Arty

"You missed some drool right about here," Ben said, reaching across the table and swiping at my mouth with his thumb.

I glared at him and swatted his hand away.

"You're so funny," I drawled out sarcastically.

"I'm really not seeing what you see. Despite, you know, the fact he is completely unaware you exist, he also looks like he could use a shower and about 48 hours of sleep," Ben commented.

His eyes scanned Leo up and down in a very obvious manner that was making my cheeks feel warm.

I'd spent my summer working out of this small cafe, my crush on Leo growing with each coffee he poured. We'd barely spoken a sentence. I wouldn't even know his name if it wasn't printed on his shirt.

Leo continued playing around with the espresso machine across the cafe, completely oblivious to Ben's gaze.

Ben wasn't entirely wrong. The bags under Leo's eyes were a dark purple, and his black hair, parted down the center, was looking a little stringy. But something about his grungy and disheveled look, paired with the tattoos splattered across his arms, just screamed tortured artist.

I finally gave up on my work, looking away from my laptop and giving Ben the attention he so desperately wanted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Feisty," Ben said with a laugh, "But I'm actually here on business."

He reached into his tote bag—his infamous, much-teased about tote bag—and pulled out my laptop charger.

I blinked at it, then groaned. "Seriously? How do you always know?"

"Because you're predictable," he said with a sigh, placing the charger down on the table next to my computer. "I was impressed you remembered your laptop this time. This is like, what, the third time this week?"

"Whatever," I grumbled, shoving the charger into my laptop despite the cocky smile that was plastered on Ben's face.

"How's the whole matchmaking stuff going anyways?" Ben pried, curiously peering over to try to get a glimpse of my work.

My screen was full of Python code, which I guess to an untrained eye could look pretty intimidating.

"You look like some kind of hacker," he commented.

"I'm not involved in the matchmaking stuff, I'm simply the keyboard gremlin," I said, clacking on my keys as if to prove my point. "But it's okay. The post-launch is always the most stressful, because now I'm learning about all the mistakes I made and the pressure is on to fix them."

I'd been contracted by Judy, the local matchmaking shop owner, to digitize her matchmaking process. She couldn't keep up with the interest, and was hoping for an easier way to move through the data.

It had taken my entire summer working through this project, and I was just starting to see the end. I couldn't emphasize enough how eager I was to finish it. I didn't mind the development of the compatibility algorithm, but working with Judy had been a nightmare.

Bugs are expected in code, yet every mistake I'd made had her flying off the handle.

Ben leaned back in his chair, pulling up a leg. He was wearing washed-out grey cargo pants and a white band-tee. He was so effortlessly cool in a way that I had to admit I envied.

"So, how much longer are you stuck with it?" Ben asked.

"Not much longer, I think. Just a couple code changes here and there," I replied. "But I'm counting down the seconds. Judy is driving me crazy. For someone that can't figure out a computer, she sure knows her way around a phone."

Ben threw his chin back and let out a warm laugh. "Sounds about right."

But despite how difficult Judy had been, I handled it all with a smile. This was my first real freelancing gig out of university, and I needed to build up my reputation.

The need for an app developer in a small farming town wasn't exactly very big. And leaving town right now just wasn't an option.

Ben leaned over again, inquisitively watching my screen as I worked away. "Pretty impressive work for a guy who leaves his dirty socks on the floor."

I decided not to dignify his comment with a response.

Ben grabbed my cappuccino off the table and helped himself to a sip.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, grabbing for it back but he evaded my attempt. "My coffee," I whined.

"I'm uncaffeinated because someone didn't buy milk like they said they would," Ben stated, looking straight at me from over the rim of the cup as he took another defiant sip.

Crap.

"I'll pick it up on my way home today," I said.

"Don't worry about it, I have to go to the store anyways," Ben replied.

