“Yes, but without going into hoards of detail, I was young and that marriage was simply not meant to be.”

“And why is that?” Warren asks.

There is not enough caffeine in my double-shot vanilla latte to help navigate a viable answer to that question. I could, in theory, pull out the urn, set it on the table, and put the whole thing to bed. But instead, I figure that trying another angle—one that does not involve human remains—might be a better approach to stopping this line from going limp.

“I’m looking for a lasting love. One that yields me a husband and partner with whom I can truly grow old. You have to understand, Mr. Holmgren, that that is what every little girl dreams of when she is young. It’s not about the wedding day, so much as it’s about a special forever love. Someone who can be there with you through it all—ups, downs, lefts, rights. In today’s society, it’s impossible to know someone’s intentions. There are so many distractions and social media platforms. You know, the kinds of things that make finding love super messy. My app will cut through the clutter and help figure out who’s real, what’s real, and what are the chances that this person is the one, because my future users are the type of people who don’t have time to waste.”

I put a figurative period on the end of that sentence and it feels like I just aced my interview. It’s a mic-drop moment for sure, and now I wait for whatever the tech-master has to say in return.

“It’s certainly compelling, Charlotte, don’t get me wrong.” He puts his glasses back on. “But, frankly, the more we talk, the more shortcomings I’m starting to see in your product as it stands right now.”

I take a hard swallow as I linger on the word shortcomings.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“For example, does it work for men? You spoke earlier about this software helping women achieve their dreams of Disney-princess-style love. But what about if a man were to use the app? What if he wanted to plug in big tits and a round ass because that’s all he’s really looking for at the end of the day? Could he get that?”

Tits is not a word I expected to come out of Warren’s mouth during this meet-up. And a round ass? What the hell is he talking about? My app isn’t Instacart—you can’t just go shopping through a virtual aisle and put a pear-shaped Brazilian booty in your basket. Even though this plot twist has the possibility to derail me big-time, I take a deep breath and regain focus. I’ve been thrown bigger curveballs in my life.

“Yes, I can certainly rejigger things so that it can work for a man looking for a woman, or a man looking for a man, or a woman for a woman. However, the functionality isn’t so literal. You don’t necessarily order specific traits. Rather, it aims to vet a person’s online tendencies and use them to determine how this person might act as a partner in real life, so you know if going on a date with them would be worth your time. Make sense?”