Go with what interests her--money

Matt sidled over to Mrs. Fellers with his two glasses of wine.

"Looks like you're about out." He handed her one of the glasses.

"Yeah, thanks." She looked at him strangely, obviously thinking she recognized him but not able to make the connection between him at an art gathering all dressed up and his usual jeans and t-shirt look hanging with her daughters.

She gulped down the wine and he passed her the second glass.

She nodded. "I feel like I know you. Are you one of the artists?"

"Artist? Not hardly. No offense if you're one of them but I actually come to these events to network."

"Really? I do too."

She looked at him again. "You look a little young for that."

He shrugged. "I've started a business and have been trying to develop it. Right now, the financing it tight... I've got good growth but cash flow is a problem."

She nodded and drew closer. "That's often the way it goes. When you start a business, you're tempted to take on all of the sales you can... and what you'll find is that your customers will slow-roll you. Not that they don't intend to pay you eventually... assuming you keep bugging them, but they're watching their own cash flow and if they can delay payment a couple of months, so much the better. For small businesses, though, that means you don't have the money you need to pay your staff and keep the lights on."

"Exactly. I can't tell my... talent... to wait to get paid." Crap, he knew that was the wrong thing to say. She was as big on entertainment as she was on art... which was to say not at all."

"What sort of business did you say you were in?" She took a step away and her smile disappeared.

Matt wasn't sure he could talk his way out of this but he knew one thing... he'd do better if Mrs. Fellers had a couple more glasses of wine in her.

"How about I buy you another wine and I tell me about it?" he said. "You seem like an intelligent businesswoman and I'd really appreciate your advice. I'm not looking for investors," he added quickly when he saw her rear up. "Just some fundamental business judgment."

Matt gestured to the recipient of his twenty buck tip and soon was holding another couple of glasses of wine, one of which he passed over.

"It's L.A.," he admitted. "When I thought about a business, the only thing that made sense was entertainment. I mean, manufacturing? Can I compete with **** labor from China? I thought about computer programming but there I've got to compete with cheap labor from India. I won't say that L.A. doesn't have competition in the entertainment area but we're still number one."

She took a sip. "Yeah, I can see that."

"And traditional moviemaking is out of the question as well. I know Robert Rodriguez did make a feature film for what, seven thousand, but that's not realistic. Today, the market is short-form video, sponsorships, influencers, and clickbait. Not that I like all of that but, realistically, you have to respond to the market. Either that or you're an artist... like Rollo over there."

"A starving artist is more like it," Mrs. Fellers agreed. "Look, why don't we find someplace quiet and we can talk about your... business."

"You think there's anyplace quiet around here?"

She laughed. "Yeah, inside the gallery. Like you said, people don't come to these events to see art, they come to network. So, the galleries where the art is will be deserted."

"Perfect."

"There is just one thing. I really think I recognize you from somewhere."

"Maybe you've seen some of my videos," he suggested. "Let me get another couple of glasses of wine."