The balcony was her escape. She would go out there and just listen to the city while she enjoyed a glass of wine. She still liked the constant chaos the city offered since she grew up in suburbia. I had grown numb to the noise. It barely even registered. When I finally closed my laptop and looked at my watch, a couple of hours had passed. It was too late for dinner. I felt my stomach churn when I stepped out on the balcony and saw her wiping away a tear. The anniversary dinner meant the world to her and I had blown it. There was no use in apologizing. She had heard all the excuses before. Promising her it wouldn’t happen again would have been a lie that we both knew wasn’t true. Instead, I just held her and tried to cherish the moment we had.
“I NEED THE ORIGINAL algorithm for Soulmate.” I sat down next to Dawson, one of the guys that was on Violet’s team.
“Yeah, we have it.” He nodded and loaded a program on his computer.
“No, I need the one Violet designed. The first prototype.” I pointed at a different folder. “It’s on her personal drive.”
“We’re not supposed to mess with that.” Dawson looked at me and raised his eyebrows.
“Who pays your salary?” I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head.
“Right.” He nodded quickly. “I’ll email it to you.”
“Thank you.” I smiled and stood up.
There was something missing from our life and I was pretty sure I knew what it was. I loved Violet, but she needed more than I had to offer. I didn’t want to lose her, but I felt like our relationship was headed in that direction if I didn’t do something. I loaded the original algorithm when I got back to my office. I wasn’t Violet’s only soulmate. Nobody else had gotten more than one match, but she got seven. It had to mean something. I ran it, collected the six other names, and started making plans. A few days later, the background checks came back. All six of them were single, living alone, and I was anxious to meet them. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I felt like I owed it to her to find out.
“WHERE ARE YOU TAKING me?” Violet looked over at me, but it was mostly symbolic because her eyes were blindfolded.
“I told you, it’s a surprise.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. “It will all make sense soon enough.”
Probably the biggest one ever.
“If this is something kinky, I’m into it, but at least tell me what I’m about to walk into.” She giggled and let her hand rest in mine. “You did buy me a very fancy dress.”
“Okay, we’re here.” I parked my car and pulled off the blindfold.
“Did you buy us a house?” Her eyes opened wide when she saw the enormous mansion we were parked in front of.
“Something like that, but what you really need to see is inside.” I exited the car, ran around to her side, and opened the door.
Behind the doors of the mansion was something that would change both of our lives. It was a chance to figure out why the algorithm had originally matched her with seven guys instead of one soulmate. I felt like it was the only way we could salvage our relationship before we lost each other. I took her by the hand and led her up the stairs. When the doors opened and we walked into the living room, I saw confusion all around me. It was etched on her face and echoed on the faces of the six guys that were waiting on us.
“Ethan, what is this?” She raised her eyebrows and then started looking around the room again.
“Yeah, I think we’re all wondering that.” One of the guys stood up and stared at us with confusion.
“Please, take a seat.” I led Violet to an empty chair and held her hand as she sat down.
“How many of you have heard of Soulmate?” I looked around the room and saw a few hands go up.
“That bogus app?” One of the guys scoffed. “I tried it and it said I didn’t even have a soulmate. What a crock of shit.”
“Yeah.” Another guy nodded as he spoke. “I tried it too.”
“The seven of us share a common bond.” I walked to the middle of the room as I spoke. “That bond is my gorgeous girlfriend, Violet.”
“Yeah, she’s hot.” One of the guys nodded and shrugged. “But what does that have to do with your stupid app?”
“I’m sure none of you know this, but Violet is the one that originally designed the algorithm which helps people find their soulmate. I guess you could call her a digital Cupid.” I pointed to Violet. “I asked all of you to come here today because there is something you don’t know about the app. Every single one of you was matched with someone when we first ran the algorithm.”
“Ethan...” I saw Violet’s face get even more confused. “Are these the guys?”
“They are.” I nodded in confirmation. “All of you were matched with a soulmate, just like I was, but we were all matched with the same woman—Violet.”
“Wait, she’s my soulmate?” One of the guys tilted his head. “But she’s your girlfriend.”
“Yeah, and if she’s his soulmate, how the fuck can she be my soulmate?” Another guy spoke up with a reflection of bewilderment on his face.