"When All Options Fail"
"When All Options Fail"
A matchmaker develops inconvenient feelings for his client's match in this charming story by Loan Le, author of A PHO LOVE STORY.
Hannah says:
When I was 21 years old, I was hired by a luxury dating service in New York City to work as a matchmaker. (Why? Your guess is as good as mine.) I was terrible at it; I just didn’t have that magical sense of intuition I needed in order to envision chemistry and compatibility. Miles, the sweet and sensitive matchmaker at the heart of this week’s tale, does. I adore this short story by Loan Le, who’s an editor at Atria Books by day and an author by night. She published her debut YA novel, A Phở Love Story, in 2021, and its companion novel, Solving for the Unknown, will be out in 2023.
With characters that leap off the page, a picturesque New Hampshire setting, and a fresh take on matchmaking, “When All Options Fail” will brighten your day.
“When All Options Fail”
The Saturday morning runners at Balm Park in Alabaster, New Hampshire, mostly fell into three categories: front runners who thought 6 a.m. meant a late start, the middle who ran for pleasure, and the stragglers who grudgingly did it for their health—just thirty minutes a day, as prescribed by their exasperated doctors. It was in this section that Miles could be found, panting, as octogenarians jogged around him. I love my job, I love my job was his mantra as he tried to focus less on his feet—and his blurry vision—and more on his target in the leisure crew: Lucile Võ, five-foot-five, stride like a jaguar, very toned arms glistening with sweat.
The Family had compiled a list of potential Serendipity matches for the heir Calvin Huynh. Yes, that Huỳnh family, the ones who first brought automatic spinning doors to Manchester’s skyscrapers, made their fortune, then moved to this small town in New Hampshire, where there was a tiny enclave of Vietnamese immigrants who shunned Houston’s size, preferred land over the water of New Orleans, or just plain wanted to get away from their intrusive network of relatives in California. If you lived in Alabaster, you probably knew about The Family. But you wouldn’t be Vietnamese if you didn’t know about The Family. They were Serendipity Match’s most high-profile client to date.
Lucile fit all of the characteristics that Calvin—in reality, his mother—was seeking: as a digital marketer for Google, she was perfectly financially stable; she’d graduated at the top of her class at Hamilton College; and she took care of her health by running and hiking. Calvin’s mother didn’t need to be a CEO—like her husband—or COO—like Calvin—to be in charge. Miles had crossed paths with the latter in high school, and couldn’t believe this was the former president of Model U.N., sitting silent and meek as his mother rattled off potential matches. Now, all Miles had to do was introduce himself to Lucile and hand over his card, which must be soaked in sweat in his back pocket. He should have stowed it in his black JanSport. He carried Jan everywhere.
When an intersection emerged, he saw his chance. He huffed up to the middle, and stopped right next to Lucile. She bobbed her head to music from her AirPods, until she spotted him and flinched away. “Wha—excuse me?”
“Hi, I’m Miles—”
“Whatever you’re selling, I’m obviously not interested. I’m trying to run here.”
The light turned green and the pack moved. He was not used to chasing; he preferred hiking at his own pace. He also preferred stationary conversations. His legs—“thin as a chicken’s legs,” his mother once tutted—wouldn’t hold him any longer, so Miles shouted, “Wait, I really need to talk to you, Lucile Võ!”
This got her attention. She pivoted in his direction as the group crossed. “How do you know my name?”
“I’m sorry—it’s just—” Miles bent over with hands on his knees. “Hold on. I need a few seconds.” He felt hands on his back, wrapping around his upper torso. His arm was lifted to rest on strong shoulders.
“Okay, let’s get out of other people’s way.” Lucile was not even out of breath and she was practically dragging him by herself. Once they got closer to the pond’s edge, which curved around Main Street, Lucile leaned him against a fence post. “Now, start over. Tell me what you want.”
“Calvin Huỳnh has identified you as a potential Serendipity match.”