I'd been living in Ben's house ever since I graduated from university in May. It was long overdue. We were supposed to be roommates at university, but his dad had died the summer after we finished high school, and he'd decided to stay in town to take care of his younger brother, Jonah.

Ben always downplayed it, but I knew that it wasn't easy for him to give up his dreams to step-in as a parent to Jonah. Ben didn't want to uproot Jonah's life in the middle of everything else, so he settled for volunteer firefighting in the town.

I watched Ben's lips as they made their way around the edge of my cappuccino cup again. He was making a show of it, closing his eyes as if to savour the taste. He hummed into the rim of the cup.

"Do you two need a room?" I asked, pointing between him and my cappuccino.

Ben set down the cup with a sly smile. He leaned back, folding his arms over his chest. "You love it."

I snorted in response, pulling my cup to the far side of the table where it would be out of his reach.

"I tolerate you," I corrected, but the warmth that spread through my body and caused a smile to erupt on my face said otherwise.

Ben turned his gaze back to Leo, who was currently chatting with his coworkers, the queue of customers having dissolved.

"You know, for a coding genius, you're surprisingly terrible at basic human interaction," Ben said.

"I don't think us coding geniuses are particularly known for our social skills," I retorted.

"But you're good at talking to me."

"You don't count. I've known you before I knew how to tie my shoes. You are practically family," I said.

Ben's smile faltered for just a second, and his eyes softened, like he was thinking. It only lasted a second before his signature cocky grin returned.

"Yeah, I remember. You didn't learn to tie them until you were, what—13?" Ben teased.

"Okay, it wasn't that late."

"Pretty sure I had to sit you down with bunny ears and everything."

"You're hilarious," I muttered, my cheeks heating up despite the playful banter.

A moment of silence passed as Ben drummed his fingers on the table.

"Speaking of family, I should get to the grocery store so I can get started on dinner. Be home by 6:30 or you are fending for yourself," Ben warned.

He leaned down closer to me. "Try not to stay here all night daydreaming about the coffee boy," he teased, reaching over to ruffle my hair.

"I'm not– Ugh, just go," I groaned, swatting his hand away. Ben pulled away and laughed, throwing a wink over his shoulder as he turned and walked out.

I pulled my laptop closer towards me, the code all starting to blur together. My eyes scanned across the data – compatibility scores, user preferences– all reduced to just numbers on my screen.

People liked to think love was mystical, inexplicable and beyond reason. But I knew better. Love was just math. Simple inputs and outputs, 1s and 0s.

Everyone had a checklist: must like dogs, nature, coffee, and definitely not the Montreal Canadians hockey team. It was my job to convert them into numbers. 1 for a dog lover, 0 if not.

Emotions are unreliable. Emotions will have you considering a cat person on the third date when you are allergic to cats. I believed in numbers and facts, not feelings and chemistry. Numbers never lied.

Love was just an algorithm. Simple. Logical. Predictable. You didn't need butterflies in your stomach or a spark. You just needed to select the right variables.

I glanced up at Leo, cleaning the espresso machine, his eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. Sure, we hadn't spoken more than a handful of words all summer, but Leo fit the logical equation. He ticked off all the boxes- cool, mysterious, independent, funny, kind, attractive.

Even my crush was quantifiable.

I cracked my fingers, trying to return back to my work, but it was so tedious and boring.

"Come on, I'll even pay for it," a voice whined from behind the counter.

I peered over my laptop to see Leo roll his eyes, a bag of coffee beans in his hand. He was talking to a coworker, who had her back turned from the cash register, her red hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"What do you have to lose," she continued.

"My self respect?" Leo countered with a laugh.

"I think it sounds fun. I would sign up if I wasn't practically married," she said.

Leo opened up the bag of beans. "I don't know, Maddy. Matchmaking sounds a little desperate to me..."

The coworker, who I now knew as Maddy, stepped closer to Leo. She peered back at the door quickly to make sure no one was coming in.

