Page 10 of Certified Heartthrob

Just after ten AM, after he didn’t answer my knock or the doorbell, he finally emerged. But it was obvious he hadn’t expected to see me out there, still waiting.

“You ever heard of stalking?” he huffed when he saw me. “You know it’s every bit as punishable an offense as defamation is.”

“Great. Maybe we can be cellmates,” I fired back, blocking him from going down the steps. “Why’d you do it, Mark? You could have just called and told me what you didn’t like about the date.”

“The date was fine,” he insisted, shoving past me and taking off down the sidewalk.

I took off running after him. “Then what’s your problem!?”

“Dating is the problem, Camille. I’ve told you!”

“Then stop dating!” I shrieked, waving my arms around in the middle of the sidewalk like a madwoman. At least it was enough to get him to stop and look at me. “Get the hell off our app and just stop dating! Why ruin it for everyone else!?”

“I’m only trying to save everyone a lot of heartache,” he said finally, spinning around to continue on his way.

“Oh no, you don’t, buddy.” I chased after him. “You’re not getting off that easy.”

He kept marching at full pace and my legs, short in comparison with his, struggled to keep up. But I ran after him anyways.

“Where are you going!?”

“Soup kitchen,” he stated plainly.

I laughed, thinking he had to be kidding. But he was straight-faced and not slowing down one bit.

“Is that why you’re so bitter? You’re too poor to afford food? Hell, you should have told me. It would have been easier for me to buy you groceries than send you off on another date that was doomed to fail.”

“Ha, real funny. I’m not being served at the soup kitchen,” he replied. “I’m a volunteer there. And if you’re going to follow me in, you best be prepared to put on an apron and pick up a ladle.”

I stopped for a moment, trying to soak up this new information. But I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around it.

“Wait...I didn’t even realize soup kitchens were still a thing.”

“You’re aware worldwide hunger is still a thing, right?” he scoffed.

“Sure...I guess. Well, actually, I never really think about it.”

He stared down at me from the corner while we waited to cross.

“You don’t have to look at me like that.” I sighed. “I know how awful that sounds. I’m busy with work, that’s all. I don’t have time for much else. What do you do, anyways, that affords you the flexibility to work at a soup kitchen in the middle of a Monday morning?”

“You could say I’m retired.” The light changed and he carried on across the crowded street, striding in between the foot traffic.

I quickly scurried behind, dodging other people passing by on the sidewalk. “Retired? But you’re only thirty-five.”

He didn’t bother answering, but I refused to lay off of him. I followed him right up to the doors of the soup kitchen and then inside, feeling more confused than ever about exactly who this Mark Silver guy was.

Three hours later, my feet were killing me. Heels weren’t exactly the best for standing in one place, filling bowl after bowl with steaming beef stew. Aside from Mark and me, there were only two or three other volunteers. It took our small group a long time to serve the hordes of hungry people that lined up outside.

“I guess it’s good I was there,” I offered as we left. “Where were the rest of the volunteers?”

“That was it,” he answered, still not slowing down one bit. His feet took off the moment they hit the pavement and he was well on his way to his next destination...which I could only hope involved some kind of lunch and maybe a cocktail.

But as we carried on, I realized we were going deeper into that side of town...right to the youth center on the corner. I was in disbelief when we started up the front steps.

“Please tell me this place has a bar and a salad menu,” I huffed, out of breath from all the walking. Mark was unamused. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You volunteer here, too?”

“I tutor kids after school,” he said dismissively. “Given all your background in youth business leagues, I’m sure you have a thing or two you can contribute.”

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