"You can't be real. It was a dream." Pretending that no one is there, I turn around and lock my door before I walk to the elevator.
"Well, technically yes, it was, but I am real. Now, let's go, I'm very excited." The hallucination beams like a four year old girl, following my every step.
"Go where? I have work. Besides, I'm not going with you anywhere. You are NOT real." I scoff as I state, my denial stronger than my will to push the hallucinations away.
"Why not? We need to find Daniel." He ignors my last statement, and I notice how lighter his voice is now.
Oh, my prince's name is Daniel? Cute.
"Yes, it is." He smirks.
"How did you...?" I frown and he smirks again, looking more like an idiot by the second.
"You can't be serious! Cupids can't read minds." I wave my arms around, rushing out once the elevator settles on the ground floor.
"I can't read minds, just your mind, and not all the time. I can turn it off. It's like a switch." He shrugs, as if he's talking about the weather.
He can't be for real. This must be a prank. Did someone put him up to this?
Who am I kidding? I know no one. But Cupid? Cupid?
"Ye--"
"Don't!" I warn through clenched teeth, pointing my index finger at him threateningly. He presses his lips together awkwardly and nods.
This can't be happening. It can't be real. Am I still dreaming?
I pinch myself and I definitely feel that.
"What the hell are you doing?" Irritated, I stop walking when I notice him still following me around.
"Uhm... going with you?" He smiles adorably, just like he did in my dream.
"Really? I'm going to get myself a coffee, then to work, cupid." I huff.
"Call me Jack. And we have to start looking for Daniel." He explains for the tenth time and I automatically shake my head, as I walk out of the building.
"No, you do. I don't. I have to get this whole thing out of my head, and focus on my job." I state firmly and hail a cab.
"Fine." He mumbles. With a sigh, I get in the cab and, of course, Jack decided to get in as well and pushes me in the process, scooting me away to give him enough space to sit.
"You're not coming with." I grit my teeth.
"Why not? You said you're going to grab a coffee first, right?" His blue eyes stare at my soul as he talks and I internally groan. Why did they have to be so childishly blue?
"Yes."
"I'll tag alone, then. Maybe I can tell you about him, or about being cupid." He gives me a toothy grin.
"No."
"Why not? Pushing the whole 'I'm not real' matter aside, now that it is obvious that I truly am, don't you wanna find Daniel, Hannah? Aren't you eager to meet him already and have your heart beating incredibly fast when he comes near you? Don't you wanna fall in love with him and get married and finally have your happy ending? Because right now, you actually have the chance."
Oh, shit. I see what he's doing, and it's working, goddammit.
"I'm sure you can't wait to talk to him or stare at his eyes. To have your first kiss with him, your first date. To see him down on one knee holding an engagement ring and his eyes all glossy while he looks into yours and asks you, will you--"
"Okay, fine! Stop! God." I take a deep breath and groan. "We have thirty minutes before I have to be at the office."
Jack beams next to me and I shut my eyes as I give the driver the directions to the coffeehouse.
God, this is crazy. I mean, since when are cupids real?
"Since always actually. We just prefer to keep that a secret." He answers my unspoken question and I glare at him.
"Turn it off. Now." I order. He smiles sheepishly and nods his head.
"If cupids are real then why have I never met any before?" I'm trying to wrap my mind around this, I truly am.
"Because I am your cupid. Your only one." He claims.
"Wait, does that mean that you're the one who set me up with those jerks of boyfriends I had before?" I narrow my eyes at him.
"Well, yes. But, in my defence, it's our orders. You see, I got a list of names when I got assigned to you. I kind of had to put you in all those guys' directions and then I had wait for you to get done with them. Then the big deed came, the official job, after which I can finally retire, and that is looking for your husband. However, in some cases we sometimes get another call and a new name gets added to the list and we are back on track. Only then it doesn't affect our real lives at all." He explains and I blink stupidly at him.
"So you set me up with someone you knew I wasn't going to end up with?" I frown.
"Yes." He nods. "You had to have those experiences to become the person you are now, who's perfect for your husband."
"Huh. Still, that doesn't explain why no one has ever met a cupid before. At least, nobody I know." Which doesn't say much, because like I've mentioned before, I know no one.
"Well, it's kind of really, really frowned upon to tell our secret. However, it's still not totally forbidden. And in my case, I had to tell you because I do need your help. Desperately." He adds with a wince.
"To marry me to my husband so you can marry your fiancé." I finish and Jack nods in agreement. I ignore the driver's hysterical stares through the rearview mirror and give him three winks in a row. He already thinks we're insane, so what the hell.
"But why didn't any other cupids appear to their... you know, us?" I interrogate further, trying my hardest to understand this insanity.
"Well..." He rubs the back of his head. "Everyone kind of does the job on their own. They don't usually need help."
"And you suck at your job. Right, I still remember that." I tease, earning myself a glare that I giggle at.
"Sir? Ma'am? We're here." The driver announces with so much relief that I feel sorry for the guy.
"Thanks." I refuse to let Jack pay, because I might be broke but still stubborn, and we finally walk inside the coffeehouse. After breathing in the sweet scent of freshly brewed coffe, I get my lattee and muffin and head to an empty table.
