V4L Challenge 15

New Dating Profile

Honesty is probably the most important trait to me. I’m looking for a lasting relationship, not a fling, so I care about building a trusting friendship with a kind man based upon shared interests, mutual compatibility, and fun. I love animals, nature, cooking, and comedy. Do not respond if all you care about are pics. I prefer to just meet in person and take it from there! – “KittyCupcake”

Cupid reread the profile his mother had sent to him. It was against company policy to respond to personal ads because Love, Inc.’s motto was that love should happen at first sight, when one of the arrows hit a target on the curated list that the software algorithm had provided. But fat lot of good that had done him! He had fallen hard for sweet Chantal and messed up with his workaholism and by forgetting her nut allergy. Now, she’d dumped him.

He was so sad about the loss of Chantal. He’d texted her a couple more times asking how it was going and hoping they could stay in touch, but she hadn’t replied. She was probably having so much fun with Mr. Right that she couldn’t be bothered even saying hello. He sighed. His email box was piling up with work, but he didn’t feel motivated.

Quickly, he dashed off a response to the ad, making up a fake name, and asking to meet tonight at 6pm for a drink. Then he began tackling the afternoon’s pile of office work.

Cupid left the office uncharacteristically early at 5:30pm to meet KittyCupcake. He hoped she’d recognize him from the brief physical description he’d sent. He had no idea what she looked like, and it would be interesting to discover which woman at the bar she turned out to be. If things went well, maybe the drink could turn into dinner.

“Cupid? What are you doing here?”

He turned around to find Chantal staring at him. What was she doing here?