Love Quest

I continued to advance further into my career. Now working as a Toddler Coach, my boss wanted me to not only know how to play soccer, but be able to teach others how to play. He seemed to be noticing my hard work, and encouraged me to keep it up.

“The Amateur League is calling your name if you keep doing what you’re doing.” I was beaming ear to ear, “But if you want anyone to take you seriously, you’re going to have to lose the hair do. Change to something a little more… athletic. Something that really shows you for the star you are.”

So, I introduce to you, the new me.

Along with my new found muscular body, I also had discovered a lot of self confidence. My days were melting away and it was time I found myself a lady. With Amber out of the running, I turned to something I have been avoiding; the internet.

I found a really great website and created my profile. I made sure to keep everything honest and truthful with hope that the women I met would do the same.

After paying the monthly fee, I was able to browse some local single ladies. To my surprise, it seemed every single lady in Starlight Shores was on this website. I sent a few messages out to the women I found attractive.

“Lady, here’s to finding me a woman!”

She gave me a big kiss and wagged her tail excitedly.

The next morning, I woke up really early and ran downstairs before I even dressed myself. I was too eager to see if anyone had sent me any replies.

And sure enough, I had a whole inbox full of messages! Clearly, I’m a highly sought after man.

After sending replies back to the ladies, I meandered in the kitchen to make my morning shake. A very high protein substance that helps me build muscle. It looks gross, smells like rotten fish, and tastes even worse. With results like these, I can’t complain.

After choking down my shake, I went and made a couple of frozen waffles to take away the after taste of the horrific shake.

It was leisure day and I didn’t feel like working out. Lady seemed pretty bored being stuck at home all of the time, so I decided to take her for a walk down town. It took way longer than I could have ever imagined. Every little crack and dirt clot on the sidewalk she had to stop and sniff.

That evening, I doused myself in some expensive cologne and headed out to the park to celebrate Leisure day. I was surprised at how many people were already there enjoying the festivities.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a redhead who looked oddly familiar to me. I went over to her and introduced myself.

“Oh my goodness.” She sounded embarrassed, “I’m Catherine, Catherine Best. You are that handsome guy that messaged me on Smatch.” Her face flushed almost the same color as her hair.

Smatch was the dating site that I had been on, and I suddenly realized why she looked familiar, “Ugh, don’t take this the wrong way, but you looked a lot younger in your photo.”

She flushed even more red, “Well, I was.” She sighed heavily, “My marriage is having… troubles. So I made a fake account of my younger self to try to bring a little spice back into my life. I have five kids though, and well, I’m not really looking for a real relationship.” She nodded her head towards a clumsy man skating on the roller rink, “That is my husband. Though he is bald and a wee bit chunky, he is the love of my life. And I’m really sorry for what I did.”

I was a bit confused, but kind of glad she wasn’t interested in me, I’m no cougar chaser. “I guess, have a good day?”

“You too dear!” She ran off and joined her fat bald husband in the rink.

After scanning the crowd for any more eligible ladies, I found a familiar face over by the soccer net.

“Hey you!” Sadie called and ran over when she noticed me headed her way, “Imagine seeing you again. How have you been? You haven’t fallen off anymore treadmills lately have you?”

I laughed and showed her my new guns, “Does this look like the body of a man who falls off treadmills?”

She squeezed my bicep, “Oh definitely not! You look great! Wanna play a little one on one soccer with me?”

Of course, I agreed. That was my intention in the first place. We had a blast taking turns kicking shots at each other. Our athletic skills were not equally matched. I made all but one shot against her, while she never managed to even get one ball past me.

“That was great! We totally should do this again some time. Rich isn’t much of a sports fan.” She said after we decided to quit.

“I’m game for whatever. You are a great motivator, I would be way more than happy to whoop your ass anytime.” She tapped my arm teasingly.

“I’m having a singles party tomorrow if you want to come. Even though I’m not single, but I thought it would be a fun way to try and hook some of my friends up. It’s a pool party, so bring your suit.”

“Sounds great. I’ll be there!”

“Alright! See you around Muscles.” She smiled and headed over to some of the other activities.

I noticed a stunning woman over by the other goal, she was just standing there, watching me. So, feeling all big and tough and manly, I waltzed up to her.

“Like what you see?” I asked in a seductive voice.

She gave me a look like I was stupid, “No, I don’t. I wasn’t even look at you, I was watching for my husband to come back from the restrooms.” She crossed her arms at me.

A quick glance behind me proved that there was a rather large man exiting the bathroom and headed towards me. Nervously, I chuckled, “Of course, right, I knew that.” I turned and walked away, self esteem completely shattered.

The next lady I came across had brilliant green wings protruding from her backside.

“I didn’t realize it was Halloween already.” I joked.

“I could have said the same to you.” The lady teased back at me. “My name is Aurora Martin. I’m a faerie.”

“Faeries aren’t real.” I said, stubbornly crossing my arms and raising my eyebrows.

“Wanna bet! Hold out your hands.” I did as she told me to and she began to pour a fine dust into my palms. “That is faerie dust. Keep it in a jar and use it whenever you need just a bit of magic.”

I thanked the strange lady and walked away slightly more confused that I already had been.

Right after pixie lady exited the picture, I bumped into a beautiful woman. She had stunning green eyes and lovely brown hair. “Hi, I’m Cole.” I held out my hand like and idiot.

I my surprise, she actually shook it. “I’m Mandy, Mandy Best.”

