Christina patted her lips with the cloth napkin she kept folded in her lap, looked up and smiled at him, “Are you kidding? I’ve eaten nearly all of it,” she said, emphatically with a dismissive laugh.
Markus laughed in return, and replied, “Oh, no you haven’t. Christina, you only nibbled at your broccoli.” He smiled at her, but felt a pang of insecurity when she didn’t continue smiling back at him. Christina placed the napkin beside her plate, put her elbows on the table and clasped her hands beneath her chin. She looked at him. Her blue eyes were now steely and ice-cold.
“Markus, some women have to meticulously watch the calories they consume,” she said. The alcohol had gone to her head, and Markus grimaced at her slurred words. He tried to protest, but she continued, “It’s okay, most men don’t understand that you can’t have a woman who looks like this and lick her plate clean. I bet you want me to order cheesecake for dessert, too, huh?” Her voice was low and raspy, not delicate and light as it had been before. She clenched her hands so tightly that her manicured nails were making indentations on her skin. Markus sat back in his chair, hoping to diffuse the situation.
“Christina, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just enjoying your conversation so much that I even forgot to eat at times myself…” he stammered and trailed off. Christina was doing her best to control herself, but she was dripping with anger. Without warning, she threw the napkin at Markus and stood up. She teetered, and almost lost her balance. Markus rose to catch her elbow.
She steadied herself, and glared into his eyes. “Thank you for dinner,” she said. Then, she turned and left. Markus sat back down in disbelief. He felt guilty, offended, but most of all he was angry at Maritess. Sure, Christina was beautiful and successful. She liked to travel, and had more than enough of the other qualities Markus was searching for in a woman, but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around her behavior. He liked to drink, but he didn’t drink like she did. He looked again at her plate. It was, except for the broccoli, completely untouched. He thought that the darned woman would have done her body better had she eaten the steak instead of the bottle or so of wine. Markus shrugged his shoulders, and asked the server for two boxes; one for his leftovers, and one for hers. He paid the tab, and caught the next bus home.
…
CHAPTER 7
Markus was fuming by the time he walked into the gym for his next session with Maritess. The date with Christina hadn’t worked out any better than any other dates he’d been on, and he had a mouthful to say when he saw his trainer. She tossed a towel at him, and spoke before he could get any words out himself.
“So, you told Christina that she should eat more?” Maritess asked accusingly. Markus let his jaw hang open, and shook his head.
“No, that is not what happened. Maritess, your friend may be a little nuts,” he said. Maritess huffed at him in disgust.
“She is not nuts, she is ultra-conscious about her body image. I thought you wanted someone who could climb mountains with you. She would have been perfect for that,” Maritess said as she defended her friend.
“Yea, well she wouldn’t make it too far up the mountain if all she ate was half a cup of broccoli for dinner the night before,” Markus complained to her as they mounted their treadmills to warm up. “Not to mention, she killed more than a bottle of wine. And, you know, maybe I want someone who is, I don’t know, a little…,” he held his hand up to his shoulder, “shorter, maybe.”
Maritess looked at him as if he were an alien walking next to her. “Her height? You have a problem with how tall she is? Are you kidding me?” she asked.
“No! Well, yes, but no. Maybe just someone who would punch me in the stomach when she gets angry drunk instead of in the face…” he answered. His expression was desperate, and Maritess couldn’t help but laugh.
When they finished their warm up and entered the weight room, Markus habitually went over the rack of small hand weights by the mirror. “Not this time, skinny man,” Maritess mocked. He hated it when she called him that, especially after he had respectfully asked her to stop. She stood at a bench press, and was putting weights on either end. “Let’s see how you do with these.”
Markus was all too excited to start. This is what he had envisioned when he fantasized about succeeding at the gym; pumping some real iron. He thought he might impress Maritess, but as usual, she made things as difficult for him as possible. She made him go slowly, excruciatingly slowly. She added weight gradually, which made it that much harder for him to continue. To his surprise, it hurt worse when she started taking weight off the dumbbell. She repeated to him over and over again that building muscle hurts. A physique wasn’t something you bought, it was something you worked at. When she was finally finished torturing him, they cooled down and went to the juice bar for refreshments.
“So,” she said, “still believe in looking for true love?” Markus nodded his head yes. Maritess continued, “Well then, I’ve got someone else for you to look into. I don’t think she drinks much, at least I’ve never seen her drunk. And she’s shorter, so you shouldn’t have to worry about any face shots if you piss her off. Other than that, she has the same qualities you’re looking for. You should meet her for lunch today.”
Markus was immediately leery of accepting another date that Maritess was involved with, but a part of him really wanted to prove her wrong. He accepted, and went off to work with a number in his hand and plans for lunch that day.
…
Markus told his boss that he had a dentist appointment that day and needed extra time at lunch. It was more believable than the fact that he had a date. He had spoken with Maritess’ friend, Melissa, over the phone, and they had plans to meet just outside a café tucked inside a shopping plaza. When Markus arrived, he didn’t see anyone that fit Melissa’s description sitting outside, so he took a seat to wait. A moment later, he heard a voice ring out over the small courtyard amidst the shops.
“Hey, are you Markus?” she called from the entrance of a store. Markus looked over, a little shocked and waved. He got up and walked towards her.
“Hi,” he said, “Yea, I’m Markus. Melissa, I take it?” He shook her hand, and they smiled at one another. Markus was just about to suggest they head over to the café when she cut off his thought.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” she asked him bluntly. Markus shrugged and muttered something about his work dress code. Melissa just shook her head, short brown hair tousled around her shoulders. “Well, that won’t work. Let’s get you into something better.” Without waiting for a confirmation from him, Melissa turned and walked back into the store. Markus, not knowing what else to do, followed her into the boutique. She was already standing at a rack of men’s shirts, and had one in her hand. She gave it to Markus when he approached.
