"How was work?" Lisa asked before munching a mouthful of honeyed cereal she was eating straight from the box.
"Awful," Genevieve replied with a groan. She dumped her carry-on on a tall kitchen stool and walked over to the refrigerator.
Only eggs?! She shut the door and faced Lisa with hands on her hips. "What happened?"
Lisa only shrugged, pulled a chair, and sat.
"You aren't saying anything."
"Really?" Lisa lifted a pierced eyebrow. "I came in only thirty minutes ago. I should be angry but I live here for free, so... meh."
"Damn." Genevieve dragged a hand over her face and settled next to Lisa. "I totally forgot you were returning today. I've been such a scatterbrain."
"You don't say," Lisa said dryly as she offered Genevieve the box of cereal.
Genevieve took a handful. "Cut me some slack, biko. I just suffered through the most boring conference ever. They dried my bones, offed my spirit."
"Follow your passion. Your job sucks, and I think your boss hates you."
"Hey, the job pays the bill. As for my boss—yep, I'm sure he hates me; feeling is mutual though."
Raymond Dominic.
It was confounding, her crush on the man. It was dying a slow agonising death. Sure, her feelings weren't as intense as they first were but Genevieve grew impatient daily. She longed for the day she would look at him and feel absolutely nothing. Still, she should count her wins. She no longer fumbled over her words whenever she had the misfortune of being around him. But gosh, Raymond was cold as ice. It had been what? Three months since he took over and not once had she seen him smile. Sad, sad man.
"How about I order? Papa John's sounds nice. Their ofada rice is wack but their coconut rice kinda slaps. Delivery is blazing fast too." Genevieve sat up, excited at the prospect of escaping the ordeal of cooking. What time was it? She glanced at her phone screen. 6:04 PM. Enough time to—
"Nope, I hate their food." Lisa tossed the now empty box aside.
"Come on. I'm dying here. If you know what the past few days have been like..." Genevieve rested her elbows on her thighs and massaged her temples. She really needed to quit that job. After her accidental meeting with the boss at the mall, she had done her best to avoid him. Sometimes it worked, other times mission fail. The conference was one of those fails.
"Sorry Viv, but my answer is still no." Lisa pushed her thin long dreads over her shoulder and pulled at the drooping arm of her tank top.
"Suit yourself. I'm ordering in. If you don't want to eat, fine." Genevieve stood to leave.
"How about I call my dear aunt?"
"You wouldn't dare." Genevieve glowered at Lisa. Her cousin was a thorn. Even though Genevieve adored her to bits, the girl was a trident twirling devil on most days. What brought calling her mum into a conversation about food? That was like jumping from one to a thousand.
"I bet she'd want some news on her absentee-slash-runaway daughter." Lisa's smile turned impish as she pulled her phone from the pocket of her cutoffs.
"Give me that!" Genevieve attempted to snatch the device but Lisa smoothly slipped out of reach and sprinted to the corner of the kitchen. When she began typing, Genevieve wished she had the power of Thor—to fry the meddling spirit out of Lisa.
Sighing in defeat, Genevieve sat once more. She was too tired to cook. Why was Lisa doing this? Hunger gnawed at her belly. A headache was coming on. "Fine. We wouldn't order in. Happy now?"
Lisa paused and shook her head. "No. Not yet." She held the phone like a weapon as she eyed Genevieve. That stupid glint was still in her eyes.
"You know these games you play don't suit you? You're what? Twenty-two?"
Lisa laughed and waved a hand. "Twenty. I'll never stop playing games. As for what would make me happy and not call my aunt," Lisa pocketed her phone then rubbed her palms, "let me cook dinner."
"I'd rather die," Genevieve said with a fierce slash of the hand. No. Anything but that! Lisa's food was–no. The girl had minus zero cooking skills.
"Fine, I'll attend your funeral." Lisa blessed her with a sugary smile before retrieving her phone once more. Her catlike eyes gleamed as she mouthed 'your mum' and pointed at the phone already pressed to her ear.
