No Such Thing As True Love (5 page)

            She strode to the lobby, and waited for Markus to come out of the locker rooms. She tucked herself into a corner, and he walked right past her when he exited. “So, just like I thought then. I knew you couldn’t take training here for very long. It’s a shame though, your work was just starting to show,” she said, as indifferently as she possibly could.

            Markus spun on his heel and walked up to her. “I had no problem with your training, it’s your life advice I couldn’t stand, Maritess. Not to mention, you are so damn rude, it’s no wonder you don’t believe in something as simple and as human as love,” Markus said. He looked down into her porcelain face and noticed, for the first time, the light array of freckles on her cheeks. For a fleeting second, a rush of heat ran through her. She turned her head to push it away.

            “Okay, I’ll make a deal with you. Keep your membership, and I’ll keep an open mind about your quest. You go out with one more of my friends. Hey, maybe this one will be the one, right? Isn’t this a quest about trying different solutions and seeking? If you guys work out, everyone wins. If not, then I will refund you for all the sessions you’ve paid for since you started. What do you say?” Maritess looked up into his eyes, and poker-faced her way through the moments before he answered.

            “Why in the world would you think that another one of your friends would work out?” he asked her, incredulously.

            “Look, my friend Renee is not crazy. She’s not so high-class. She’s a real, down-to-earth woman. She owns an independent art gallery, so she’s pretty easy-going. I was kind of saving her for last. She’s the one I think you’ll have the best shot with,” Maritess said as she nodded her head assuredly. Just to agitate him a bit more, she said, “I can call her. Unless, you know, you’re just going to give up and go journal about it. Or aren't you even keeping a journal anymore?”

            Markus sneered at her. The insult had hit its mark and done its job. He slowly nodded his head with his lips tucked between his teeth. “Okay,” he answered, “One more. If this one doesn’t work, not only am I canceling my membership, but I will publicly call you out as a peddler of insanity.” Markus left the gym with another number in his hand. Maritess said she would set up dinner reservations for him again, and the number was just in case she was a little late. Markus was thankful to have a big case at work to distract him  from all these crazy females. He got to work, and dove in. The rest of the week went by almost without Markus noticing.

…

CHAPTER 9

            Maritess had arranged for him to meet her friend, Renee, at a small bistro in town on Saturday. From the moment he woke up, all he could think about was calling it off. Every time he began thinking of ways to phrase his cancellation, one of Maritess' insults would come flying through his mind. He thought that she had a good point about him procrastinating. He had never really looked at it that way before, but it kind of made sense. It's not like he actually expected to meet a woman who had every quality he wanted, but he definitely didn't want to settle down with someone who had qualities he hated. He scanned his living room, looking for something to occupy his mind. His journal was tossed, forgotten, under a pile of mail on his counter. He grabbed a pen from his desk and sat down on a stool. He fished the journal out from the stack of ads and bills, then opened it up to a new page.

            “
Dear Self,
” he wrote, “
Here's a list of the women I've met so far: Christina - perfect, but an angry lush. Melissa - perfect, but a controlling nut job. Renee - remains to be seen... tonight at our date...
” he paused for a moment then wrote down one more name. “
Maritess - the one I just can't figure out, but really, really don't like...
”

            Markus tossed the pen and the journal on top of the stack of mail, and decided to go grab lunch. He went out to the mall and shopped around for a while. He grabbed a few tacos at the food court, and ate them on the way back to the bus stop. By the time he arrived home, he had barely enough time to get ready and leave to meet Renee at the bistro down town.

            She arrived late, but only by about ten minutes. Markus was sitting at the bar when she walked in and looked around. She was taller than Melissa, but not as tall as Christina. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, and she had small tattoos around her wrists. She looked as if she could have been one of Maritess' clients as well as friends because her toned muscles showed beneath the shirt and capris she wore. When she looked over towards the bar, Markus waved at her. He stood to greet her as she approached. Her smile was as warm as her handshake, and Markus actually felt his stomach do a flip. They were seated at a table and were deep in conversation by the time their meals arrived.

            Renee was pleasant, friendly and laughed at the jokes Markus tried to make. He felt extremely comfortable with her, and nearly allowed himself to feel optimistic about this choice Maritess had made for him. They shared a lot of the same opinions, and were almost about to come to an agreement on the absolute best flavor of ice cream when disaster came in the form of a freezing cold shower. Markus was barely aware that the server was coming up the aisle when he threw his arms out as an expressive gesture. His hand tipped the server's tray. She tilted back and saved the pitcher of water, but lost it when its momentum rocked back the other way. The entire half gallon of ice water went all over Markus. He jumped up from the shock. The cold was breath-taking.

            Before what had just happened registered in his head, Renee was hollering at the server, who was mortified and in agony with guilt. Markus shook off the cold, and started dabbing himself dry with the napkin. It was useless, he was drenched. Renee was rocketing through a list of insults aimed directly at the poor girl who was starting to shake as she held the tray in her hands. The three of them had the attention of the entire restaurant, including the manager. When he approached and saw what happened, he hurried to the back to grab Markus a few towels. While he was gone, the server started stammering apologies again.

