Road to Casablanca (2 page)

Coffee splattered on a file as Cindy held her aching stomach and laughed.

“Wedding?
 
You are too much,
Victoria
!
 
Besides, I am already indebted to you as it is.”

“Why’s that?”

“For starters, you didn’t bring more work for me to do—in fact you’re the only attorney in this wing of the firm who hasn’t—and you make me laugh.
 
So thank you.”

“But what if I could do more?
 
What if you were grateful to me forever?”

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?
 
Look, it sounds exciting in a strange sorta way, but it will never happen, Vic.
 
Look at me.
 
Look at you.
 
You’ve got the look they’re after; me, I’m a plain Jane.
 
Not exactly the kind of woman a millionaire wants to date, believe me.”

“C’mere.”

Victoria
stood up and pulled Cindy by the arm, dragging her reluctantly over to the large mirror she kept in her cabinet door.
 
As they stood side by side and stared at their reflections, Cindy clearly saw the contrast of her plain brown hair against
Victoria
’s platinum mane.
 
She was right, and she knew it.

“See?”

“See what?
 
Take your glasses off.
 
You’re a beautiful girl.
 
Can’t you see that?”

Cindy held her thick glasses in her hand and looked straight into her dark brown eyes, and then over to
Victoria
who’s sharp icy stare cut into the glass.

“See, this is what I mean.
 
Millionaires want flash, like you.
 
I’m fun, but not flash.
 
It will never work.”

“It takes all kinds, my friend, and you are a wholesome and natural beauty who I’m sure some rich guy would love to sweep off her feet.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Keep an open mind.
 
It could happen.”

The sound of voices filled the hall as the rest of the staff arrived to work and Cindy smiled at Victoria, who was now too busy touching up her lipstick and smoothing out her hair to notice.

“Thanks,
Victoria
.
 
I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but let’s just say I won’t exactly be holding my breath waiting for prince charming to arrive, k?”

“Anything is possible, Cindy; believe me.
 
Keep the faith.
 
Gotta run.”

Cindy picked up the ad and laughed again as she wadded it up, threw it in the trash and finally went to work, staring at the files, unable to understand a word in them.

She considered what
Victoria
said and wished she could be more like her.
 
What would it be like to be so fearless you didn’t care what people thought of you?

Cindy looked in her empty coffee cup and wandered down the hall for a refill, passing by the other legal aids and several finely dressed attorneys. She began to realize that most of the people in the firm were married with the exception of her and Victoria.

Several staffers were lined up in front of the coffeepot and she decided to notice their ring fingers, which were all filled with gold and diamonds.

“Good morning.”

She had nodded politely and said “hello” to them every day for over two years now, but she really didn’t know any of these people.
 
They were too busy with their families and children to notice her or spend time with her after hours.

At a corner table, one new dad was happily showing off baby pictures to his friends, while two married women were complaining about their husbands spending far too much time on the golf course.
 
Cindy wished she had those kinds of concerns.

Warming her hands on her mug, Cindy walked quickly back to her office, noticing every person she passed in the hall was also married.
 

What would it take for her to find somebody?
 
It was a question she often asked herself in her quiet moments, although normally she filled those moments with work so she wouldn’t need to feel lonely or as though she’d been missing out on something.
 
For the first time in a long time, she felt the pang stab her in the heart;
Victoria
’s words were acting as a long overdue wake-up call.

Closing her office door behind her, which she often did when her workload was high, Cindy sat the coffee cup down on the desk and stared into her trash can, bent down and picked up the crumpled advertisement.

I wonder what would happen……

She took it around to the desk and plugged in the web address on the ad.
 
After a short introductory video, a button appeared asking her to
Fill Out Our Online Questionnaire
.

Curiously, Cindy clicked on it, practically jumping out of her chair when the first question popped up and filled the screen:

What are you looking for in a man?
 
Click all that apply.

Love, friend, companion, financial support, shoulder to cry on…..

Cindy laughed at the ridiculous question before realizing she’d never thought much about this type of thing.
 
She wanted love, friendship and companionship, of course, but didn’t feel she needed financial support; she was doing more than well in her current position.
 