Lightbulb moment. “I figured this would happen soon; my mother mentioned Serendipity out of the blue the other day,” she said, resigned. The fact she recognized the name would make Miles’ mother, the agency’s founder, annoyingly proud. They were undergoing a bit of a revitalization—and Miles was doing his part. His mother had certainly done hers; she hired her cousin’s boyfriend’s aunt to advertise their agency, when sales slowed in 2016. Word of mouth—though an effective medium in the small Vietnamese community here—hadn’t been doing its job like before. Podcasts, highway billboards, flyers—she was now everywhere, and she touted the agency’s 98% success rate in matching as a testament to her natural gift of intuition, a gift that Miles inherited. One glance can lead to a lifetime—their motto. The agency was finally making a profit again, and Miles wasn’t about to screw that up, especially not with their richest client yet.
Miles was finally able to form words again, but Lucile wouldn’t let him. “His mother probably came up with the list, didn’t she?” He wasn’t allowed to answer that, but he didn’t need to as Lucile’s voice continued. “She never wants to leave poor Calvin alone. And she probably dragged my mom into this, too.”
Poor ... not the right word for him, but he kept quiet.
“Why me? Besides the fact that we’re family friends? He’d never expressed any romantic interest in me.”
Miles set Jan down, pulling out his clipboard, which had the list of Lucile’s admirable qualities from Calvin’s mother. “Successful, kind, intelligent, articulate, no tattoos, beautiful—” Lucile snatched it away to peer at it.
“Why’s this word all by itself? ‘Hardheaded?’” she exclaimed.
Well ... Calvin’s mother had pointed a well-manicured finger at it to Miles and his mother and said, “She just has this one flaw, but we are willing to work around it.”
Miles cleared his throat. “They wanted to emphasize how being ... resolute ... can be a great asset.”
The young woman blinked again and again. “You’re a bullshit liar.” She held out her hand, gazing up at the rapidly graying sky. “Oh, great. I was running now so that I could avoid the downpour.” The pack had moved on a while ago.
“Shouldn’t rain for long. But I have an umbrella.” He reached into Jan for his compact umbrella, then opened it, and raised it over both their heads.
“Oh. Well, thanks.” She paused, changing her tone, not letting her attention stray. “I’m going to say no. I don’t want to do it. One, I’m not interested in Calvin that way—never have been. Two, you know what I don’t like about these matchmaking agencies? They view us as products. Filling a quota. She’s smart, check, she has money, check! And so on. But a person can’t be a neat list of things.”
“Well—”
“—and the agency’s special gift to ‘sense’ romance—how is that even possible?”
That stopped Miles. Believe it or not, he didn’t come across many people who resisted the very notion of the agency. They were intrigued most of the time. “Well, it’s real. My mom has the gift. I do, too. People are all sensitive to certain things. We just happen to be sensitive to the chemistry between two people.”
She nodded, not seeming to protest or deny his statement. She lifted her hand, palm up, to let raindrops from the branches and leaves pool at the center. She looked thoughtful and also at home in the rain. Miles remembered she’d grown up in Seattle.
“I had a co-worker named Theo Yu. Yours or your mother’s client from five years ago. I don’t know if you remember—”
Like a rolodex spinning in his mind, Theo’s biographic information manifested. Miles recalled, “He should be 37 years old now. He was looking for a partner who wouldn’t mind his obsession with miniatures. That was his number one priority.” Lucile nodded, almost with respect. Miles continued, seeing a film play out. “It was snowing when I connected Theo and Chandler for their first meeting—cold, but not cold enough that a mug of hot chocolate wouldn’t do the trick. It didn’t take them long to forget that I was even there.”
“At their engagement party, they even had miniature cupcakes,” said Lucile. She added, absentmindedly, “They were good.”
Miles grinned. He could sense her resistance fading. “Do you keep in touch with them?”
“I do. They just had a second kid through surrogacy. One boy, now brother to a little girl. I suppose it’s nice—the idea of finding your match. They certainly did. I guess there were sparks.”
“Spark?” Wherever that saying came from, he’d never seen a spark. “The way I see it, it’s more like two colors blending together. A mini Northern lights. And each person has their own color. But it doesn’t just surround the people in love—love expands, transmutes, manifests in all the people they meet. Love, when it’s really there, has a presence. Others might not sense that, but me and my mom do.”
Lucile stared. “It stopped raining,” she finally whispered.
“Oh.” Miles rushed to put away his umbrella and since there was no reason for them to be close anymore, he took three steps back. All the other sounds flooded back in—the distant hum of the cars on Main Street, birds invading the almost barren white pines, the squawk of Mallards floating in Balm Park Pond. Odd.
