He calls Natasha

There was a lot of pressure on Matt to make the streaming service work. Tanya needed it to work to get out from her horrible situation at home. Matt and Karen needed it to work to keep their apartment and stay in the neighborhood where he was turning around his life. The football players needed it to work so they wouldn't beat the shit out of Matt. Cindi and Pam needed it to work so they could keep their boyfriend. Yet so much was completely random. He had done what research he could. He and Tanya had tried to identify what worked to bring in the tips. But ultimately it was going to come down to whether the actors were compelling, whether the millions of horny guys out there resonated with the story they were being spun, and whether they liked the personalities the actors were playing.

Matt wasn't sure how he would come off. Would viewers see him as a 'Chad,' somehow taking _their _women from them rather than as one of them who was transforming himself into the person he wanted to be? Or maybe he'd been seen as an arrogant asshole... something he sometimes identified with.

He also wasn't sure that his choice of Natasha for his first partner made sense. Sure she was beautiful, but she wasn't 'girl next door' material. Would she be seen as unrealistic? And would she come off as a cold bitch or as someone they would want as their own partner?

He couldn't answer any of these questions and that frustrated him. So much depended on this but it seemed out of his control. One thing he'd learned, though, was that when almost everything is out of your control, it makes sense to control the few things you can. And getting Natasha to like him a little more seemed like a great idea. She'd said something about him not asking her out which seemed to imply that she'd like to be asked out. For just a moment he toyed with the idea that she was so pretty that nobody thought they were in her league and so she never got asked out... and then dismissed the idea. There were plenty of guys... most of whom hung with Jordan... who were convinced they were better than anyone.

He punched her name.

"Yeah, Matt? What is it?"

"I hoped maybe you'd go out with me tonight. I think it would make our show better if we weren't complete strangers to each other and, well, you're the prettiest girl I know and I'd like to date you."

"You have a girlfriend."

"Cindi doesn't mind." That was probably an exaggeration but it wasn't completely wrong, either.

"So, if I call her, she'll say she wants to share you."

"Do what you have to do. She already knows you and I are going to be kicking off the show tomorrow... and that she's on for the second hour. Did you hear her complaining about that?"

"Yeah, I'm not that big into sharing."

He sighed. "Okay, Natasha. I get that. But I'm not asking you to marry me, I'm asking if you want to go on a date. One date. We can grab a bite to eat if you want... or there's a classical guitar thing in a coffee shop in San Pedro. Or we can go ice skating and--"

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, you can take me ice skating."

"Cool. Uh, there is a slight problem, though. I don't have a car."

"Jeez, Matt. How do you expect to date with no car?"

"It wasn't a problem in L.A. where they actually have public transportation."

"Well, we don't have it here and certainly not for dates."

"Got it. I can have my mom drive or you can... or you can cancel the whole thing until I get a car." Which would probably be never but he didn't have to tell her that.

"Fine. I'll drive. What time should I pick you up?"

"Seven?"

"Okay. Text me your address."

"Will do."

He was pretty sure she'd been leaning toward 'no' until he'd mentioned ice skating. So, he finally had a date with one of the two hottest girls in the school. How cool was that?