No Such Thing As True Love (3 page)

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CHAPTER 4

            Markus left the gym in a rush to get to work. He thanked Maritess for the shake, and assured her he would be at their next session. Having no other clients scheduled until the afternoon, Maritess went to her office to take care of some paperwork. Her conversation with Markus was still playing through her head. She smiled at how funny she thought his whole situation was. She understood someone looking for companionship, but he was going at it like he had a calculated battle plan in front of him. Maritess always knew that if you over-think something, you’re probably going to get it wrong. She could come up with a handful of women she knew who would fit Markus’ bill perfectly. That alone told her that the perfect match idea was flawed.

            She sat down at her desk and started to thumb through the files of a few members who were up for renewal. After trying in vain to work for a few minutes, she turned her attention towards her open laptop. She logged onto her page and clicked on a couple of her friends. They were each women she thought she could set Markus up with. He was, after all, a lawyer. That should convince them right there. She made sure to say he was a client, not a friend, but she wanted to make the introductions as a favor to him. She put in one last line about the fact he was looking for true love, and she had responses before she left work for the day.

            Over a solitary dinner at home, Maritess pondered how she would broach the subject with Markus again. She was pretty sure that he would keep coming to his training sessions, but she wasn’t sure how much more personal prying he would put up with before bailing out. He obviously didn’t care much for her abrasive personality, but that didn’t matter to Maritess. At best, he was a paying client who afforded her the opportunity to amuse herself while furthering one of her own missions in life: to end the myth of fairy-tale-type love. If she could whack every heart-sick woman that she knew with the sense that they were better than their sorrow, she would. Of course, that would be battery, or assault, or at least something that would probably land her in court. So, Maritess kept her mission rather quiet, and targeted people as she came across them. Markus made for a perfect endeavor, indeed.

            Maritess figured that if she presented him with more than one woman who, by his own list of required qualifications, could be his perfect match, then it wouldn’t really make sense for any of them to fail. Inevitably, he would like at least one of her friends, since they were all good people, beautiful humans and very successful women. If he fell in love, well, good for them, but it would still prove that the iconic pursuit for true love is simply invalid. No grand design needed, just casual introductions and seeing what you want to see in someone else while having the motivation to work for something cooperatively. Maritess didn’t give love any more credit than she gave a garden.

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CHAPTER 5

            Maritess knew that she couldn’t let Markus know how pitifully sappy she thought he was, or how personally amused she was by her plan. So, she decided to hit him with the offer when he was vulnerable, and phrase it in the form of a challenge. He was half-way through a sequence of excruciating lunges. Just as he was about to give up, she had him pause and hold a weight-bearing pose at the tip of his balance.

            “I’ll make a deal with you,” she said. “If you can double this set, without whining, I will concede that there may be such a thing as true love, and introduce you to one of my friends. She’s beautiful and perfect for you. I’m sure the two of you will ride off into the sunset, and live in some far away castle on a mountain, or whatever crazy thing it is you choose to do. But I probably won’t have to call her, because you’re way too much of a pansy to double this set and not whine about it.” Maritess curled her rosebud lips into a taunting smile, and tapped his arm to make him continue the exercise.

            At that moment, Markus made up his mind that he did not, in fact, like Maritess. Even if he didn’t want to meet her friend, he still couldn’t let her get away with calling him a pansy. He glared at her reflection in the mirror as he continued the lunges. He counted each one in his head, and focused on his breath. Maritess stood back and watched, critiquing his form when his muscles started to fatigue. Just as she thought he would, Markus finished the double set without whining, even after he was standing straight, shaking out his legs and arms. “You owe me a date with your beautiful friend,” he said as he caught his breath.

            “As promised,” she replied, “But there are a few things that I need you to understand and agree to before I let you get in front of this woman. Let’s cool down on the outdoor track, and I’ll tell you some things.” Maritess and Markus walked through the club and out the exit that led to the patio. Beyond the patio was an eight-mile track made of recycled tires. She had them jog a lap before they slowed to a brisk walk. Markus was intrigued by the prospect, but couldn’t shake the feeling that he was walking into a trap.

            Maritess began to explain how she expected Markus to behave when he took her friend out. Instantly, Markus was repulsed by her attitude, but the things she was saying weren’t out of the ordinary. Really, all that she was asking was that he be respectful, friendly and on time. It was just the way she said it that riled his feathers. In his line of work, Markus had to interview and work with some unsavory people. He forced himself to have the same understanding with Maritess. Perhaps she was just rude. He wanted to know more about the woman she had in mind for him. So, he did his best to assure her that he would be as gentlemanly as he could possibly be.

            “That’s cute,” Maritess said in reply, “but it won’t be enough for Christina. I don’t know if you do normally, but read the news for the rest of the week before you go out with her. If you can make her laugh when she quizzes you on current events, you’ll be in the lead.” Again, Markus was stunned by how thorny Maritess was. He tried to laugh off the implied insult, and reminded himself that she was probably just trying to help him make a good impression. It irritated him that he had to read between the lines with her, and hoped that her friend wasn’t the same way.