“Are you by any chance related to Catherine Best?”

She laughed a little awkwardly, “Uh yeah, she is my mother.”

“Ah, I see.” I bit my lip.

“Wanna go watch the hot dog eating contest?” She asked, grabbing my hand.

“Yeah, sure, I guess.”

Sadie was there, stuffing hot dogs down her throat. I cheered for her, but sadly, she lost by quite a bit. At least she managed to keep her food down.

After the contest, a light drizzle began sprinkling down on the park. Everyone left, everyone but Mandy and I.

She shuffled her feet a bit before looking up at me, “Would you mind giving me a ride, I don’t have a car.”

“I could… or… you could come to my house?” Sauve, it’s my middle name.

She laughed, “Sure why not!”

I helped her into my car, “Wow, you must be rich or something!”

“You could say that. Does it change how you feel about me?”

“You could say that.” She beamed a smile at me.

When we arrived home, I headed up to bed. I was so tired, I could barely stand anymore. I told Mandy where the guest room was and disappeared up the stairs. Lady didn’t realize that there was an invited guest in the house and to say the least, she wasn’t too happy about it.

Mandy turned out to be a dog person though, and after a quick brushing, Lady had made a new friend.

Mandy found the guest room and settled in for a short nap, which ended up being the whole night.

Lady never left her side.

The next morning, it was still raining. Mandy took Lady outside to play while I made breakfast.

After having waffles, Mandy started flirting with me. I found out she was flirty and instantly, my task of wowing her became easier. She clearly had a strong attraction for me, and I felt it for her as well. We stood in my kitchen and sweet talked each other until I had to leave for work.

I left work early and went over to Sadie’s house for her singles party. What she didn’t tell me was that everyone there was a girl in a bikini.

“It hasn’t stopped raining all day,” She whined at me when I greeted her. “At least you’re here now, so maybe we will have a little fun.”

“So… we are all just going to hang out inside… in our swimming suites?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s still a pool party, just with invisible water?” Her attempt at a joke made me laugh and she smiled at me. “Come, meet my friends!”

Stardust Woods

Sonoko Lee

Pricilla Singh

“That’s all of my single friends. Now let’s party!” Sadie turned on the music and we all started dancing awkwardly.

Pricilla came up to me and started talking loudly over the music. Something about her job and something else. I wasn’t really listening, my mind was thinking of Mandy. I had fun, but seeing all of the single women in their tiny bikinis just made me want to go see her.

The next morning, I woke up to a smoking laptop. I know nothing about computers, but I somehow managed to fix it by banging a screwdriver against it.

(Anyone else notice the weird laptop layout? Normally the mouse pad is below the keyboard.)

I heard a knock at my door. Upon answering it, I was surprised to see Amber standing there all dolled up.

“Hey, Cole!” Her smile was huge and I knew she was about to share with me some good news. “I won’t be here for a couple of weeks, I just wanted to let you know.”

“Why is that?”

She blushed, still smiling, “I’m flying out to Paris to get married! We are going to have a two week honeymoon just outside of Paris in the vineyards. It’s going to be so romantic!”

She gave me a big hug and I held her to me, trying to hold back the sadness that began to consume me. “I’m so happy for you. You really deserve it.”

“I’m going to miss you and Lady so much! But when I come back, I will get straight to work! I know how messy your house gets!” We both laughed.

“I’m going to miss you too, Amber. Just have a great time, I’ll see you in two weeks I guess.”

She gave me another hug and departed.

As I watched her car slip away down the mountain slop, another little piece of my heart chipped off. I had a strong attraction for Mandy, but my heart thought it belonged to Amber. Knowing that she was committing to someone else and that she was forever gone from my spouse pool made it hard to wish her happiness.

I got up at 4 AM the next morning. It was the first day of fall and it was as if the whole world had transformed. The sky was cloudy and grey and everything had a thin lining of frost on it.

Sleep had eluded me during the night and all I wanted to do was take my feelings out on the black and white ball beneath my foot.

After wearing myself out, I decided to go down to the clinic and get my flu shot. The last thing any athlete needs is to catch a cold and be out of practice. Games wouldn’t start again until Spring, but being a soccer player was a full time job. Which by the way, I forgot to mention I had gotten my promotion to Amateur League. I was just a bench warmer, but it was still a good spot to start my incline to stardom.

That evening, I went out to Karaoke night at one of the bars. I never claimed to be a good singer, unlike my grandfather. Even though I was trying my hardest, the bar crowd was just being rude and kept booing me off stage.

At one point, I just stopped singing and said, “Seriously dude, I’m just trying to have fun. Why don’t you go take a long walk off of a short bridge.”

I guess the security people thought I was about to start a fight with the rowdy boo-er and I got kicked out.

While being usher out, I noticed a sign on the bulletin board stating a lady had puppies for free.

I drove over there just to check them out, the ad said they were Greyhound, Giant Schnauzer cross. They had to be hideous. Even though it was 1 AM, the lady graciously let me in, “Oh please, take a look at them! They really need to find new homes, I just can’t keep them. If I had known my boyfriend’s dog wasn’t fixed I would have never brought poor Misty over to his house for a doggy play date!”

The puppies were actually really cute, and in a spur of the moment thing, I took one of them home. The littlest one named Lily.

Lady wasn’t too sure what to make of her new friend. She was scared of her at first, but Lily was a playful little thing and it didn’t take her too long to win over Lady’s affection.

I think Lady was glad to have someone to play with while I was away.