"Oh, hello. Aunt Amanda? Good evening." Her voice turned soft and pleasant. "Yeah, the flight was smooth. Thank you so much."
Genevieve could faintly hear her mother's voice. Lisa wasn't bluffing; she legit called her mum.
"What? You want to speak to Genevieve?" Lisa walked up to her and innocently handed over the phone. "She wants to speak with you."
Genevieve snatched the phone and ended the call. "You win."
"Yas!" Lisa pumped a fist and did a little monkey dance around the kitchen. After the show, she walked up to Genevieve, hand extended. "Gimme, gimme."
Walking over to her bag, Genevieve pulled out her purse. When she handed over her credit card, Lisa's countenance turned somewhat sober.
"What?" Genevieve asked with a scowl. She could predict what Lisa was about to say.
"That was cold, you know?"
Genevieve shook her head. "I'm not ready."
"I wouldn't say I understand, but I do know she misses you."
"Whatever," Genevieve replied at the same time she shoved down rising unwanted emotions. "Please, try to cook something edible this time, Okay?"
Lisa chuckled. "I don't get why you keep worrying. Today's meal will be el superbo." She gave a chef's kiss. "I looked up the recipe. There's this insane YouTube chef I follow... like, he is awesome. A chef god."
"Right," Genevieve mumbled before grabbing her bag and heading to her bedroom. "I bet it'll taste like pain and regret,"
"I heard that!" Lisa shouted after her.
"I'm glad you ain't deaf!"
***
"Logger?" The chubby rosy cheeked attendant at the Mission Department booth asked.
Ada bounced on her feet and grinned at the cupid like her teeth just got bleached. "I got a match. Me. Can you imagine?"
"Yay," The cupid muttered in a dead voice. "Pass your logger, please."
Ada's smile faltered, but she pulled it right back up. Nothing would dampen her spirit. She eyed the cupid's name tag.
Olga, huh? You should smile more often, Olga. "Here," Ada said instead as she slid the logger across the smooth counter of the booth.
The Field Mission Department was responsible for providing mission supplies. From cool high-tech gadgets to pet repellents, everything she needed would fit in her small backpack. All she had to do was reach over her shoulder and the bag appeared. Pretty neat.
Ada had volunteered at the Field Missions Department a few times. Though it wasn't the most exciting job, it still helped fill her Volunteer Meter. The idea behind the Meter was to give their time selflessly to the Cupid Community. That was another thing Ada sucked at. The higher a cupid's Meter was, the faster they grew and developed unique abilities. Hers was still pitifully low but she didn't care. Okay, maybe she cared, but only a little, really.
"Yo, Ada!"
Whirling around, Ada's smile grew to a full grin as she spotted Teddy flying over in a blaze of chaotic glory. His frizzy blond hair whipped behind him, and he was doing that ridiculous Superman flying pose. Black leather, blue jeans, crazy eyes, spikes, and ridiculous chunky boots. Put all that together and you had the star cupid of the Southern Division.
Teddy had never failed a match, ever. He understood and breathed love but he was a horrid teacher because no matter how much he tried to teach her his method, nothing stuck.
"I just saw Horrid Harry." When he landed, his wings folded and vanished. "Dude is furious. And the blue hair." Teddy slapped his thigh as he belly-laughed, deep blue eyes merry and bright. "When I saw his hair, I knew it was you. Harry totally had it coming."
Yep, Harry deserved the prank she pulled on him. Ada could take him making her life miserable because of her failed matches, but ridiculing her wings–something she had no control over–was low.
Still laughing, Teddy gave Ada a fist bump then craned his neck. "Hey, Olga!"
"Hi, Teddy," Olga's reply was a dull monotone.
"So," he nudged Ada, still grinning, "a new match eh?"
Ada dusted off imaginary lint off her shoulders and gave a nonchalant shrug. "Yep. Just when I thought the One Up High had given up on me. Boom."
"No one is giving up on you," Teddy said before leaning against the booth and folding his arm. He was a few inches taller than her because of the ridiculous clunky boots he loved to wear.