Lucile was considering the card between her fingers, so Miles tried again. “I’ll respect your wishes, but Calvin and his family picked you for a reason. Give it a try? Please?”
♥
He reported his findings during their staff meeting—aka a meeting with his mom in his childhood living room. Lucile was ready for the next interview, and if all went well, she’d have her first meeting with Calvin. Usually that all occurred a few weeks apart, but The Family requested an interview and meet-up in the same day! They were going on a vacation, so they’d like things to be done ASAP. “It’s a monthlong cruise, and we need to make sure everything’s tied up before then! You know how it goes,” Calvin’s mother said sweetly.
They agreed to The Family’s demands, and his mother was more than happy to let Miles handle this case alone. But Miles was hesitant. Rushing a connection could lead to a disaster. To be safe, he decided to extend the interview a bit more so that he could properly chat with Lucile, and if all goes well, prep Lucile, before Calvin arrived for the meet-up.
They sat in a booth at An Ngon Diner, which, on the outside, looked like your typical American diner. However, it served green bánh kẹp lá dứa instead of homestyle waffles, Cafe du Monde instead of watered-down coffee, and lemongrass pork chops with pickled carrot and onion instead of hamburgers and fries. It offered only one American staple: an Oreo milkshake, which he loved and also discovered was Lucile’s favorite.
Finneas dropped off their milkshakes, then scurried away to tend to another customer—all while avoiding eye contact, and that was probably because every time Miles and his mother came in for lunch on Wednesdays, the woman tried to get Finneas to use her services.
Locals and tourists crowded the diner, and the latter group likely intended to visit Serendipity themselves. Shame; the office was closed on Sundays, and his mother was busy with her usual hobby— gossiping with Alice, a grocery cashier at Benson’s, and holding up the customer line as a result.
Lucile wore a casual, peach-colored blouse and the sun from the window made her glow. Glancing at a nearby window, Miles fixed his hair, ruffling the front to hide the uneven cut Bà Nhu had recently given him. Then he stopped himself. What was he doing? He was the matchmaker! He shouldn’t acknowledge her appearance, as lovely as it was. He shouldn’t think, in random moments, about the look she’d given him, while they stood under his tiny umbrella.
If all went according to plan, in two and a half hours, Lucile and Calvin would have their first Serendipity Match date. A job well done.
Lucile agreed to be here, so that meant Miles had convinced her somewhat. But she seemed hesitant as she passed the salt shaker between her hands. Left, right, left, right. “I’m still not sure if this will go anywhere. I mean, it’s Calvin. I’ve never felt anything for him.”
“Maybe this is different. You know that he’s interested in you now. It’s not a family gathering. It’s you, meeting at a neutral place. Just the two of you.”
“Still, I don’t think we’re made for each other. I don’t believe in all that. Not anymore.”
Miles knew she was reluctant, but he heard something else in her tone. She wasn’t quite annoyed ... more like resigned. “When we first met, it sounded like you didn’t like the principle of matchmakers. But I’m guessing you had some experience with a matchmaker?”
Lucile seemed to sag, her cynicism gone. She sat back, her hands disappearing under the table. “I went to a matchmaking convention one time. Didn’t take it seriously, because I was only going with a friend who was obsessed with all that. We met some woman who was probably a scammer—she was wearing these clichéd sunglasses inside and her makeup was full on.”
Miles raised his eyebrow. As his mother once said, there was a reason why conventions had the word con in it. “So she match-made you?”
“Yes. She saw something between me and this guy who was there with his cousin. She set us up, and we actually wound up dating for two years. I thought I was so lucky. But that cousin he was with? Yeah, not his cousin—that turned out to be his friend-with-benefits. I left him, he got the apartment. Now I think they’re married with a kid on the way.”
Miles exhaled loudly. “Well, that wouldn’t screw up your idea of love.”
“Exactly. At least someone came out happy in the end.”
“I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”
“It was more of the aftermath that I couldn’t stand. The pity I got from others—for being cheated on. For being single yet again.”
“You did a brave thing. I know some might want to try to save a serious relationship like that.”
“Thank you.” Lucile took a measured sip of her milkshake. “What about you? You apparently love to talk about love—do you have someone you go home to?”
