"I have to warn you now, my story doesn't have a happy ending and it will end as soon as the last word escapes my lips. Once the final punctuation mark is drawn that's it - I will cease to exist, draw my last breath and let the winds carry me away. This is not an attempt to create a plot-twist nor a case of someone saving me just as you think it's all over. Because the truth is harsh - fairy tales are just that, a figment of someone's imagination, the bubble containing perfect worlds and happy-ever-afters. We are led to believe that someday we will find that perfect someone who will sweep us off our feet and carry us into the sunset, where we will bathe in the stars and sit on the moon. It's the only way we will look forward to the boring office days, hoping one day a new face will appear and it will be love at first sight. The only reason we get up in the morning with sickening positivity, foolishly believing that somehow our paths will cross with the one who will make us happy for the rest of our life. Even worse - when we find someone, we tend to dive head first, giving all of us away to the other person, thinking they could never betray us. And they do. Oh, they do. And then it's tears. And empty ice cream boxes, if our stomachs can handle anything more than the saltwater streaming from our eyes. But we gladly will take a big bite of depression, because as soon as we've eaten it all, we recover. And when we do - we are back to seeking out that person, having learned nothing from previous experiences. We are born broken, which is why we are looking for someone to fix us."
"You aren't answering our question" a guy with thick glasses and an impatient stare, used her pause to interrupt her. He nudged the woman next to him, who was wearing the same expression "Claire, why is this nutter a part of our research? She is clearly on something."
Raven-haired Claire shook her head and looked at the girl in front of her. Long blonde hair and sad sky blue eyes, still in her twenties. So how could someone so young and beautiful have such a wrong mindset? Being in the prime of her life she was the perfect person for their experiment, but they hadn't anticipated her not to believe in love and 'THE one'. Claire had high hopes for her once she saw her, Jane was her name, but disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach. With results like hers, how could they prove their research as valid? Even if everyone else fits the standard, a single abnormality like Jane could seriously hurt the conclusion of their research. The government already were thinking of reinforcing universal arranged marriage law, since the divorce rate was predicted to rise rapidly in the next twenty years, to the same extreme number as it was during the twenty-first century. Their study "Does true love exists?' has been providing positive data so far, with lots of happy couples, hopeful teens, and determined adults coming in and confirming their hypothesis. But this one. This one little Jane could ruin everything.
"Sam, don't be ridiculous, she must love poetry. Was that excerpt from one of your stories? I bet it still has a happy ending, but the main character wants to fool the reader. That's really clever!" Claire forced a smile, which faded as soon as the young woman in front of her burst out in bitter laughter. It made her seem like a forty-something-year-old, whose life had gone down the drain so she was making it difficult for others.
"Look, the only reason why I agreed to this pointless study is so that you people would understand how stupid you are!" Jane said breathless "You are so fucking blind! Don't you get that no relationship is ever perfect, no love ever pure and no couple really, truly happy? It's all bullshit, lies to make people believe that there is more to life than slaving away. Love doesn't exist!!" and she did something she didn't think she was still capable of doing. Jane broke down crying, quiet sobs taking over her tiny frame.
Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat, before leaning towards Claire, "I'm gonna go...uh..for a cig. This is clearly a sign that you should be the one handling her case. Have fun!" and after planting a sloppy kiss on his lover's cheek he was out of the door before Claire could protest. Once in the clear, he took a deep breath and walked towards the nearest exit, hands shoved in his pockets and his brain gears steaming from the mass of different thoughts in his head. He still thought that the pale creature in the room was either high or wasted, but even people like that speak the truth at times. And that alone sent shivers down his spine.
