“You do. So much,” Sarah said, reaching out to brush a strand of the little girl’s hair out of her face. “But I see a lot of your dad in you, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Mainly your facial expressions, and of course your smart-assery,” she said with a grin.

It made Sarah feel good that Marissa trusted her, but it also made her slightly uneasy. They were getting close, and she’d miss her when she left town and went back to L.A. Leaving after high school had been easy, and she’d been so busy in college and then working to prove herself in a male-dominated industry that she hadn’t paused long enough to acknowledge any void of personal connections she had in her life. She maintained her friendships with Whitney and Jessica as best she could, but even those had started to slide. Being back here was making her realize that maybe she was missing out on some things. Important things.

“So you said you needed my help with your work. What’s up?” Marissa asked, suddenly all business.

Sarah grinned. “Well, I’m kinda stuck and I’m hoping your perspective as a nine-year-old can help. You use apps all the time, so if you could have an app that did anything, what would it be?”

Marissa frowned, tapping her finger against her lips. “Message friends? Upload videos to YouTube?”

Sarah nodded. “Got those features already.”

“Play games.”

“Yep…” Maybe those things really were the main focus for kids. “Anything else?”

She thought for a long moment; then she nodded slowly. “Yeah, what about something that organized toy collections digitally?”

Sarah’s ears perked up, and she pulled her laptop closer. “I’m listening.”

“Well, there’s a Funko app that allows people to add their Funkos to their collection, and it gives the value of the toys and allows people to add new ones to the wish list, that kind of thing.”

Sarah nodded. It was good, but that app already existed. How could she make it different? Relevant to SmartTech Kids. “It’s good, but unfortunately it already exists.”

Marissa pointed a finger at her, her left eyebrow raised as though she were on to something. “But only for Funkos. I collect Beanie Babies and I know some of them are worth big cash. I’d love to scan the barcodes and get an idea of the overall value… And my dad has old football cards. Some are even signed.” The more she talked, the more excited she sounded, and Sarah caught the enthusiasm as well.