No Such Thing As True Love by A.M. Anderson Read Free Book Online

wound. He stared out the window for a few more moments, and watched the street signs fly past. He knew the route by heart, and noticed the next one coming up was Maritess' street. Without another thought, he pulled the cord and the bus came to a stop to let him off.
     
    …
     
                A short walk landed him at her doorstep. Her building was locked, but he was able to coattail in on the heels of another resident. He found her apartment on the third floor, and rang the buzzer. He heard a shuffle inside, and music cut off. There was the sound of coats moving across the door, and he could almost feel Maritess looking at him through the peep hole. Markus leaned towards the tiny, glass fish eye so that she wouldn’t be mistaken about who was at her door. A moment later, the padlock clicked and the handle turned. Maritess opened the door and stuck her head out.
     
                “I should call the cops,” she said calmly, “How did you find out where I lived?” Then, she took a better look at his face. “What happened to you?” she asked as she opened the door to let him in. Markus didn’t travel farther than the tile of her landing before he spun back around to her. Maritess closed the door, but didn’t lock it. She stood with her arms tucked into her hoodie’s pocket, and glanced nervously around her apartment. She seemed to summon her senses, and looked up at him expectantly.
     
                “So the date with Renee,” he said excitedly, “went awesome . This time, I actually did get assaulted!” He gestured to his split lip. Maritess clapped her hand over her mouth in amazement. Her brows were raised high above glistening eyes, and she spoke through her fingers.
     
                “Oh my gosh! What happened?” she asked as she gestured for Markus to sit down at the kitchen table. He sat and recounted each step in the sequence of events from Renee’s arrival to her exit. Maritess was dumbfounded. She slid a first aid kit across the table to him. “Sorry,” she said, “I didn’t become a doctor because blood really creeps me out.” Instead of watching while he cleaned up his lip, she made them some tea to share. A few sips of warmth passed between them, and Markus started talking again.
     
                “So what makes you as crazy as your friends? Do you have bodies hiding in your freezer, or something?” he joked. Maritess laughed and shook her head.
     
                “I don’t think I am that crazy,” she replied, “I mean, I am crazy about some things. My dog, Tike, is around here somewhere. I’d kill someone for hurting him, but other than that, not much pushes me to the point where I’d throw a glass at someone’s face. Sorry about that, I didn’t know Renee was that aggressive. She always seemed so mellow to me. Probably because her gallery always smelled like herb, but, you know, whatever.”
     
                Markus looked defeated to Maritess, and it tugged at her heart a bit. She decided not to be so mean to him anymore, especially since she wasn’t being paid as his trainer at the moment. However, she still felt her point was valid. She really had no idea that her friends were so crazy around men, but she guessed that was what came from not really being too involved in social circles. Yet, on paper, they had been everything that Markus swore he was looking for in a perfect woman. She tried again to make him understand her side of things.
     
                “So,” she said gently, “as much as I don’t want to say this, I think you should really rethink your whole quest for true love thing that you’ve been stuck on.” Markus looked up at her. He had taken offense, and dared her to continue with the furrow in his brow. She put her hands up in mock defense as she continued, “Look, I’m not saying that you won’t eventually meet a nice girl with whom to settle down, but I am saying that