The Soulmate Equation

Although Jess finds comfort in nurturing both her daughter and career, she knows it’s time to “dream bigger” (16). During her and Fizzy’s next meetup at Twiggs, she relays these thoughts, believing she may have stagnated after having Juno at 22. Americano enters, and Jess angrily notes that he’s a bad tipper; Fizzy again accuses her of liking him. Jess counters that she was only thinking about how he seems too mean to start a matchmaking company. She grabs Americano’s arm as he walks by, surprising herself and feeling a weight in her chest when he looks at her. She asks if it’s true that he’s a matchmaker, to which he responds that he’s a geneticist. He explains that his company has started a service that matches people using genetic profiling. When Fizzy expresses interest, adding that she could relay information about the service to her large following on social media, Americano invites her to come by his office and provide a spit sample. Though Jess is dismissive, Fizzy insists they’ll both come, and Americano leaves his business card.

After Americano leaves, Jess labels him “the most arrogant person” she’s ever met and describes him as having “zero charisma” (21). However, both she and Fizzy are impressed by the business card, which also reveals that Americano’s real name is Dr. River Peña. Fizzy thinks it’s a “hot name” and considers naming the hero of her next novel “River” (21). She starts packing up her things, demanding that they head over to River’s company, GeneticAlly, immediately. Jess protests, but Fizzy claims the visit will be for research. They drive to La Jolla and pull up to GeneticAlly’s upscale two-story building. The building is deserted, and the women make their way across a large lobby to the receptionist. Fizzy insists that Dr. Peña is expecting them, and the receptionist tells the women to take a seat. Jess finds the situation odd, given the furniture in the lobby seems unused, but Fizzy is eager to continue. River appears to escort them further into the building.

Jess and Fizzy follow River down a long hall of offices. Jess tries to break the silence by asking River questions about the company, but he only gives her curt replies. His prolonged eye contact sends “a cold wash of sensation” (27) through her body. River leads the women to a conference room and tells them that Lisa Addams, head of customer relations, will be with them shortly. Jess finds herself irritated when she asks River if he’s staying, and he makes it clear he isn’t.

As Lisa enters to start the presentation, Jess feels overwhelmed and excuses herself to the bathroom. She decides she looks “haggard and frazzled” (29) in the bathroom mirror. On her way back, she wanders through the open door of a laboratory marked “SAMPLE PREP” (29). She hears River talking to another man about her and Fizzy. He is dismissive towards them, but says they might provide strong samples because they are “Entirely average” (30). As Jess goes to leave, she hears the other man ask her if she wants a lab tour. When she turns around, the man introduces himself as David Morris, GeneticAlly’s CEO and head of research. After a brief exchange in which Jess explains why she and Fizzy are at the facility, David leads her back to the conference room where she feels “frumpier than she had before” (31).

Lisa starts the presentation by asking Fizzy and Jess about their romantic goals. Fizzy explains that she likes to date but eventually wants to settle down. Jess struggles with her answer, uncertain as to what she wants as a single mother. Lisa tells them that with state-of-the-art DNA technology called DNADuo—designed by David Morris and his graduate student River in 2003—GeneticAlly can find perfect matches. Through River’s extensive research, DNADuo uses an algorithm based on over 3,500 genes. When a customer submits a spit sample, DNADuo categorizes their matches as Base, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium, and Diamond—the last being the rarest, with a compatibility score of over 90. The matches don’t discriminate based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion. At the end of the presentation, Jess admits she is impressed.

The next morning, Fizzy calls Jess and tells her about the DNADuo app. She explains she already has dozens of matches and is willing to date anyone with a score of 13 or higher, just to see what happens. Jess listens while struggling to get herself and Juno out the door. After dropping Juno off at school, she races to a meeting with Jennings Grocery—only to have someone steal the last parking spot. As she signals her exasperation, River steps out of the car. He doesn’t respond and refuses to hold the elevator when she rushes into the building.

Jess decides to take the stairs, and as she’s running down the hallway, she collides into River. She angrily admonishes him for stealing her parking spot and refusing to hold the elevator. She becomes even more enraged when he fails to recognize who she is. River quickly becomes embarrassed when Jess mentions his “[e]ntirely average” (45) statement (in regards to her and Fizzy). When he says he doesn’t recall her name, she reminds him she never gave it. As he glances at his watch, Jess remembers she’s in a rush and runs to her meeting.

Later at Juno’s science-art fair, Jess reflects on her disastrous meeting. She feels more alone than ever as the married parents talk excitedly. In the parking lot, Jess is tracked down by PTA President Dawn Porter, who asks her about an auction website she was supposed to build for fundraising. When Dawn offers to find someone else, Jess forcefully claims she’ll do it, despite having forgotten all about it. Later, Jess calls Fizzy and cries about her day. When she laments her love life, Fizzy reminds her about DNADuo. On impulse, Jess spits into a vial and sends it out.

Jess celebrates her 30th birthday at Twiggs with Fizzy, who tells her about her Base Match dates. With DNADuo, she can choose her level of investment in her partners. As they talk, Jess receives her DNADuo results. They wonder why the notification is in red, since all of Fizzy’s have been in green. Jess had only been interested in matches above 70 (Platinum and above) when sending in her sample—but is now uncertain she’s ready to commit to the results. Fizzy insists that Jess check the message, which simply tells the latter to call GeneticAlly. Fizzy replies for Jess, asking why, to which someone messages back asking if Jess is willing to come to the office.

Jess puts off calling back right away, but eventually gives in; a car picks her up and takes her to GeneticAlly. Lisa greets her and takes her inside, showing her to a conference room where she introduces the company’s six-member executive team—including David Morris. David mentions he knows someone at Greentech, a business for whom Jess did some analytics. Jess thinks she might have been summoned for consulting purposes and begins to relax. She also meets Brandon Butkis, head of marketing, as well as the others seated at the table. They explain that they are waiting for River to arrive.

River finally appears, making a grand entrance and asking why Jess is present. Lisa Addams passes around a handout that contains two client IDs, with the number 98 circled in red. She explains it’s the highest compatibility score they’ve ever seen. Jess starts pitching ideas to confirm the data, but soon realizes that one of the ID numbers on the page is hers. River reluctantly clarifies that the other number is his. Jess finds the situation “so absurd” (65) that she starts laughing. She decides the statistics must be wrong and tries to leave.