Hooked

2

When Cassidy woke up the next day, she had a destination in mind– Heading to Cupid’s Curse. Luckily, there was a branch thirty minutes away and she was determined to call off whatever Anita had done. When she parked her car in a free spot, she grabbed the printed out copy of the email she had received, as well as the email Anita had sent.

She glared at the building across the parking lot with irritation. The building was a two three story, skyscraper-like structure with gray walls and tinted windows. Above the revolving doors was the company’s logo which was a red bow and arrow with a heart edge and underneath it was the company’s name. The numbers of people that walked in and out of the building made her wonder just how popular the place was.

With a huff, she got out of the car, locked it and marched toward the building. She still could not believe that Anita could do such to her. Even when she had called her sister, demanding why she would do such a thing without her consent. Anita only laughed and blocked her number which irked Cassidy more than she was already.

Once she got into the building, she stopped at the entrance of the place and looked around the red and white themed lobby. There were people in pairs walking here and there looking happy. The love in the air unnerved her to some point. She scoffed and was about to walk over to the receptionist desk on the left hand side of the lobby when someone bumped into her from behind, making her move to the side.

"Excuse me," she heard a masculine voice say right behind her, which made her turn in offense as to why he could not apologise. But the moment she turned, she only saw his back as he made his way to the receptionist desk.

“Some people really don’t have manners,” she said under her breath and watched as he spoke animatedly to the young woman behind the desk who looked like her eyes would fall out with the way they were wide.

Remembering what brought her to the place, she walked up to the desk and slapped her piece of paper on the smooth surface of the desk which got the attention of the man beside her and the woman.

"Excuse me," she said. "I would like to speak to your boss."

The young woman swallowed and glanced between her and the man before slowly picking up her telephone.

"Hello, Ruth? Can you meet and handle the complaints of match 6447? Thank you," she ended the call and smiled.

Her statement set confusion within Cassidy. The number she mentioned had her even more worried.

"Wait, who amongst us are you referring to as match 6447? How many matches are you people creating here?! Is this even legal?" Cassidy questioned as anger moved through her whole body. Just the thought of her being match 6447 irked her.

"Haha, well. You see..." She grabbed a red tablet off the desk which had the company's logo on its back and scrolled through it. "Both of you were matched."

The words from the woman made Caasidy freeze. From the corners of her eyes, she could see the way the man straightened. Slowly, Cassidy turned her head to stare at the man who was glaring at the receptionist.

Looking at the man, even from his side view, he was good looking. With a sharp jawline, straight nose and an Adam apple that bobbed when he parted his lips. Her eyes went to his lips, which were plump and parted before drifting upward to the way his brown locks were swept backward with some stray locks hanging over his forehead and some brushing his ear.

When she realized she had been ogling him, she looked down only to notice just how fit he was even through his suit. He was tall, two heads taller than she was with a body that showed he worked out a lot.

"What did you just say?" The man asked, cutting Cassidy off her dazed state. "Look, I cannot get married to a stranger. This was against my will."

Cassidy took a deep breath and looked at the woman with a forced smile on her face.

"Direct me to Ruth," she said and the woman nodded then walked out of the desk.

Cassidy side-glanced the man beside her and walked behind the receptionist until they got to an elevator.

"It's the second floor and once you get there, you'll see Ruth at the desk. Just tell her you're match 6447," she said in her light voice after pushing the button on the wall then walked away from the couple.

Once the doors opened, Cassidy walked in with the man close behind. She turned around in the elevator and stayed put, not wanting to get too close to him. She was already feeling a slight attraction for him, which she needed to put an end to.

As the doors closed, the elevator suddenly felt too small for her. His musky and masculine-like scent filled up the space. She eyed him from the corner of her eyes and saw him typing away on his phone. When he started to raise his head, she looked away and faced forward.

“When we get to Ruth, we will let her know that we do not want this marriage. I do not understand why you got so desperate to settle down like this.” He scoffed.

Cassidy felt anger rise in her and turned her head to glare at the man.

“Who said I wanted this marriage? I don’t want this marriage either. Who do you think you are to assume that about me and call me desperate?” She scoffed and crossed her arms, facing away to glare at the doors.

A few seconds later, the doors opened and she rushed out. She hurriedly started making her way toward a desk similar to the one in the lobby. As she walked to the desk, she rolled her eyes at the display of affection from some couples in the large waiting area. She stopped in front of the desk where a blonde haired woman sat, scrolling through her tablet.

"How may I help you?" Ruth asked while her eyes stayed glued to the tablet.

"I'm here for match 6447 complaint," Cassidy said and the man stood beside her.

"I'm sorry but every information concerning both parties has been locked into the company's database and every newly matched individual cannot be changed until two years. Thank you," the woman said robotically, like she had been rehearsing her lines for long and repeating it to many others like them.

