Road to Casablanca
Road to Casablanca
By
Leah Leonard
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Road to Casablance By Leah Leonard
Red Rose Publishing
Copyright© 2007
Leah Leonard
ISBN: 978-1-60435-160-6
ISBN: 1-60435-160-8
Cover Artist: Leah Leonard
Editor: Lannea
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. Due to copyright laws you cannot trade, sell or give any ebooks away.
Red Rose Publishing
Forestport, NY 13338
Road to Casablanca
By
Leah Leonard
Chapter One
The energizing smell of freshly brewed coffee filled Cindy Brown’s nose as she poured a cup and walked toward her office, surprised to see her light already on and her friend Victoria Cliburn standing next to her desk carrying what looked like a stack of paperwork.
“Hey, what are you doing here so early?”
“I have a little surprise for you.”
“Just put it on the pile.”
“Not work…a
surprise
.”
As she took a closer look, Cindy was relieved to see her friend holding a magazine article in her hand, waving it in front of her.
“What is it?”
“It’s an ad for an executive dating service.
Check it out.”
Cindy squinted at the fuzzy letters and grabbed her glasses
:
Rich, powerful…and desperate?
Why more of
America
’s elite are turning to Lovemore Agency to find Mr. or Ms. Right.
“I’m confused.
Is this your next big plan for finding Mr. Right?”
“Not mine, yours.”
“What are you talking about?”
The leggy blonde laughed mischievously, alerting Cindy to the fact she was more than likely up to no good.
“I signed up for the service and I thought you should too, which is why I’m here.”
“From the looks of the ad here, I’d say it looks more like an escort service than a dating service.”
“It’s not an escort service, Cindy, it’s an upscale, old-fashioned matchmaking service.”
“Old-fashioned?
Yeah, right.
I can just see me calling dear old mom back in
Iowa
and telling her I’ve been led astray since coming to the big city and how I’ve evolved from legal secretary to professional escort.
Don’t you think she’ll love it?”
Victoria
picked up the ad and began to read aloud in the dramatic tone that always made Cindy laugh.
“Listen to this:
It’s Lonely at the Top
Let’s face it, when you’re at the top of your game, there aren’t many qualified people to choose from.
Let our team assist you in finding the love of your life in a confidential and time efficient manner.
The experts at Lovemore Agency have a proven track record of matching our clients with the perfect partner for marriage and committed relationships and will help you do the same.
Take a few moments to fill out our questionnaire…
…doesn’t that sound great?”
Cindy recalled the last couple of guys
Victoria
went out with and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeah it is…for you.
This might be just what you need, especially if they actually have jobs and cars.”
“Just because the last guy met me for lunch in a cab, how was I supposed to know…”
“My point exactly.
How can you expect strangers to pick them any better than you can?”
“They won’t be picking them for
me
; they’re picking them for
us
, or at least that’s what I’m hoping.”
“I don’t need any help in that department.”
“Oh, really?
You know what I think?
You don’t ever go out at all so you don’t ever end up picking anything out at all, which is exactly why I wanted to show the ad to you so you can….”
“Like I said, it sounds great for you.
Go for it!”
“I think it’s what we both need, but especially you, Cindy.
You could use a fun night on the town once in a while, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, although I’ve been catering to wealthy executives ever since I came to work here, so I don’t need to answer an ad for that.”
“I hardly think filing legal briefs for a bunch of attorneys is the same thing as this.
You’ve been in
Dallas
for how long now, and how many men have you dated?”
Cindy’s mind ran quickly over the past two years as she realized there wasn’t much to recall.
“Not many; why?”
“Some of the men who sign up for this service are millionaires.
Wouldn’t you like to meet a millionaire?”
“I’m pretty pleased with the man I have now.
He’s neat and quiet, doesn’t leave his socks lying around the house, is completely devoted to me and waits up when I have a late night at the office.
What more could I possibly ask for?”
“You mean your
cat
?”
“Of course!
Who else?
He’s the perfect man as far as I’m concerned.”
“Actually, I can kind of see your point.”
“Look, thanks, but no thanks.
I have to get back to work now.”
“I thought it would be fun if we both do this.
All you have to do is go online and fill out a little form and they may or may not call you.”
“How much did this cost you?”
“That’s the best part – it’s free!”
Cindy stubbornly turned her back on her friend and started looking over the files on her desk.
“Sorry, but regardless of whether it’s free or costs thousands of dollars, I’m not playing.
I’ve heard horror stories about those places and just the idea of it gives me the creeps.”
“Everyone’s background checked, everyone is…..”
Cindy shook her head, closed the file she opened, picked up the ad again and stared into the faces of the staff at the Lovemore Agency.
“Did you take a good look at these people?
They’re from
California
, not
Texas
.
You know what kind of people live in
California
?
Fruits and nuts.”
“Hey! I grew up in
Los Angeles
.”
“My point exactly.”
Cindy moved around her desk and settled in her chair, the stack of files nearly blocking her view of her leggy friend, who sat across from her filing her nails with an emery board and primping in a tiny compact mirror.
“Okay, girlfriend.
You go on and be that way.
Just forget about me bringing this to your attention, giving you a possible means of introduction for you and your currently unknown dream man.
But what if you signed up and they did call?
Don’t you think you’d be forever indebted to me, singing my praises at your wedding?
It could happen, you know!”