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

the woman you keep describing probably doesn’t exist. If you ask me, any woman who holds all the qualities you’re looking for is bound to have at least one challenging flaw. And, let’s face it, you have a difficult time with difficult challenges…” Maritess let her voice trail off. Even though she was trying to be nice, as usual, it didn’t come out that way.
     
                Thankfully, Markus caught her true intention and ignored the harshness of her words. He shook his head, and stared out the window. It was open, even though the nights were growing colder as winter approached. The chill was comfortable, invigorating, and held a nice contrast to the warm mug of tea in front of him. Maritess was a vision in purple as she sat with her back to her sparsely furnished living room. Her place was clean and tidy. Soon, Tike came sniffing around for dinner. The dog seemed indifferent to Markus’ presence. Maritess poured some food in a bowl for him, and welcomed Markus to sit with her on the couch.
     
                “I still think true love exists,” he said. Maritess rolled her eyes and interrupted him before he could take his thought any further.
     
                “Markus, that’s ridiculous!” she implored, “Look, fine, if you want to call it true love, then fine. But that’s like a Pagan and a Christian debating the existence of a unifying force within the universe. I think, personally, that they’re arguing over the different names to call the same thing. I will concede that two people can get to a point where they truly love one another, but I don’t think that it comes immediately in the form of some ridiculous notion, like love at first sight, or something.” She looked into his eyes to make sure he was still following her before continuing, “It’s just that you’re pouring all your energy into pursuing something that just doesn’t exist. You will not just find the perfect woman. You could have made it work with any of my friends, but you chose not to. That’s what I think is ridiculous. People can’t just come out and take responsibility for the fact that they don’t want to work too hard at things. Walking down the street, seeing someone and instantly falling in love, only to find out that they perfectly match you in every way possible; well, that’s just not going to happen.” Maritess finished her speech, and waited for Markus to reply.
     
                His eyes were hard, and his brow was furrowed. Markus had so many thoughts and emotions clamoring to get out first, but he could only sit there and stare at her while his mind was bound like traffic in a bottle neck. There was concern in her face, and a twinge of guilt like a messenger delivering bad news. The pity in her expression was what elicited the rage in his, as if she were somehow more evolved for having come to the conclusion that true love does not exist. Markus felt his heart rate rise, which was something he had gotten accustomed to being aware of during his training sessions with her. He searched his soul for a way to make her understand. He couldn’t wrap his brain around the thought of a woman of her beauty not having the capability to feel love. He watched her as she absent-mindedly scratched Tike behind his ears. He could sense the tension as it built between them in response to his silence.
                A million times a moment, it seemed, Markus failed to conjure something to say. He ran his fingers through his hair, and shook his head. Maritess just looked at him, completely clueless as to what he would do next. More than anything else, Markus felt frustration. There was no way that he would be able to let her prove him wrong on love. He needed love, he needed that goal in his life. To Markus, this life wasn’t worth anything if there was no one with whom to share it. He took Maritess by the hand, and tried again to say something. Again, words failed him. Markus