Once she clicked a few boxes, a NEXT button allowed her to continue:

Right side of the bed or left?

What kind of question was that?
 
Cindy tried to push the NEXT button, but it wouldn’t let her until she answered the question.
 
It was something she’d not considered in quite some time, but clicked the word left and the survey continued.

Ladies:
 
Fuzzy slipper or stiletto heels?

Men: loafers or wing tips?

That was easy – fuzzy slippers.
 
NEXT…

City or country?

Cindy had to think on this for a moment.
 
She loved country life, grew up there, but had to admit the city was exciting to her now.
 
Why she was even giving it a second thought was beyond her.
 
Nobody was going to see this, anyway.
 
City.
 
NEXT…

An exotic overseas destination or a weekend at home?

None of this mattered, Cindy realized as she clicked the exotic destination and moved on.
 
She’d never been out of the country before, but it sounded fun.

Within minutes the final screen appeared asking for name, address and phone, and Cindy felt her stomach tighten at the prospect of giving out personal information. She navigated away from the page and clicked on the FAQ button to read more:

At Lovemore Agency, we are extremely selective about who we choose for potential matches.
 
Our clients are leaders in their communities and businesses who have been hand-picked as the most successful and eligible bachelors in the country.
 
In order to ensure everyone has a positive experience, we screen literally hundreds of potential candidates for our clients and only one out of twenty five ever receive a call….

One out of twenty-five seemed like a low number.
 
As she thought about it, a screen appeared in front of her saying:
 

FINISH YOUR ONLINE QUESTIONAIRE NOW

She clicked on it and once again landed back on the contact page.
 
What the hey? Surely she’d never get a call.
 
One out of twenty-five was practically a shot in the dark.

She filled in her office address and phone number and held her breath as she clicked the final NEXT button.
 
It was too late to go back now, she realized as a new screen popped up:
 

Thank You for your interest in our firm.
 
Someone will contact you if we find a potential match.

Her heart raced and she felt ever-so-slight perspiration on her palms at the thought of what she’d done, wanting to push it as far from her mind as possible, when someone knocked at the door.

Adrenaline shot through her as she quickly clicked off the site hoping nobody would find out.
 

“Come in.”

“Here you go.
 
I’ll need these by noon.”

Cindy smiled at her boss, laying the files on top of the crinkled advertisement.

“Will do.”

As soon as she was alone, Cindy pulled the ad out, crunched it up and threw it in the trash under a stack of papers and two empty cups so nobody would know what she’d done.
 
It was time to get back to real life.
 
Cindy smiled to herself, opened the first file of the day and got back to work.

Chapter Two

Erick Redmund held his breath as he approached the double glass doors of the Lovemore Agency.
 
He hated having to resort to something like this; it felt like a copout. Once he saw the buxom blonde sitting at the reception desk, however, the only urge he had was to get a closer look.

“Welcome to the Lovemore Agency where our goal is to bring more love into your life.
 
My name is Bambi; how may I help you?”

“Bambi?
 
You’re kidding, right?
 
Surely that’s not your real name.”

“Didn’t you see the movie?
 
My mom loved it, and my friends all say the name fits me because I look like a deer in the headlights.”

Erick never heard a girl as good-looking as this one snort like when she laughed.
 
He couldn’t help letting his eyes travel down a few inches from her face so he could read the ‘Got Love?’ slogan on her t-shirt, her—
headlights—
nearly blinding him.

“Headlights…uh, right.
 
I’m here to see the owner.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“I called this morning and she’s expecting me.”

Bambi picked up the phone and paged her boss.

“Hey Diane?
 
You have a super hunk here to see you…. Yes, a real cutie!
 
What’s your name?”

“Erick….Erick Redmund.”

“He says his name’s Erick.
 
Okay, I’ll send him in.”

Bambi turned her doe eyes up to meet Erick’s and snorted again.
 
This was just the kind of girl you’d approach in a bar and run kicking and screaming from the minute she opened her mouth.
 
It was exactly the reason he was here today soliciting the advice of an expert.