry kicking my ass. Have you seen that girl throw a punch?!"
My smile gets wider at the thought. "I sure have, and she's amazing. Come on, let's go talk to her."
The smile that was covering my face instantly fades when I see that Cherry's no longer sitting at her table. Did she leave? Does she think we ditched her? My palms start to sweat and I think I might need to go to the bathroom and throw those shoe-laces up that I was barely holding down a few minutes ago.
"So, are you boys just going to stand there...or, are you finally going to sit down with me?"
I spin around and see Cherry standing with her hands on her hips, smirking at us.
"Wha-wha..but..h-how? You're not Mr. Yorkie!" Jasper spits out, making me cringe.
We're so fucked.
Cherry snickers. "I sure hope you're not the brains of the duo." She sticks her hand out for him to shake, winking at him. "You must be Jasper Whitlock."
Jasper finally comes to his senses and grabs her hand, shaking it vigorously. "Yes, I'm Jasper. It's nice to finally meet you, uh...Cherry?"
"You can call me Bella, and it's nice to meet you, too." Cherry smiles warmly at my best friend before facing me. "You, I already know. How are you, Edward?" I try to discreetly wipe my palm on my slacks before taking her proffered hand.
"I'm good, well...great, actually. We were just surprised to see you. Sorry for making you wait."
"No worries. I assumed Eric, Mr. Yorkie, told you that I'd be here, too. I'm a product developer for 5th Cell and I'm very interested in what you two have created. Shall we go sit down?"
Once we're settled at our table, I'm finally able to take a deep breath and relax a little bit. I'm anxious to tell Cherry about our app, but in a good way. I really hope she likes it.
"Welcome to Whip It! Would you like to look at our menu or do you already know what you'd like?"
When I look up at our server's face, I'm hit hard with the thought that we're being pranked. Standing next to our table, pad and pen in hand, is none other than Punky BruiseHer. Could this day be any more surprising?
"Punky? Punky's a waitress?" Clearly, Jasper has lost all ability to speak like a normal human being.
"It's worse than that, Cutie. I own this place!"
"Alice Brandon, AKA, Punky BruiseHer, this is Jasper Whitlock and Edward Cullen. They're potential business partners of mine and they're big fans of our derby team." Bella smiles at me as she speaks.
"Bitchin'! So, you're cool, Cherry?" The look the two ladies exchange doesn't go unnoticed by me.
'Oh, yeah, we're totally cool!"
Punky takes our food and coffee orders and leaves our table, winking at Jasper as she walks by.
"I didn't realize we could place our orders from the table. The few times that I've been here, I just ordered from the counter," I say, trying to make small talk.
"Well, normally, they wouldn't take your order from the table. Alice knew I was having a meeting with two men I'd never met before; that was her way of checking up on me."
That explains the looks Punky and Cherry were giving each other a minute ago.
"I still can't believe I just met Punky! She even winked at me! This is the best day ever," Jasper gushes. I swear, if he messes this up for us, I'm going to kick his ass.
Cherry laughs and I feel my irritation fade away. "Alice is a great chick. You should ask her out, Jasper."
Jasper immediately starts choking on his own spit, his face equally red from coughing and from the embarrassment of being put on the spot. After he's calmed down and can breathe normally again, he tries to play it cool. "Yeah, sure. I just might do that."
I fight the urge to roll my eyes at him.
"So, tell me about your app. I think it's awesome that you two would make an app about roller derby. I still can't believe you guys are real fans."
I know this is when I should start the sales pitch that Jasper and I have practiced over and over, but I don't want to go that route with Cherry. I want to show her my passion for, both, the app and the derby, so I just start talking. I explain how I came to love roller derby and how Jasper and I met. I give a brief history of myself...where I went to school, what I studied, what my current job is, before telling Cherry how we decided to create our app. Jasper, thankfully, regains control of his internal word processor and jumps in, explaining the technical side of the app and everything it can do.
The entire time we're speaking, Cherry seems to be hanging onto our every word. There are times when her face lights up in excitement and other times when she cocks her head to the side, looking as if she's trying to solve a problem. I try not to focus on her beauty, though. This is the first time I've had a normal conversation with her where I'm not a sweaty, stammering mess. I don't want to do anything to mess this up, like getting a massive boner.