“This should fit, go try it on. Do you like it?” she said. Markus only nodded, and rambled on with some notion of appreciation. In the dressing room, he was disappointed with himself that he was allowing this woman, whom he had just met, to pick out his clothes. Maritess sure had some weird friends, he thought. He was contemplating just calling off the date and canceling his membership with the club, but felt a strong sense not to do so. Maybe these women were just atypical. Since what he had been trying obviously hadn’t worked out for him, maybe he should just trust the help and go along with it. He shook his head at his reflection in the mirror. The shirt did look good on him. He pulled the tag, and left the dressing room.
Melissa was standing at the counter, and waited for him to purchase his new shirt. He stuffed the old one in the bag, and ushered for them to leave. Melissa just grimaced, and took the bag from his hand. She pulled his work shirt from it and folded it on the counter. She raised an accusing eyebrow at him as she put it back in the bag. She handed it to him, and he followed her over to the café.
Melissa was the type of woman who demanded excellence in everything that surrounded her. Her attitude over lunch made that explicitly clear to Markus. S
he corrected him on his pronunciation when he ordered, she chastised him when he left his napkin on the table, and ceaselessly brought attention to his posture and grammar mistakes. By the end of the meal, Markus’ nerves were fried, and he felt unsure of where to even put his foot as he began his next step. Thankfully, Melissa didn’t seem to notice his discomfort as she pleasantly chatted his ear off about her job in fashion distribution. Markus marveled at the passion she had for her profession, but still couldn’t shake the controlling air she carried with her. He counted down the minutes until their date was over. She hugged him goodbye, and, like a jerk, he promised to call. As he made his way back to his office, he stressed over how he would explain this one to Maritess.
…
CHAPTER 8
When Markus saw Maritess at their next session, she was as happy as a clam, and satisfied with herself for making a match. Markus smiled when she declared that his and Melissa’s date had been a success. For a moment, Markus wrangled with the idea of just accepting Melissa, and going along with the excitement Maritess was exuding, but just couldn’t. Especially since Maritess was so proud of herself for ‘winning’ their bet. “See, true love is not something you look for. You two are just perfect for each other. No magic involved,” she crooned as she led him to a treadmill after stretches. Soon, she was simply rubbing the achievement in his face, and Markus decided he couldn’t let her maniacal giddiness go on any longer.
“Yea,” he said, “Melissa sure was great. Except that she expected everything around her to be great, too… Including my grammar, my posture and, oh yea, my attire! She made me buy a new shirt.” Maritess looked up at him when she caught the hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“You don’t like Melissa, either?” she asked slowly. Markus looked down into her green eyes as he answered her.
“I like her, I just think that she would drive me completely insane if I had to, you know, live with her… or see her on any type of regular basis,” he pleaded. Maritess could have shoved him off the treadmill right in the middle of the club.
“So, Christina was too tall and Melissa was too refined for you, is that it?” she snapped as her hands were balled into fists on her hips. Markus was starting to get angry with her. The heart monitor on the treadmill was starting to blink at him. He was letting his legs take the brunt of his aggression, and he upped the speed on the machine.
“No! No…,” he yelled in a whisper, “I didn’t…not like Christina because she was too tall. She got too drunk and I could tell she wanted to punch me in the face. Not to mention, she spent the entire time talking about her travels, but never once mentioned another person other than random people she met along the way. And Melissa! Melissa even asked the server at the café to turn the heat up because she was ‘chilly’,” he said and he mocked a shudder to express his distaste. “Yea, so they’re both drop dead gorgeous, successful, educated, athletic, and all the other things I told you about, but those characteristics were deal breakers for me. And, like you said, this is about me, right? Well, Me wants a woman who won’t drink instead of eat, won’t get drunk and angry, be accepting of other people’s speech patterns and posture, and maybe… maybe if she’s cold, she’ll put on a sweatshirt because she doesn’t mind being a bit chilly.” Markus almost growled when he was done, and upped the speed even farther on the treadmill.
Maritess stared at him for a moment. His endurance level had increased tenfold, and he powered on the treadmill like a horse across an open range. For a moment, Maritess felt a twinge of guilt for setting him up to have such a bad time. She knew her friends had flaws, but she thought they were small enough for him to look over. It was only a moment more before the defiance surged back up to her surface. He thought that, somehow, a perfect woman would just waltz into his life. Maritess couldn’t help but feel like she was looking at the stupidest man on the planet.
“You know what I think, Markus?” she didn’t wait for him to voice the anger that shot out when he looked at her. “I think you’re procrastinating. I think you’re just looking for reasons to reject these women because you don’t want to do the hard work of actually building something meaningful. Again, like I said, and I’m proving to be right, there is no such thing as a quest for true love! What you’re looking for doesn’t exist. Sure, the girls have their flaws, but that doesn’t make them not worth someone like you,” she remarked in her typical, arrogant and matter-of-fact tone.
Markus held all of his muscles taut to control the rage she had triggered in him. He looked at Maritess. As beautiful as she was, she elicited such frustration, such unadulterated anger within him that he just couldn’t stand to be in her presence for a moment longer. He stopped the treadmill and hopped off. He leaned down closer to her and said, “Maritess, I’m canceling my membership. You are the most ridiculous person I have ever met, and you are just as crazy as your friends. Thanks for the help, but goodbye.” Markus turned to stalk off towards the locker room. Maritess stood there, and forced herself not to look around at all the gym members who were no doubt staring at her.
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 qu
ality 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.
No Such Thing As True Love Page 3