He wondered if he should lie or be honest. Other people had asked him that before, and he always made up a person, but he sensed Lucile might see right through him.
“No. I went through the same thing as you a few years back. I was cheated on. I actually did think I loved her. I thought we’d be together for a while.”
“Did you ...”
“Sense that she was two-timing? I should have known way earlier. But I had my blind spots. By the time I caught on, it was too late.” He’d become so busy observing the colors around his clients and their matches that he’d lost track of his ex-girlfriend’s. Then, one day, over some eggs Benedict, he looked up, and he saw her colors for him were gone, and then he did everything he could to bring them back, but it was far too late.
Some gifts were curses, too.
Miles blinked away the memory. “Who knows? Maybe I wasn’t the best boyfriend. Maybe that’s why she cheated.”
Lucile reached over, squeezed his hand, and whispered, “Still doesn’t mean she should have cheated on you. Her loss. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I was glad that I couldn’t see my ex’s feelings change. It made it easier to heal.”
“I eventually healed,” he said, trying to ignore the warmth of her hand.
“You seem like a really nice guy.” Lucile leaned back. “If I didn’t want to kill you for making me do this, we could be friends.” She smirked.
“First of all, thank you for the compliment and I’m impressed how you managed to also turn it into a threat, somehow.” That made Lucile laugh. “Second: you came on your own volition. All I did was convince you. But all I want is for you to be happy.”
“I don’t need to be super sensitive to know that you’re not lying about that,” she said quietly, a gleam in her eye. Miles flushed. Not for the last time, he wondered how she could possibly be single. Calvin would be a very lucky guy if everything worked out.
Lucile’s elbow knocked over the milkshake, and it spilled over the table. “Oh, shoot!”
“Hold on! I have wipes here.” Jan had a pack somewhere.
“Thank you,” she said gratefully. She was trying not to laugh, her eyes on his backpack, perhaps remembering his umbrella, too.
“Don’t hate on Jan,” Miles said.
“Oh my god, you named it!”
“Excuse me, it’s her.”
Before he knew it, the interview flew by. Or was it a conversation? Sometimes they talked about Calvin and Lucile’s family history as former business partners. Lucile had even turned the tables on him and teased him to show off his ability, demanding that he pair up hypothetical matches in the room. Their waiter, Finneas, as it turned out, was smitten with one of the line cooks. Then, Lucile had accused Miles of not even asking her about her desired characteristics in a person.
But Miles already had his answer; he was picking up pieces from their conversations and gluing them together.
“All right then,” Lucile said. She crossed her arms and tilted her head, her eyes on him like lasers. “Read me. Tell me my ideal type.”
Miles swallowed, glancing down at the table. “You want a kind person who’s a decent conversationalist. You might get stressed some days, working at Google, so you’d want to come home to someone you can unwind with, chat about anything and nothing. When you’re with this person, you’d want to feel as if you’re outside of time. That’s sort of why you run; you’re in control of your own pacing, your own direction.”
His eyes now met hers, and he resisted the urge to jump. Her gaze was direct and heavy—in the corporate world that Lucile ruled, Miles imagined it could sway the most stubborn person to go her way.
“Yes, exactly. Ideally, anything I do with this person, I want to be happy. Go grocery shopping at Benson’s while we’re hungry. Go hiking near Edgar’s Cliff. Go on long road trips without feeling like I left anything behind because my partner always had whatever we needed.” Miles thought of Jan... which was dangerous. “I want someone I can cuddle with on the couch while we’re watching true crime documentaries—”
“Naturally.” Miles had binged through just about every Netflix show in that category.
Lucile laughed at that. “Nothing more romantic, right?” She glanced at the clock. “You think Calvin can be all of that for me?”
For a few seconds, he couldn’t speak. So he just nodded.
♥
Like two children forced to go on a playdate—that was what Miles initially thought when Lucile and Calvin were finally sitting across from each other.
Calvin was a nice guy. Not conceited like most people of inherited wealth, which was one of the reasons why Miles wanted to help him.
There were lulls in the conversation. Perhaps, as family friends, they worked, but the romantic nature of this meet-up made them stiff. Fifteen minutes in, though, they bonded over people they knew in life. Still, they didn’t share anything about themselves.