After we've finished telling Cherry all about our app and we've eaten our meal, Cherry looks at us and smiles. "I love it, guys! I really do. I think we can go above and beyond what other similar derby apps do and I'd love to be your business partner."
Jasper and I seem to be in too much shock to answer her.
She continues, "I say we start out with a free version that will have ads to cover certain costs, like a lot of apps do, and try to generate as much interest as possible. Then, we'll launch a paid version and if that goes well, we can start the process of adding an interactive game to the app - even marketing it to the various social media programs. What do you guys think about that?"
"That's incredible! You really think we can achieve all that with this app?" I ask.
"Absolutely! We can market the app to so many people. That's one of the best things about the derby: there are fans from all walks of life and from all over the world. There's no reason why this would fail!"
Her enthusiasm is more than I could've ever hoped for. There's just one problem, though. Money.
"All of that sounds amazing, Cherry, but we're already running low on our combined funds for this project. I don't know if we can afford much more than we already have."
"My company has an investment division for situations just like this." Her eyes suddenly widen and a huge grin spreads across her face. "I happen to know a third-party investor who would fucking love to be in on this deal!" she says, slapping her hand down on the table. "Her name is Rosalie Hale and she's an investment banker."
"Why would she be interested in our app?" Jasper asks.
"Well, you may not know her as Rosalie Hale, but 'Barbie Apocalypse' might ring a bell."
Shit just keeps getting crazier and crazier!
Cherry works for a program developing company. Who would have thought?
Punky owns the fucking coffee shop!
And now we find out that Barbie is an investment banker!
I guess I never gave much thought to what they all did when they weren't being derby chicks; in my mind, I assume that's all they do.
"Edward?"
I feel a soft touch on my arm and look up to see Cherry's big beautiful eyes staring at me.
"I'm sorry. It's just a lot to take in, but it all sounds amazing."
She laughs lightly, sitting back in her seat. "I understand."
I'm not sure that she's able to fully understand, because it would mean that she'd know how I feel about her, and I know that she doesn't. She has no clue.
"So, would you like me to set up a meeting with Rose?" Bella asks, pulling out her planner.
She starts making notes, as she continues talking about our next meeting. My mind is reeling with the possibilities, not just for our business venture, but with the fact that, not only will I see Cherry at bouts and guitar lessons, but now I'll also have the pleasure of working with her.
I'm not sure it gets any better than this.
A/Ns:
Jenny Kate: So, Cherry is more than just a derby girl! What's that old saying about not judging a book by its cover? Seems as though there's quite a bit of that going on in this story.
Jiff: Oh, I was thinking of that saying about being "a lady in the street but a freak in the bed" but we haven't gotten that far in this story, have we? What's up with that?
Jenny Kate: I love that saying...it's kinda my motto. And why the hell haven't we gotten that far yet? Damn.
Jiff: Well, to their credit, they just learned each other's names and they haven't even had a date yet. Plus, there is the Paul issue...
Jenny Kate: Right. Paul is such a pain in the ass. We need to take care of him ASAP.
Jiff: He needs to GTFO! Maybe we can make that happen soon...
Jenny Kate: I think that can be arranged.
Jiff: On a serious note, our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the tornadoes that hit Oklahoma this week. JK and I live in OK and are fine but so many have been devastated and need our help. In addition to donating to organizations like The Salvation Army, Red Cross, and The Humane Society, you can also help by reading and/or writing fanfic! There will be a Fandom4Oklahoma compilation and it works just like other fundraisers that our fandom has put together. Many writers, betas, and banner makers are donating their time and talent and when you donate at least $10, you get to reap the benefits! For more information, whether you are a reader or a writer, visit their blog at http (colon double backslash) .info (backslash) or look them up on facebook at fandom4oklahoma and on twitter fandom4ok.
Jenny Kate: We'll be donating a one shot...possibly two! There are quite a few well-known fandom authors donating stories and one shots...so, you won't want to miss out! Thank you for any and all support! Also, a big THANK YOU to our beta, Mauigirl60!