Page 9 of Certified Heartthrob

“I have to be honest with you about something, Sydney.”

“Oh, no,” she groaned. “You’re married?”

“No! No way. Not married.” I shifted in my seat. “I just...well, I’m not really looking for a relationship.”

Her face wrinkled. “You’re not? Then why are you dating?”

“Because I don’t think anyone should be looking for a relationship. I guess you could say I’m sort of an anti-love prophet, and I use dating as my window to spread the gospel of giving up on romance.”

She was looking less amused by the second. “So...you’re crazy?”

“I think it’s the rest of you who are crazy,” I huffed.

“Then how is it any of your business?” she argued. “If people want to be crazy and go on believing in love, why do you need to waste everyone’s time trying to prove it otherwise? Why not just go on with your own life—loveless and alone?”

I laughed awkwardly. “I’m not loveless or alone. I have plenty to keep me busy and plenty of great friends and family whom I love...who love me in return.”

“Go do that, then. And leave the rest of us alone,” she scoffed, grabbing her purse from the back of her chair.

I watched as she stormed off towards the front of the restaurant, but this time I felt guiltier than I ever had before. I should have ripped the band-aid off fast in the beginning, rather than get her hopes up through the whole dinner.

I couldn’t resist running after her, chasing her out onto the sidewalk. “Sydney! Wait. I’m sorry, I really am. I should have been more honest with you about why we’re both here tonight.”

“You know what your problem is?” she scolded me, spinning around on her heels. “You’re hell-bent on ruining love for everyone else just because you’ve been burned. That’s easier for you than admitting that you got hurt. Or that maybe you’re the one who’s actually the problem.”

My stomach churned. In the months after my ex left me, I had done nothing but blame myself as “the problem.” Until one day, I had the epiphany thatshereally was the problem. She could have just left me after all...rather than sneak around behind my back for over half of our relationship. I still wondered, if I hadn’t caught her, if the truth would have ever come out.

“I can admit I got hurt,” I replied. “Just as easily as I can admit it’s mind-boggling to watch all of you running around and diving headfirst into anything you can remotely pass off as love, knowing you’re just going to keep getting hurt over and over again.”

“Because it’s worth it! Did you ever think of that?” Her eyes burned into me and she crossed her arms.

“What?”

“We know the risk of getting hurt. But the way it feels before that...it’s worth it. And still worth it to risk it again. We’re the brave ones, Mark. And you’re just a bitter old coward.”

She huffed off down the sidewalk before I could say another word, leaving me there, speechless. But her words echoed through my mind all the way home.

It wasn’t the first time a woman had gone off on me, but something about Sydney doing so really struck a nerve. Maybe beneath my angry defensiveness, I would find an ounce of truth in what she said, but all I wanted to feel that evening was rage.

The moment I got home, I jumped onto my computer and started firing off on a new document. I typed up my next review…

Heartstring execs will go through extraordinary lengths to try and prove they care about their customers and their hopeless, useless quests for love. But the truth is their facades are no better than the rest of the singles out there...saying and doing whatever it takes to win you over, only to disappoint you when it comes down to it. We’ve all fallen for it. Take Lucas Meadows for example. He conned everyone into believing he was engaged to his true love. Right when his fiance was going to expose their lie, he pops up and conveniently claims his feelings were real the entire time. He did what he had to...to deceive all of us and keep us buying into his false promises of real romance. Lucas didn’t feel compelled to do any of this until you, the media and Heartstring’s followers, called him out on his own lack of a partner in true love. So, what about his siblings?

I have it on good authority that some execs are claiming they do have a love life that is just kept private. Is such a thing even possible anymore? I challenge all of you...Find the proof of these alleged love lives or disprove them. I am betting that the moment we call out the rest of the Meadows on their own lacking love lives...a few more “arranged marriages” will start popping up. —Mark Silver

I wish I could say I felt better after posting it, but I didn’t. I felt compelled to keep going until something soothed the nagging feeling in my chest. Posting it on the Heartstring app wasn’t enough. I pulled up the email addresses for all the major gossip columnists in the city and fired it off to them, too, with corresponding links that told the story of the convenient Lucas Meadows marriage.

But the twisting feeling in my gut persisted all through the night. By the next morning, when I saw that many of the gossip sites had chosen to publish what I sent...and were now posing many hard questions of their own...the uneasiness I felt was topped off with guilt.

Regardless of her true motivations, all Camille had tried to do was set me up with someone. And what had I done in return? Dragged her company and family’s names through the mud. I didn’t think not mentioning her directly would make that any better.

Sitting in front of my computer, I raked my hands down my face and felt furious with myself. What was wrong with me? Had my mission against romance gone too far? And then I felt it...the ounce of truth beneath all that anger at Sydney’s words. Only it did nothing to make me feel better. I only felt worse.

5

Camille

Ihad no choice but to return to Mark’s front door and wait for him. After siccing the gossip columns on us, he’d stopped answering my phone calls and messages. All I’d tried to do was help, and all it got me was one big, fat negative spotlight on me, my family, and my company.

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