"Wouldn't it be nice to spend the night with someone and not feel the immediate need to kick them out afterwards?" Maddy lowered her voice, probably thinking no one else would hear their seemingly insignificant conversation, but I couldn't pull myself away.

Leo rolled his eyes with a scoff and a laugh.

It didn't surprise me that Leo was the noncommittal type. I'd be lying if I didn't feel a jealous pang. I'd easily volunteer for the position of the guy that Leo was forced to kick out in the morning.

"I think there's a heart in there somewhere," Maddy continued. Leo turned on the coffee bean grinder, drowning out whatever she said next.

"Doubt it," he replied, placing his hand on his chest as if he was checking. "Don't you have other friends to harass about this?"

"Nope, you're the last lonely person I know," Maddy teased. "And you're not getting any younger."

"I'm twenty-four," Leo countered.

Huh, I never would have thought he was older than me.

"Yeah, and then suddenly you blink and now you are thirty, still grumpy and alone, and cleaning coffee grounds out of the sink," she said.

"Thanks, Mom," Leo snorted. "I'm already on the dating apps."

"This isn't a dating app, it's a matchmaking service," Maddy corrected, still pushing.

"You're not going to stop until I agree, are you?"

"Definitely not," Maddy agreed.

"You must be really bored today," Leo commented. "But fine, whatever. I guess it can't hurt."

"That's exactly what I said."

"Worst case, I just ghost them," Leo concluded, and Maddy's expression fell into a frown.

"You're hopeless."

As I watched the two of them continue to bicker through the personality questionnaire, hunched over Leo's phone screen, a brilliant idea began to take shape.

***

"Honey, I'm home," I called out as I kicked off my shoes, closing the front door behind me.

Jonah, who was idling on the couch, immediately sighed and pushed himself up to his feet.

"Do you always have to be so annoying?" Jonah whined, stomping off to his room. The sound of Jonah's door slamming shut echoed through the hallway.

Ben looked over at me from the kitchen island, an amused smile toying at his lips as he was working on dinner.

"Guess he's probably not joining my fan club anytime soon," I said, pushing myself up onto the countertop stool and throwing my bag down next to me.

"Fan club?" Ben repeated, raising his eyebrow at me.

"Yeah," I leaned back into the stool, a smile playing at my lips, "you should know, seeing as you're the president of it."

Ben let out a chuckle, turning away from me to wipe his hands on a dish towel. "I don't recall taking on that position."

"It was in the fine print when you borrowed that pencil from me in the fourth grade. Sorry, no takesies backsies," I said with feigned seriousness, wagging my finger at him.

"Lucky me," Ben muttered, his dark brown eyes lingering on my face, clearly amused. Ben reached for a knife and began cutting up vegetables, and I sensed a stir fry in my future.

"You love it," I replied, stealing a chopped piece of carrot off his cutting board before he could fight me away.

"You're home early," Ben commented, "Did your eyes start to dry up from all that unblinking time staring at that poor barista?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was working," I corrected.

"Right, of course."

"Actually, I had an idea," I said.

Ben put down the knife in his hand and the pepper he was currently working on. He pushed his hair off of his forehead with the back of his hand, uncovering his eyes, which were focused on my face.

"Is it to speak actual human words to him?" Ben asked, arching an eyebrow with a small smile. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to match with him through the matchmaking app," I said, patting my laptop through my bag.

Ben furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and pressed his lips together.

"You seriously think that out of everyone, you two will happen to be matched? Don't you think if you were perfect for eachother that after coming to the coffee shop he works at every single day for the entire summer that there may have been, I don't know, a spark?"

I snorted. "You know I don't believe in that stuff."

"Well, now you've lost me completely." Ben tightened his fingers around the edge of the counter, still watching me closely.

"Benji–"

"Don't call me that," he snapped and I smirked.

"Benji," I started again, but this time he didn't interrupt me. "I made the program. I can just make us a match."