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I shake off what I can before pulling the door open to the shop. A jaunty bell announces my entrance and the cluster of women around Jem turn toward me.
“Maisie,” Jem exclaims. When she notes just the laptop bag, she smirks. “Harlan watching Audra?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
She points to a tall brunette who’s dressed in ankle-length brown slacks and a silk blouse. “This is Giselle. She runs the boutique on the corner. And you know Dawn.” She gestures to the diner owner who’s more sensibly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I wave at the trio awkwardly.
“Nice to meet you, Giselle, and to see you again, Dawn.”
Behind me the door opens, and two more women filter in.
“And here’s trouble.” Jem points to the short redhead. “This is Andrea, Andy for short, and Cassie. Cassie, Andy, this is Maisie.”
Andy is the redhead — she owns the local salon. Cassie has the silvery blond hair and an online business selling jewelry. I commit the names and faces to memory.
“You’re the one staying with Harlan?” Cassie asks. Her gaze is level on me, and the shrewdness I find there makes me want to duck my shoulders and get out of her line of vision.
“Cassie. Turn off the cop stare.” Jem turns to me. “Cassie is one of Harlan’s deputies, in addition to her business.”
“That’s nice,” I say, my stomach taking another deep dive toward my feet.
When Jem came over, I asked her a little bit about what I can expect from the people here, and she was able to give me the basics, just enough for me to do my own research and build a presentation of the services that I offer and what I could do for the lady business owners of Everette.
“And yes, I’m staying with Harlan for the time being,” I answer Cassie’s earlier question.
“Okay ladies.” Jem claps her hands. “Everyone grab a drink and some snacks, and we can get started. Maisie has a presentation for us and then we can talk shop. Molly can’t make it tonight, there was a conflict with the kids’ karate, so it’s just us.”
The women start toward the back, where coffee and cookies are spread out on a table. I check my phone for a message from Harlan, and when I don’t see one, I send my own off.
Me: Everything okay?
The dots bounce immediately, and I get a response seconds later.
Harlan: All good here.
Idle chitchat floats around them while I tuck my phone away and unpack my laptop with the small projection screen that I brought with me — my hands only shaking slightly. Once I’m set up and my computer is linked, I grab myself a small cup of water and a chocolate chip cookie before standing in front of the women.
“I — uh — don’t know how much Jem told you guys about me, but I design websites. My company is designing websites,” I stammer, my gaze going to Jem who gives me an encouraging smile and nod.
“I mocked up a projected website for Ma’s diner.” I click into the first window open on my computer and start talking.
“As you can see this is the current website for the diner, and it’s good, but basic. With only three pages — one of them being the menu — the branding is a little all over the place and there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
I cut a glance at Dawn, but there’s no expression on her face. A deep fortifying inhale later, I open the second window on my computer and a few hushed murmurs come from the women.
“As you can see here, I balanced out the existing branding and enhanced the hometown diner feel of the website on the main page.” I use my pointer to go over the changes that I made to each page as well as the online ordering section that I created. “You offer delivery as well, right?” I ask Dawn.
“Yeah. But it’s not very popular.”
I smile at that, the small eye roll from Dawn settling my stomach a bit. “It’s hard for people to know that delivery is an option if the information isn’t easily accessible. With the feature of online ordering, you could take it a step further. The buttons directing people between pickup or delivery are more prominent on the updated website, and if you wanted to jazz it up, we could add a tracker to a person’s order so they know where it is at each part of the ordering and delivery process.”
I toggle over to the menu and the streamlined easy-to-update design pops against the website background.
“Wow.” Dawn’s face is impressed. I think? Maybe? Fuck, I hope so.
Fuck it. I’m going with her being impressed and use the thought to project more confidence into the next portion of my presentation.
I point to the header section. “This is an easy place to put your weekly specials or deals and coupons that you want diners to see. There’s a lot of foot traffic in this area for the normal touristy seasons. Outdoor enthusiasts in the summer, and winter sport lovers in the fall and snowy seasons. Most people try to check out local dining options before committing to them and a functional website is key to not only growing a business but maintaining your current client base.”