"So, assuming that you're telling the truth..." I say once we're seated.
"Which I am." Jack smiles from his seat.
"How are we gonna find Daniel anyway?" I ask the important question. Because let's get one thing straight, I'm a single, hormonal, twenty three year old virgin.
"Well, I'm sure it will be easy now. Me being here with you sends something like a message to his cupid. Think of it as a location tracker or something. The other cupid gets this kind of signal that I've been in contact with you, and that somehow helps the two of us lead you closer together."
"Okay, still assuming that you're telling the truth, what do you know about him?" I take a bite out of my muffin and give Jack my undevided attention.
I really wanna know more about Daniel. I mean, imagine this is real. Fucking awesome. Not only is this a whole new adventure for me to take, and I'm a sucker for those, but also I can actually find my prince and marry him just like Jack said. I can finally have my happy ending.
"Well, not much." He shrugs sadly.
"Do tell." I slowly sip my lattee and savor the taste with a moan.
"His name is Daniel, but he goes by Dan. He's twenty seven. He lives here in the city, which really doesn't explain why I couldn't find him for the past freaking year. He has one sister and no brothers." He finishs with a scowl.
"That's it?" I blink.
"That's all I know." He sighs in defeat.
"And how on earth will we find him exactly? This is gonna be harder than I thought." I groan.
"Don't worry, we will. And I feel that it's gonna be really soon." He grins. I wish I could share his enthusiasm, but seeing that we know almost nothing of use about said future husband, I sulk in my seat instead. Rolling my eyes at Jack'sillogical grin, I catch a glimpse of the clock hanging on the wall.
"Shit, I'm gonna be late. Come on." Shoving the last bite of my muffin in my mouth, I hurriedly stand up.
"What about the latte?" He follows suit.
"On the way." I pick my drink from the table and head outside. I wave my hand to stop a cab, then turn to face Jack.
"So, what are you gonna do now?" I ask as I head towards the cab that started slowing down at the side of the road.
"I'll wait for y--watch out!" Jack yells and I freeze exactly where I am, but with my luck I'm already too late.
"Shit." Jack mumbles and I cringe at the sticky feeling of my sweet lattee everywhere.
"Are you fucking blind?" A deep voice suddenly washes through my every nerve, shattering every bone and muscle and rational thought along the way. The tall, stupid, handsome man, whose body could stop a truck, curses as he checks his blue button up shirt.
"Holy shit!" Jack gasps.
My dress. Oh, my beautiful dress!
"I'm the one who's blind? You ruined my new dress!" I yell as I look up from my soaking wet dress to meet a pair of eyes that are so gray yet incredibly green. His eyes alone send a shiver through me, caressing my whole existance. He looks somewhat familiar, even though I was pretty sure I would've remembered him have we met before.
"You're not watching where you're going. You ruined my shirt." He groans, taking a step closer to me, and I instantly take one back. A look of approval passed across his mesmerizing eyes, as he smirks, totally aware of how illogically he is affecting me.
What the hell did I step back?! And why is he smirking? Come on, Hannah. It's not like you to back down from a fight.
"I was going to the cab I stopped, you asshole! You, on the other hand are not looking where you're going, blindly pumping into people." I raise my voice again holding the empty cup in my hand.
"So was I. Going to the cab." He motions in the cab's direction with a wave of his hand and even though I don't miss how easily his muscles moved beneath his shirt, I seethe.
"It's my cab, and you ruined my dress! What the hell am I gonna do now?!" I wave my arms, looking between him and a frozen Jack. So now he decides to shut up, that traitor!
"Oh, come on. Get over it. It's not even that pretty." The asshole shruggs. Gasping, I glance down at my beautiful dress then narrow my eyes back at him. He smirks once more and I debate whether to slap him right across the cheek or introduce his nose to my fist. I'd go for the cheek because he has a beard that I'm ashamed to say I'm dying to feel beneath my fingers.
Get a grip, woman.
"Did you just s--" I stopp midsentence when he literally pushes me aside to walk past me to the cab. Trying my hardest to ignore the shot of electricity that ran through me when he touched my arm, I turn around to yell some more.
"No, that's my cab!" I hurry towards the vehicle as he gets seated.
"Have a nice day, kitten." He winks at me before the cab drives off, leaving me a soaking mess with an open mouth and two clenched fists.
He did not just call me kitten. Kitten? What am I? A highschool cheerleader?!
Well, I was back in the day, but still.
"I can't believe that just happened. How can someone be that rude? He is such an ass! What the hell am I going to do now, Jack?" I turned to the same unmoving Jack and frown.
"Hannah." Jack whispers, speaking for the first time in a while.
"I don't have enough time to go back and change." I start pacing the sidewalk. I'm so getting fired for this.
"Hannah." He calls again.
"My boss is gonna kill me." Running my fugers through my hair, I cringe as a strand gets sticky from the coffee that spileld over my hand.
"Hannah!" Jack yells and I stop pacing.
"What?" I huff.
"That was Daniel." He spits, pointing where the cab had parked earlier.
"Daniel wh-- what?!" I yell, eyes wide enough to scare the couple of teenagers exiting the coffeehouse.
That asshole...
Daniel?
Oh, shit.
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So there goes our male protagonist! What do you think, guys?
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