Cassidy exchanged a dry look with the man then glanced at the woman behind the desk.

"So, you're telling me that I cannot decline this?" The man asked in a deeper voice.

"Sir, you applied for a spouse online and in the form, there is a section where you had options between a girlfriend, boyfriend, sugar daddy, sugar mommy, wife or husband. What I don't understand is this complaint. I am sure you made the right choice," Ruth responded in an exhausted manner and glanced between the both of them.

"Well, I didn't fill the form, miss," Cassidy said and gritted her teeth when she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, sure. Like I haven't heard a lot of these lies before.” She sighed and eyed them both before speaking, “What I mean is, a lot of people come back complaining when they find out how ugly or unattractive their partners are. But in this situation, you two are hot. So, please, if you don't mind."

Cassidy looked over her shoulder when she pointed between them. Behind her was a couple who waved with cheeky smiles on.

"Hold on. How are we engaged?" He asked and Cassidy nodded, turning her gaze back.

"Your engagement ring should be in your mailbox by now, ma’am and sir, the marriage will be prepared when you two pick a date. And yes, you're engaged to each other. I thought you two already knew this?" Ruth asked incredulously.

"Because we didn't fill those forms!" Cassidy hollered and gripped the sides of her hair.

"And all of these are free and legal?" He asked and Ruth laughed softly.

"Why would any of this be free? To apply for a wife or husband costs $15,000 each. And the money is used to host your marriage, plus the rings are free since we manufacture them. This business is legal and has the government's approval. Now, excuse me while I attend to others."

Cassidy was in shock as she tried to understand why Anita would spend such an amount on her just to see her happy with a total stranger. Even though Anita worked as a model for different clothing lines and brands, she did not need to spend such an amount on her.

"Where are you going?" She heard her supposed husband ask. That was when she realized that she had walked away and was standing close to a water dispenser by the wall.

"Leave me alone," she said and looked away when he stood in front of her, making his scent invade her sense of smell.

"Look, we have to do something about this and I was thinking of speaking to my lawyers about this–"

She refrained from rolling her eyes. She gave him a once over and wondered if he was a businessman from the way he spoke. She waved her hand at him, not knowing his name.

“Eric Sanders,” he said and she nodded curtly.

"Listen, Eric Sanders. Do you think it's easy to walk out of something like this? This company obviously has the law with them and my sister filled that form and accepted every terms and conditions applied and so did whoever filled yours too. There is probably some clause somewhere that will make it hard for us to get what we want. We can't do anything about this but the only thing we can do is stay away from each other," Cassidy said and ran her fingers through her hair..

"Absolutely not," a third voice was heard which made the duo snap their heads over to a gray haired man who was dressed in a white sweatsuit. He had a receding hairline, round face and a thick body.

"And you are?" Eric asked.

"I am Charles Holmes and I own this place. Nice to meet you two," Charles said with a smile. "You must be one of those couples who don't accept your selected partners."

Cassidy snorted. "Oh, please. I wouldn't have anything to do with this company if my sister had not filled out one of your forms in my name."

Charles chuckled. "Oh, that's sad because we've had similar cases and we really can't do anything about it but to let Cupid play its part."

The nonchalance in his voice irked her even more. She was one step away from finding something to scream into.

"How much do you need to let us go?" Eric asked while pulling out a checkbook.

Cassidy nodded. "For the first time, I'm agreeing with this man here."

"You mean your soon-to-be husband?"

"Man." Cassidy raised a single eyebrow.

Charles shrugged. "You won't be saying that after a few months. Huh?" He wiggled his brows which made her visibly cringe.

"I don't have the time and mind for a marriage, this has to be illegal," Eric reasoned while Charles picked invisible threads off his sweatshirt. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry but you accepted our terms and conditions. One of them is getting divorced after two years. There's nothing we can do. You're getting married and that's final according to the contract. We weren't forcing you in the first place," Charles said and walked past them.

"We didn't even fill your stupid form!" Cassidy hollered at the man who waved his hand over his shoulder.

"We get that everytime," Charles replied and stopped in front of a couple.

"I feel like tying a rock to my ankle and jumping into the ocean because I will never marry you, Eric," she said grimly and tossed him a glare.

"Do you think I want to f*****g marry you? You already seem like a piece of f*****g work. Lord knows why your sister signed you up for this." Eric shot back.

Cassidy gasped. "What the f**k did you just say?”

Eric ignored her and began to walk away, leaving her gaping with her mouth open.

"Where the hell are you going?" Cassidy demanded and marched after Eric then she stopped in front of him. "You aren't going anywhere until we fix this ourselves."

Eric rolled his eyes and stared down at her.

"Okay, let's go settle this, since it seems you really want to get married to me," he replied and took her hand then walked toward the elevator.

At the back of her head, she felt as though nothing good would come out of this.