"My assignment gets to see me," Ada blurted.
Teddy's whipped his head in her direction so fast she feared for his neck. "No way." He gapped.
"Yes way." Ada watched a cupid fly to one of the drain pipes and vanish. Once Olga was done with her logger, she would have to do that too.
"That's incredibly rare." Teddy whistled and shook his head. "I've been in the field for years and have never had a match where my assignment got to see me."
"I don't want to panic but I keep wondering if she'll like me."
"Come on," Teddy chuffed and bumped her shoulder, "have you met you? You're the most likable creature ever."
"I think Horrid Harry would strongly disagree."
"Here." Olga slid her logger across the counter and jerked her head towards the Drain portals. "Number R45. Have a successful match." She smiled for the first time. It was small and brief and disappeared as fast as it appeared.
Ada smiled in return as she retrieved the logger. "Thanks." She attached the device to its chain and hid it under her shirt.
"This is it." Ada stood straighter and exhaled. "Wish me luck."
"You are so gonna crush it." Teddy pulled her into a side hug and ruffled her hair.
"Hey." She slapped his hand away, pointing at his feet as he chuckled. "Lose those boots."
"Never." Laughing, Teddy summoned his wings and floated off the ground. "I'd come to pay you a visit once I wrap up my match. See ya!" He waved and shot off like a rocket.
Since number R45 was a bit high up, Ada pushed her body off the ground and flew in its direction. She tapped her Tragus twice and music filled her ears. Ada hummed along as she drew closer to the Drain Station. It was 6:52 PM; the timer in her head was counting down to 06:55 PM. She had to ensure she appeared at her match's home right on time.
Regarding her match, a number of strategies danced in her head. There were several laws of attraction and even mathematical equations she learned during her years of training. She had them stored in her head but never bothered applying them to matches because she felt they were stiff and shouldn't be applied to matters of the heart. She scoffed at her former thinking. What had all that given her? Zero—a big, fat zero.
No more. This time, she was beyond determined. Genevieve and Raymond must fall in love. With renewed determination, she tossed her logger into the R45 drain pipe and fell in. Shutting her eyes, Ada relaxed and allowed her body to spin down.
Time paused, the feeling of absolute stillness cocooning her small frame like a soft embrace. Her eyes flew open as she took in her surroundings. This was her favourite part of porting. Miles upon miles of multiple coloured stars as far as the eyes could see. They did not twinkle amidst the colourful Milky Way but they shone beautifully—
The final phase ripped her away from the tranquil sight. Gravity pulled her down at neck-break speed. She squealed with excitement as she zapped past houses, cars, and people. Some sneezed, a few suddenly smiled as an instant pleasant memory flooded their minds, while the rest felt nothing. Bummers.
Like clockwork, the apartment complex came into view. It was decent-looking. Ada guessed the complex was divided into a total of four apartments. Good. The fewer, the merrier.
"In three, two, one." Ada softly landed in the kitchen. "Ding dong."
Lisa, the cousin, stepped in with loaded shopping bags, nodding her head to the beat of a song blasting in her ears.
As the cousin walked by, Ada floated off the floor and touched her headset. The song she was listening to transferred to Ada's Tragus. The little device at the back of her ear was her favourite Highbrow creation. Life without human music would be so...silent.
"Hmm." Ada frowned as she listened to the song. The lyrics weren't bad and the beat was nice.
"Now, to business." Ada reached a hand over her shoulder and unslung the backpack that appeared. As the cousin laid out the ingredients for what she was about to cook, Ada carefully placed three labelled vials on the counter as well.
All that was needed was the right timing and proper measurement. She certainly wouldn't mess this up... hopefully.
________________________________________________________________________________
Heya! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Pretty please, if you notice errors, inconsistencies, or mistakes, do point them out. Thanks.
How I imagine my Nezzar readers judge me whenever I post yet another new chapter of WCE.😅
I promise I am working on Nezzar. 💕
Don't forget to vote and comment.
All the love.