Hooked

1

"I have told you countless times that I am not interested nor am I ready for anything called a relationship," Cassidy said, the tone of her voice hinting anger, as she rolled her luggage to a stop in her new bedroom of her new apartment. She rolled her eyes at her younger sister who had been annoying her with small talks about relationships ever since she broke up with her boyfriend—Victor.

This was not the first time nor the last time she would raise the topic. Cassidy had been speaking to her sister about a college friend who had gotten married months ago and since then, the topic of how she was single was raised.

Cassidy's mind drifted off as she remembered the first time she first met Victor, how he had been so sweet and so romantic to her. Even when they had started out as friends who had met at a coffee shop, he was always so caring. It made Cassidy fall for his charms because to her, he was the perfect man for her happily ever after. But everything changed when she began to date Victor, he stopped talking to her like when they used to, even when they were friends. The numerous attention he always gave her, reduced. The spark that had generated between them had died and she had felt like he was withdrawing emotionally. After a few months in their relationship, Victor had moved away for work in another state and communication became a big problem between them.

The painful part of her memory with Victor, was that she had given herself to Victor. She regretted ever having s*x with him because at first, she felt that he was going to be her first and last. She thought wrong after two years of their relationship.

One time, she had seen a text thread between Victor and his colleague at work. They had been sexting each other way before she started dating Victor and even during their relationship. One of his messages to her was of him mocking Cassidy. He mocked her experience with s*x, compared the s*x and they had laughed over it through the emojis sent after the texts. Cassidy never felt so disgusted up until that moment. After that very day, she had broken up with him, graduated after a few months and moved away.

I am never going to fall for another stupid man again, she said in her head and sat on her bed then grabbed a pillow. She hugged it and felt her eyes prick from tears as she painfully remembered all the kind gestures Victor had shown her.

Even though two years had gone by, it was hard to believe that someone she had seen as perfect was vile.

"You can't live like this for the rest of your life, Cassidy," her sister said as she took a scoop from her ice cream bowl. The younger woman sat down beside her and patted her back after eating a spoonful of her ice cream. "Victor has moved on and here you are, still letting the effects of the relationship ruin your chances of finding your happily ever after. It's been two years since you broke up with him."

Cassidy frowned and eyed her sister from the corner of her eyes. "It's because he never really loved me at all. Anita, we dated for two years and I really loved him. How am I supposed to not think of that? I had real feelings for him. He was my everything.”

Anita shrugged. "Just forget it. Go out, meet a stranger. Maybe, have a one night stand."

"As if there's some magic wand to help me do that," Cassidy muttered and rubbed her forehead softly. "I just don't want anything to keep me emotionally occupied. I'm happy being free and you, my sister, should mind your business."

Cassidy stood from the bed and walked over to the wardrobe. She pulled it open and stared at the empty wardrobe, trying to look busy so her sister would leave.

"Okay, whatever you say. You're just too boring," Anita said and Cassidy could only roll her eyes. "I'll be out with my friends. So, bye."

Cassidy chuckled as soon as she heard Anita's flip flops scratching the floor. She laughed when the door banged. She knew Anita was pissed. All Cassidy wanted was to focus on building a career for herself and growing into someone different. Being in a relationship was the last thing on her mind.

Cassidy kicked the floor with a pout then crossed her arms aggressively.

"The more I keep forgetting Victor, the more she raises this topic. She's not helping and I pray that wherever that fool is, he's suffering for using me," she said in a deep tone, eyes slitted and lips pursed.

^^^

Sanders Corp.

Eric flipped through the large pages of the document that was before his face, on his large mahogany desk. With furrowed brows and a scowl on his face, he paid complete attention to what he was reading and did not see his secretary walk into the office. He gripped the front of his hair, trying to make sense of what he was reading.

"Ahem!" She cleared her throat which made Eric jerk in fear. "For a moment I thought you were lost in those papers. You need to minimize what you do behind this office door."

Eric sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He picked up a bookmark and placed it between the pages he was reading and closed the large book. He relaxed on his chair and stared blankly at the red haired woman in front of his desk. He didn’t want any disturbance at the moment and he was stopping himself from lashing out at her.

"Yes, Vivian?" He asked and opened the book again then picked up a pen with his left hand. He wrote on the pages, correcting a wrong calculation while muttering why the finance department didn't do their jobs well. He made a mental check to fire some of them. He disliked incompetence at the company.

"Eric, it's 7:23 in the evening. Almost everyone has gone home and you're still in this office," Vivian said and he could hear the anger in her tone. "Close the journal, Eric."

Eric didn't know when Vivian had closed the book and dragged him by his collar until he was out of his seat and standing in front of her.

"Vivian, I'm really busy right now. I can't leave for home until I'm done," he said and silently wished that he didn't share a close relationship with the older woman in front of him.

Vivian had been working for his father for years before he took over. She had been a close friend of his father and behaved like an aunt to him ever since he was in college. While his mother scolded him when he was wrong, Vivian would add hers, making him wish he did not know her.

Eric knew she hated seeing him overwork himself but he had no other choice. He was the only son and had a huge responsibility over his head– the company. It was his inheritance from his father and past grandparents. His father and past grandparents had worked hard to build the company and kept it running and he wasn't going to have it run down through any form of carelessness.

"I'm sorry, Vivian. I'll leave soon," he said and pushed himself away from the scowling woman.