Soon enough, he saw a yellow glimmer around Calvin like an incipient flame, which meant he was interested, on some level. Mercifully, Calvin offered to get drinks, and left once getting Lucile’s order. This was usually when Miles backed away. “Time for me to go.”
Lucile’s head swiveled. She’d been staring thoughtfully at Calvin. She grabbed his wrist. “You’re leaving so soon?”
“Well, yeah, now that the intros are over. I’ll check in tomorrow and—” He flipped her hand around. It was shaking. “Wait, are you ... nervous?”
“Of course I am. You know I haven’t been on a date for ages.”
Before he knew it, his other hand went on top of hers. “It sounds like a cliché, but just be yourself. Tap into all the qualities that made you Miss Congeniality in Fifth Grade.” Miles was pleasantly surprised when Lucile had offered that up earlier on.
“Better than hardheaded, I guess.”
“Agreed.”
“But maybe you can stay, maybe in another booth? I just think I want someone close by.”
“You really want me to stay?”
“Please.”
Seconds ticked by. They were close now. Too close. His heart had started racing; he couldn’t look directly at her or else she’d notice that he was shaking now. Finally Calvin came back, and he had to let go.
“I’ll stay, maybe in that booth behind you. Only for a few minutes.” Even though he didn’t want to watch the date unfold, he’d made a promise.
♥
Three weeks slipped by. According to Facebook, Calvin was in a relationship. Lucile wasn’t tagged, but Miles wasn’t surprised; from his conversation with her, he learned she liked to keep as private as possible on social media. But a part of Miles wanted to know even more about her: her hopes, her dreams—even what’s pissing her off. But that didn’t matter because his job was done. Calvin had even paid the agency’s invoice and left him a voicemail the following Monday: “She’s amazing. We’re going on a date this coming Friday!” No word from Lucile, and maybe that was for the better. She was honest and direct, and he felt queasy at the thought of her recounting how she had come to see Calvin as a romantic partner, and not just a family friend. What if she even thanked Miles?
He thought back to that first date. There had been a mirror behind Calvin, so Miles was able to watch Lucile’s expressions change. A few times, their eyes met through the mirror, which made him flinch away. But once, Lucile smiled. Almost like she was telling him how much fun she was having, that she was doing OK, that he didn’t need to watch them anymore.
That silent conversation made a small part of his heart ache, and he realized then, in a totally mundane, less than earth-shattering way, that he had feelings for Lucile.
Soon enough, Miles began to see the glimmer of color around her: azure like the Balm Pond on summer days. He was witnessing the beginnings of Calvin and Lucile’s connection, and his job was to grow that color, not destroy it. He left soon after that.
He continued to mope for a week after Calvin’s status change.
But one day, Miles heard a ping from his computer.
“Yo.”
Yo?
It was Lucile. And somehow, this one-word exchange morphed into paragraphs. Lucile was looking for new things to do around Alabaster. For dates, Miles assumed. So Miles suggested things. Museum. Hiking. Painting. He tried picturing neat Calvin dressed in a paint-smeared artist apron, but it was like picturing his mom buying something full price for once. But this was what happened when you were in love: you’re more willing to compromise.
But when he saw Lucile upload a picture taken at Edgar’s Cliff, one of his favorite spots in Alabaster, with her silhouetted against the rising morning sun, her long hair in the wind, the happiness just radiating from her, Miles shut down his laptop. What was he doing?
Calvin was a good photographer, apparently. And Lucile was happy and probably believed in love again. That should be the extent of his job.
Then, it happened.
His fingers automatically typed the URL for Facebook one day, and Calvin’s face popped up.
He was not alone.
And the woman he was with, kissing Calvin on the cheek, was not Lucile. Lucile didn’t have tattoos on her neck. Or an ear gauge the size of a longan seed.
Was Calvin cheating on Lucile? He remembered how this had happened to Lucile before. He needed to tell her, warn her. He called her—no answer.
Okay. So, it was Saturday. Didn’t she have running club on Saturdays?
♥
At Balm Park, he estimated where the group would be based on the timing from last time. He clutched the straps of Jan, waiting.
“You really bring Jan everywhere, huh.”
Miles turned. Lucile.
“Jan gets nervous when I’m away for too long,” he mumbled, his adrenaline kicking in.
