Third Shift Entrepreneur

Chapter 12The Hypothesis

Saturday night, Sabina and Matt showed up at the climbing gym ready to go. They were decked out in their respective gear, and something about the night felt like their early days of dating when they used to go exploring and do new things all the time. As they got older, it seemed they did new things together less often. He was excited to be breaking that pattern with Sabina.

The gym was filling up with climbers coming for the Saturday night open house. Matt looked around the room for Cory Schneider, whom he had only seen on his LinkedIn profile. Sabina warmed up on the low practice wall. Matt was looking around and spotted two guys who made their way into the gym, one of whom he guessed could be Cory.

“Cory?” he asked.

“Yes. Hey, you must be Matt. Good to meet you. This is my partner, Jesse.” Matt shook their hands and called Sabina over to meet them as well.

For a moment Matt thought, What am I doing here? I asked for this night and this meeting, but I'm not sure why all of a sudden—.

Sabina, used to getting people to open up in her therapy practice, broke the ice. “Is it me, or does this feel like an awkward first double date or something?” The awkward, but funny, comment broke the ice.

Soon, they were chatting, getting suited up to climb and finding numerous points of connection about the gym, the neighborhood and other outdoor activities throughout the city that interested them. Sabina and Jesse, in particular, hit it off and were laughing together. ...