            “So what does she do for a living?” he asked her. A fair question, he thought, but Maritess just rolled her eyes.

            “Look,” she said, “I’ll add you online, and you can check out her profile that way and get a sense of her. She does restaurant consulting, but you’ll find out that her job really isn’t her top priority.” Maritess tried her best to hide a laugh. The feeling of being lured into a trap resurfaced in Markus. He trotted to a stop and looked down at Maritess. Without the treadmill, the top of her head was barely two inches taller than his shoulder. She had to squint in the sun to make eye contact with him.

            “If this is a trap,” he warned, “I will cancel my membership.” His hands were on his hips. Maritess smiled innocently when she answered.

            “Don’t worry. No trap. If it’s true love, I’m wrong. If it’s not, then you have to concede that true love might just not exist,” she said. Markus shook his head at her, still unbelieving that she held such rigid thoughts about something that, at least, was different for everyone. He was getting a date out of it, though. They ended their session with Maritess promising to have something specific set up for him with Christina when she saw him in a couple of days. She made a few more chastising remarks, and Markus went to work for the day.

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CHAPTER 6

            Even though Markus had been fairly offended by the way Maritess spoke to him, he did heed her advice. For the rest of the week, he was a little obsessed with current events. Even his boss noticed. By the time his date with Christina rolled around that Friday night, he was full of information, and felt ready for any question she might have for him. Of course, he wondered if he might have gone into overkill. So, although he was nervous about meeting her, he did hope that she would ask him something. Markus made sure that he arrived with a few minutes to spare, and was standing outside the restaurant, ready to hold the door open for Christina.

            Just as Maritess had warned, Christina arrived right on time. She was unmistakable. The woman was only three inches shorter than Markus, and had blonde hair down to her waist. Her simple blue dress made her eyes sparkle like sapphires. Markus was immediately impressed. So much so, that for a moment, he forgot that she was there to meet
him.
Christina was obviously not as taken aback with Markus as he was with her. She walked right up to him, and extended her hand in introduction.

            “Hi. Markus? I’m Christina, a friend of Maritess,” she said. There was a hint of a European accent in her voice. She was tall, slender and her features were very gracefully feminine. Markus smiled, and took her hand in his.

            “Hello, Christina. Thank you so much for sharing your company with me tonight,” he said. It was a line he had rehearsed in the mirror a dozen times as he had gotten ready for their date. She seemed to accept it well. A broad smile spread across her soft, pink lips. Markus caught a glimmer of her eye shadow, but it didn’t look as if she wore any other makeup. He reached for the door, and held it open as she passed. Maritess had set up the reservations for them, and soon they were seated at a perfect table for two.

            They ordered drinks and appetizers. Markus was searching for a way to start a conversation, but Christina beat him to it. “So, Maritess tells me you like to travel. Where have you been to?” she asked him as she took a sip of her wine.

            “Well,” Markus answered, “I’ve been to a few places in South America, and I went into Canada once, but… I think what she might have been trying to say was that I have ambition to travel.” He left out the details that he had been to a couple of border towns when he lived in the Southwest, and had gone to visit a friend in Montreal once. He wasn’t successful at flying under her radar.

            “Where in South America?” she asked, obviously curious. Markus took a swig of wine and tried to stop his hands from fidgeting.

            “When I say South America, I really mean just Mexico. I hopped back and forth across the border a few times when I was living in that area. They, uh, they had way cheaper beer,” Markus laughed at himself, and was a little relieved when she joined him. He decided to turn the table. “Where have you traveled to?” he asked her. Christina’s face lit up, and she began to regale him with tales of her adventures around the world.

            There was no doubt that she was an exciting person. She had been skiing in the Alps, deep sea fishing in the Great Coral Reef, and toured all over Europe and the Middle East. She had even been to Asia. However, after about an hour and a half of her stories, and two bottles of top-shelf wine, Markus was beginning to get annoyed that she had barely touched the dinner she ordered. Once, when she paused to sip her wine, Markus made mention that her meal was getting cold. A flash of fury ripped across her crystal blue eyes. It was only a flash, though, and Markus thought he might have been wrong.

            Christina patted her lips with the cloth napkin she kept folded in her lap, looked up and smiled at him, “Are you kidding? I’ve eaten nearly all of it,” she said, emphatically with a dismissive laugh.

            Markus laughed in return, and replied, “Oh, no you haven’t. Christina, you only nibbled at your broccoli.” He smiled at her, but felt a pang of insecurity when she didn’t continue smiling back at him. Christina placed the napkin beside her plate, put her elbows on the table and clasped her hands beneath her chin. She looked at him. Her blue eyes were now steely and ice-cold.

            “Markus, some women have to meticulously watch the calories they consume,” she said. The alcohol had gone to her head, and Markus grimaced at her slurred words. He tried to protest, but she continued, “It’s okay, most men don’t understand that you can’t have a woman who looks like this and lick her plate clean. I bet you want me to order cheesecake for dessert, too, huh?” Her voice was low and raspy, not delicate and light as it had been before. She clenched her hands so tightly that her manicured nails were making indentations on her skin. Markus sat back in his chair, hoping to diffuse the situation.