"Soon? Eric, the last time you said this, I met you in this office the following morning. Speaking of that, I'll be sending someone here to take every overnight bag you have here. You can't keep living like this, Eric. You're a young man and young men your age have fun, go to parties and heck, some of you have multiple one night stands. What went wrong when your parents were producing you?" Vivian asked in a grim tone and Eric could only shrug while his eyes were focused on the document he had been reading.

"Uh, why don't you go home, hm?" Eric suggested, waved his hand at her and sat down, only for her to grab the document. "Oh, come on! I have to finish that tonight."

"In this office?" She asked incredulously, the wrinkles at the edge of her eyes became visible as she narrowed her eyes at Eric. "If you don't pack your things and leave, I'll call security."

Eric scoffed. "You can't do that, I'm their boss."

Vivian laughed for a few seconds before she frowned.

"Actually, they don't care. They've been planning that for you. Even your employees worry for you. You may be some cruel and sharp tongued boss, but they have never seen such an overworking person like you," she said and hugged the document tightly to her chest.

The door opened and Eric rolled his eyes at the sight of his close friend. He knew he was not getting out of Vivian’s rant as far as he was here. Eric watched as Hideto, bumped his shoulder with Vivian’s and turned to Eric with a grimace. His eyebrows lifted while he maintained the grimace he had on his face.

"He's working overtime again?" The man asked Vivian in a low tone and she nodded while Eric looked between them in disbelief.

Vivian sighed dramatically. "He works like he's an employee that needs a raise. Tsk."

"Uh, guys. I'm sitting right in front of you, ya' know," Eric interjected and they glanced at him. "I thought you went home, Hideto?"

Hideto tucked his hands into his pockets and smirked at Eric. He glanced at the book in Vivian's arms then glanced at Eric.

"Yeah, I did. I came back because she called me to take you home since you want to be a baby who needs his daddy to take him home. Bro, when are you going to quit being like this and get yourself a girlfriend? Maybe by then you will go home on time to her. Good idea, right?" Hideto asked and Eric got fed up with their talks and quickly stood with his suit jacket.

"I'm going home and I keep on telling everyone of you that I am not interested in any woman because I am a very busy man. Being in a relationship is an absolute waste of time and feelings. I benefit nothing from it. End of topic," Eric said to them as he picked up his laptop and phone, then a journal. He rounded the desk and glared at the book Vivian held. "I'll be going home where I can get some proper working space "

He walked past Vivian who shared a comical look with Hideto. As he got to the door, he heard their muffled voices. In annoyance, he opened the door and stepped out. The last thing he heard before he closed the door was their laughter.

^^^

“See you soon!” Anita said enthusiastically as the doors of the elevator closed.

Cassidy fisted the air, happy at the fact that Anita was finally going away. She was getting tired of her sister and the rest of her family telling her to get a man like it was as easy grocery shopping. She wished they all understood her but it was too bad they didn't. She loved that she was single even though sometimes she craved the affections that came with being with someone romantically.

With a deep sigh, Cassidy walked back into her apartment and closed the door. She smiled and stretched her arms wide in the air.

"Now, I have to continue applying for a job. The rent won’t pay itself,," she said and wanted to head to the kitchen but stopped when she remembered something. "I really need to check my emails, in case those companies I applied for sent something back."

She jogged up the short stairs, through the hallway, into her small bedroom and to the corner of her bedroom where her laptop sat on the top of a small desk. Once she was sitting on the wooden chair by the table, she powered it on and waited for it to boot before she connected to her WiFi. Once connected, she quickly clicked on her emails. She stared at the multiple emails on the screen but one specifically caught her eyes. Cassidy double clicked on the message and furrowed her brows.

"Congratulations, Cassidy Holland. We are wholeheartedly informing you that you have been engaged to be married for two years. We wish you the best of luck with your new spouse," Cassidy read out loud and tilted her head, trying to understand what the email meant.

She read it three more times before looking away from the screen to think. "What the f**k is this?! Is this some sort of spam?’

She looked back at the screen, eyeing the picture of cupid on the sender’s profile before she noticed something else. She moved the arrow to where she saw an email which she did not remember sending to them. When she opened the email thread, she saw every information about her.

"Who the hell did this?!" She yelled then paused. "Haha, I see now. It must have been a spam message...No, it can't be, Cassidy. I sent this email first to Cupid's Curse. What kind of a name is that and when did I email them?”

Cassidy began to wonder if they had been one of the companies she had emailed her resume to but she knew they weren’t as she kept a detailed list of such. At that, she opened a new tab and searched for the name. After a few seconds, she saw the result then read out loud.

“Cupid’s Curse is a company located around the world. They specialize in matchmaking and organizing marriages and romantic occasions for couples paired under their company. The company is over— Wait, what?”

Cassidy went back to the email and the more she read through it, the more she spotted something new. And one of them was her sister’s name.

"Anita!"

^^^

"Congratulations, Eric Sanders. We are wholeheartedly informing you that you have been engaged to be married for two years. We wish you the best of luck with your new spouse," Eric read out the email on his phone in confusion and read it again. He could see that he had sent an email to the company, needing a wife but he did not understand when he did.

Eric locked his phone and stared thoughtfully into space before Hideto walked into his office, humming. He made eye contact with the tall man by the door who had a shady smile on his face.

"What's with that smile?" Eric asked. "Well, that's not important. Look at this.” He waved him over and gave him his phone. "That email just came in but I don't understand where it's from and how my bio was sent to these people. Is this some kind of a scam?"

Hideto pouted. "Oh. They responded on time. Didn't know. Haha." He muttered.

Eric had heard what his close friend had said with furrowed eyebrows until it clicked.

"Fool!"