She didn’t smile. She looked away, at the glistening pond covered with leaves from overhanging trees. “I haven’t heard from you for a while. And I know you despise running. So why are you here?”
He hated to do this, but he had too. Lucile deserved to know, so he just blurted it out. “I saw Calvin with another woman. I’m so sorry.”
Instead of shock, instead of sadness, her face was blank. “You came... all the way here to tell me this—”
“Well, your phone was off so—”
“Even though I already knew about Calvin’s girlfriend.”
“I’m so sorry—wait, what?”
“It’s a coworker, and I knew he liked her because he talked about her nonstop during our second date.”
“He was dating her this whole time? And you were alone?”
“He liked her, but he didn’t have the guts to go after her. He kept it quiet, until I forced him to go after her because it was obvious how hopelessly in love he was. I guess his mom will just have to deal with a potential daughter-in-law who has tattoos.”
Miles almost smiled at that, but a thought nagged at him. “So why did you send all those messages? I thought—I thought you were asking me for things to do. Like, for dates with Calvin.”
“And you answered. Were you just doing your job?”
“I mean ... yes.” Lies! What are you saying!
“Well, I suppose you certainly did your job.” But every cell in Miles’ body wanted to protest: I liked chatting with you. I wanted to talk more with you.
“I wanted to make sure you never experienced heartbreak again. I wanted you to be happy.” Miles babbled. Did she really want to talk to him? Or was he misinterpreting her? Was his hope screwing with his perception?
Lucile’s gaze softened, then she sighed. “The reason I asked you for things to do is because I wanted to know what you liked so that we can go on those dates one day. I was working up the courage to ask you out. But what I’m hearing is that you kept up our messages because you felt obligated. Maybe even pitied—”
“No, it was because I like you!”
“You like me?”
She was an arm’s length away now, and Miles realized it was because he’d closed the gap at some point. “Yes. That’s why I stopped messaging you back. I thought you and Calvin were together and it wouldn’t have been right of me to say anything.”
Suddenly, Lucile sank to the ground. She hid her face in her knees, which she brought close to her chest. Her shoulders started to shake.
“Wha—are you crying, Lucile?”
“No.” She sniffed. “I just got a cramp.” Her hands went to her right leg. Miles knelt down next to her, wanting to help in some way. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a to-go packet of Kleenex.
“What the hell do you have in that backpack? Is Jan somehow magically bottomless? Are you actually a magician, not a matchmaker?” Still, she grabbed the tissue to wipe her tears. She didn’t touch her leg again, but Miles didn’t point that out.
They felt the same way about each other! He felt giddy.
“Sensing people’s feelings is your special ability... how did you miss my feelings for you?”
Miles leaned back slightly, and looked at her. Really looked at her. That azure color. It was because of him. “I can be wrong, I suppose.”
“That explains the other two percent of your cases.”
“What?”
“After we met for the first time, I went home and looked up the agency. The website said the agency had a 98% success rate. But I wondered about the other two percent.” A tear clung to her eyelashes.
He sat down. “The other two percent, my mom has said, are people who weren’t ready to fall in love. Or fall in love again. They listened to their fears. Maybe that was the right decision for them at the time. Or maybe they were walking away from their real love. I can only speculate.” He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear; it was so natural, he didn’t even think.
She didn’t move, but she just stared at him, and if she continued to stare, he’d still be content. “I’m happy to help bring up that percentage. Even though this was technically Calvin’s case.”
“Our case,” Miles said, smiling. “It turned out to be our case.”
“You, me, and Jan.”
Next week on Heartbeat, get ready for a short story from Suzanne Park, author of So We Meet Again and Loathe at First Sight.
Follow Heartbeat on Instagram at @storiesbyheartbeat for upcoming behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at Suzanne’s story!
Three quick things from Hannah:
If you want to read more about matchmaking, you might like Playing with Matches, the novel inspired by my disastrous stint as a matchmaker.
This month, 150+ romance novelists teamed up to publish an anthology called Dissent, with proceeds going toward reproductive rights. It hit the USA Today bestseller list and raised $25,000. How cool is that?
New genre alert: Hot Girl Books. Which books would you nominate for that category?
What did you think of this week’s story? Let us know in the comments below!
This was lovely and fun, thank you!
This was incredibly sweet!