FIVE

MAY

  Phone in hand, I stepped outside my apartment with my heart pounding heavily. Partly because I had done what Cupid had demanded without question.  While I wanted to call the police and get the blackmailer waiting for me outside to prison, I couldn't get the contract with my signature filled in out of my head. Hypothetically, if I did call the cops, she had something against me and heaven knew what other tricks the shady company she worked for had under their sleeves. So I played along. Thirty days might not seem to be a huge deal but that was not what kept me going. It was the fact that I was more than certain that Edmond Walters would be my ticket out of this mess.  Slamming the semi-heavy suitcase to the floor to make my presence known, I noticed a black Mercedes stalking my front lawn.

"Is that for us?" I asked, brushing non-existent sweat off my face.

"Of course," Cupid returned, immediately heading for the vehicle.

I stood there stunned. She didn't even bother to offer a helping hand. Swallowing the spite I had developed for this love counselor, I begrudgingly locked the door of my house. I sucked in air and lifted the brick case that contained my clothes and accessories and made my way to the trunk of the car while Cupid stood at the passenger side of the car and watched me struggle.  But it was fine, I told myself. Once she threw her threats and scared the living daylights out of my ex-boss, true hell would be unleashed freeing me.  I opened the trunk and tossed my bag in then I waltzed into the passenger seat. The door slammed shut and our journey officially began. As the anxiety began to grow, I began doing my digging on the dating platform. Its reviews on the internet only had good things to say and that was the first major flag. I could not help but wonder what the hell they did to those people. On the app store alone, they had a total of eight hundred thirty-eight thousand five-star reviews. It was scary. What was even more frightening was when Cupid craned her neck in my direction and said; "Trust the process May Wolfe. Snuggle has helped a lot of jinxed-in-love individuals such as yourself find their perfect half. If you let us do our thing, you will be one of the many few that will leave a beautiful review on the app."

I shrugged. "I didn't d******d that app because I felt lonely. I'm perfectly fine with being lonely. I d******ded the app because of your annoying push notifications. The original idea was to leave a scathing review on your app not become bound by a contract for thirty days." I revealed to her. "Are these reviews even honest or just another clause in your contract that forces them to do this?"

With that creepy smile that never stopped sending chills down my spine, Cupid replied. "Snuggle would never harm a customer for a mere five-star review. Our contract goes completely null after thirty working days as per the mutual agreement."

My eyebrow squinted hearing her finish. "You are not going to say anything about how all of this was just a big mistake?"

"If I said what was on my mind, you would probably despise me more."

"Oh, try me." I urged.

"Okay," Cupid said, closing the distance between us to whisper in my ear. "I think this is fate."

She was right about one thing. I hated her more now. Fate wasn't random and it surely wouldn't set me up with a biased man who fired me for my misconduct simply because he made the rules. My eyes glanced out the window and I noticed a mansion in the distance. White, gigantic, and pretty much oozing out classical beauty energy.

"Looks like we are here," Cupid commented.

The Mercedes pulled over and packed in front of a metal-wreathed gate that hindered entry. The monitor on the wall shrieked and a voice erupted from within.

"Who are you?"

Cupid proceeded to hit the window switch. "I am Cupid from Snuggle. I happen to be your love manager and I would love to have a word with you."

The monitor went completely static for a brief moment. It was like he was contemplating what to say. Perhaps he even remembered the horror of us matching because...same energy. The monitor screeched again and Edmond spoke. "I don't know why you are here. Honestly, I don't even care. Just tell me how to delete my profile or the app in general because this damn thing seems to have administrative control."

"I understand your frustrations but you cannot delete the app, Mr. Walters," Cupid replied with that smug look plastered to her face.

Edmond seemed to ignore her cheery disposition and continued. "If you cannot help me, I suggest you be on your way."

My heart pumped in anticipation of what would probably happen next.  I noticed Cupid clench her hand into a fist. Somebody was mad. The rage however lasted for a moment. Cupid unclenched her balled-up fist with powers probably garnered from years of dealing with rude clients in her line of customer service.

"I am here to help," Cupid informed. "Your wife is with me in the car and you know what they say, it's rude to leave a girl hanging."

"Who?" Edmond tensed, the white noise on the monitor breaking his voice. "That girl from the office... I don't know what game this fucking is but if you don't leave my property right now, I'll fucking call the cops."

I facepalmed and it was not because I was disappointed by Edmond's reaction or the fact that the mentioning of me appalled his person but rather because I wouldn't get to see his undiluted reaction when Snuggle sent hellfire on him for being hard to work with. Cupid took a deep breath. As I wondered if she had made that same reaction when I slammed the door in her face, I saw her hit some buttons on her pad.

"I would suggest you reconsider." She began. "I would really hate to do this."

The monitor cackled again. "So now you are threatening me?" He demanded. From the monitor, I could make out some beeping sound which I guessed was coming from his phone. He was probably keeping good on his threat to call the police.

"Cupid?"  I tensed.

My worry seemed to be the last straw for Cupid. She made an anticlockwise movement on her phone and the moment she did so, a loud beep erupted from the monitor.

"Bloody hell." I heard Edmond gasp.

"You have an offshore account in Singapore with a total of ten million dollars Mr. Walters." Cupid happily supplied. "This account was created for the sole purpose of tax evasion..."

"Who the hell are you, people!" Edmond demanded. This time, the electric gates slowly opened allowing us entry. "What do you want?"

"An audience." Cupid simply replied.