            “Really, it was my fault,” Markus said, “It's okay, just a little bit cold...” He smiled at the girl, trying to assure her everything was okay, but Renee didn't take that well. She popped one hip out and stood with her arms crossed against her chest. She glared back and forth between Markus and the server. When the server glanced at the subtle muscles showing through the wet, white shirt Markus wore, Renee snapped.

            “What?” she almost screamed at the waitress, “Did you get him all wet just to check him out some more?” When the young girl looked at Markus in horror while shaking her head, Renee continued her verbal assault. “Stop looking at my date!” she yelled. Markus was just as surprised by her outburst as the server was, and stepped between them, still dripping water from his brow.

            “Renee, please,” he begged. “It really was my fault. I threw my arms out like a jack ass and hit the tray. If she didn't have such good balance, it would have landed all over the guy behind me.” Markus glanced at the gentleman seated at the table behind them who, like everyone else, was staring at the chaos. “I doubt that she was trying anything underhanded,” he continued. Then, he looked at the server, “I'm sorry, really. I'm very sorry.”

            By then, the manager had returned with towels, but Renee was far from over with her tirade. She glowered at Markus, “Are you calling me a liar?” Then she looked at the manager and wagged her finger at them all when she spoke, “I saw this girl trip on the carpet and dump that pitcher of water all over him.” The manager began a speech-like apology, but Renee just wasn't hearing it. She shook her head in disbelief at Markus for being such a push-over. She yelled a few more insults their way, and then picked up her glass of water from the table. Without warning, she looked at the waitress, sweetly but with malice, and said, “Here! How do you like it?” With that, she threw the water into the girl's face. She didn't skip a beat when she turned to Markus and tossed the glass towards his face. He caught it from careening to the floor, but not before it made painful contact with his lip.

            Markus stood astounded along with the manager, server and other patrons. Renee continued spewing venom as she pulled out her cellphone and pulled up a screen which she showed to Markus. It displayed his phone's signature, and she said, “I'm sending you Maritess' home info. Call her there and tell her not to set me up with wimpy lawyers anymore. You people are pathetic!” When she walked out the door, Markus was left to deal with the awkward mess that had been their date. He paid the bill, tipped the server outrageously and set off for the bus stop, angry, dejected and in pure shock from the evening's events.

            When he boarded the bus and sat down, he looked at his cellphone. He clicked on the message Renee had sent. It was Maritess' home phone number, but also all of the information in her contact file. Apparently, Renee's phone wasn't smart enough to differentiate which fields to send, and which not to. Markus stared at her address. It wasn't too far away from his home. An evil laugh chuckled out of him as he considered just stopping by to let her know how the date had gone. His lip was throbbing, and he tasted blood when he licked the modest wound. He stared out the window for a few more moments, and watched the street signs fly past. He knew the route by heart, and noticed the next one coming up was Maritess' street. Without another thought, he pulled the cord and the bus came to a stop to let him off.

…

            A short walk landed him at her doorstep. Her building was locked, but he was able to coattail in on the heels of another resident. He found her apartment on the third floor, and rang the buzzer. He heard a shuffle inside, and music cut off. There was the sound of coats moving across the door, and he could almost feel Maritess looking at him through the peep hole. Markus leaned towards the tiny, glass fish eye so that she wouldn’t be mistaken about who was at her door. A moment later, the padlock clicked and the handle turned. Maritess opened the door and stuck her head out.

            “I should call the cops,” she said calmly, “How did you find out where I lived?” Then, she took a better look at his face. “What happened to you?” she asked as she opened the door to let him in. Markus didn’t travel farther than the tile of her landing before he spun back around to her. Maritess closed the door, but didn’t lock it. She stood with her arms tucked into her hoodie’s pocket, and glanced nervously around her apartment. She seemed to summon her senses, and looked up at him expectantly.

            “So the date with Renee,” he said excitedly, “went
awesome
. This time, I actually did get assaulted!” He gestured to his split lip. Maritess clapped her hand over her mouth in amazement. Her brows were raised high above glistening eyes, and she spoke through her fingers.

            “Oh my gosh! What happened?” she asked as she gestured for Markus to sit down at the kitchen table. He sat and recounted each step in the sequence of events from Renee’s arrival to her exit. Maritess was dumbfounded. She slid a first aid kit across the table to him. “Sorry,” she said, “I didn’t become a doctor because blood really creeps me out.” Instead of watching while he cleaned up his lip, she made them some tea to share. A few sips of warmth passed between them, and Markus started talking again.

            “So what makes you as crazy as your friends? Do you have bodies hiding in your freezer, or something?” he joked. Maritess laughed and shook her head.

            “I don’t think I am that crazy,” she replied, “I mean, I am crazy about some things. My dog, Tike, is around here somewhere. I’d kill someone for hurting him, but other than that, not much pushes me to the point where I’d throw a glass at someone’s face. Sorry about that, I didn’t know Renee was that aggressive. She always seemed so mellow to me. Probably because her gallery always smelled like herb, but, you know, whatever.”

            Markus looked defeated to Maritess, and it tugged at her heart a bit. She decided not to be so mean to him anymore, especially since she wasn’t being paid as his trainer at the moment. However, she still felt her point was valid. She really had no idea that her friends were so crazy around men, but she guessed that was what came from not really being too involved in social circles. Yet, on paper, they had been everything that Markus swore he was looking for in a perfect woman. She tried again to make him understand her side of things.