The Cupid Dilemma

Ugh! Is it that time of the year already? Time surely does fly fast! *sigh* But of course, you must be excited, because why not, it’s Valentine’s Day!

Are you wondering why I’m not as enthusiastic as most people would be? Well, try being me on that day and you’ll understand the work pressure I’ll receive. Oh wait, I haven’t introduced

myself yet, haven’t I? Oops!

I’m Cupid, the God of Love, desire, and attraction, and no, I don’t look like a naked baby angel (not anymore!). One time my mom accidentally uploaded my baby pics online, into the human world, and now all of you humans picture me like that, till date! No matter how many times after that I’ve tried to upload the current super-handsome pictures of myself, my Maker just takes it down. I even created an Instagram handle called ‘everyone_loves_cupid’, but sadly we immortals aren’t even given the luxury of a having social media account. How annoying!

Anyways, mustering up my courage, I finally peeked at my high-tech scroll to see how many millions of people I have to shoot today with my love arrows and establish their soulmate bond, and found the numbers to be…what? Surely, I must be seeing things, because it can’t be ONE! Nope, not one million, but just one! My Maker does not have a sense of humour, so either it’s a cosmic error, or I’m hallucinating. Usually I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but this seems too good to be true. Huh, guess I should take advantage of whatever error this is and complete my task.

I tapped on the name in my scroll and his details popped up:

Name : Shawn Kavanaugh

Age : 27

Height : 5’9’’

Profession: IT Head at Carsons Cosmetics Inc.

Location : Brooklyn, New York

I waited for the rest, and the most important details to load on the scroll, like the love interest of his life, their details and so on, but they never appeared. Without those details, I can’t zap them both with my arrows and give them their happily ever after!

Aargh, this is seriously a mess! Pacing around, I was wrecking my brain for a solution…well, there is one actually, but it’s not a preferable one. I can do the good old ways of stalking and

studying my subject (this was way before technology was invented!), but that requires a lot of hard work. I could doom his love life for eternity if I accidentally pair him up with the wrong

person!

With no other option, I teleported myself to my subject’s location and stayed invisible.

Shawn was at his cabin, tapping away furiously at his laptop when a short brunette entered with her laptop. Immediately, he visibly stiffened and I could see the change in his posture. I realised

that the brunette must be his love interest. To be sure, I concentrated on their bond, and voila, I got the tingle that I get around the soulmate pairings. Perfect! Now all I have to do is zap them both with my arrows and be on my way. Hmm, maybe I can have a Hawaiian vacation as well for the rest of the day.

I stood behind Shawn’s desk to eavesdrop on their conversation, but they were just discussing getting access to some marketing software for her, and it was rather uninteresting for me, so I

decided to complete my task and leave.

Taking out my arrow, I first aimed it at the brunette. As expected, she jerked slightly when my arrow hit her heart. However, what I didn’t expect was for her to frown slightly and make her

way towards the exit. That’s not how it’s supposed to work! When I zap my subjects, they will go glassy-eyed and levitate toward their soulmate, and then I zap the soulmate and BAM! Mission

accomplished.

I never miss an aim, but just to be sure, I zapped her again and got the same reaction. Getting desperate, I shot at Shawn too, but nothing changed.

Suddenly, it hit me. My freaking arrows were malfunctioning! First my scroll, now my arrows?! Usually, I’m a calm and composed angel, even during adverse situations, so this shouldn’t be a big issue. I will not panic; I'm Cupid! I don’t need to rely on my tools to complete my tasks. I can make them fall in love all on my own. Sometimes, self-motivation works wonders, you know.

Focussing on the scenario in front of me, I realised that I had to make him ask her out before she left his cabin. So, I sent one of my magical nudges to slightly push his coffee mug to his line of sight, hoping he'd get the cue to ask her on a coffee date. Oh my, looks like he did!

He called her name and said, “Clara, wait a minute!”

She turned, and replied, “Yeah?”

“Uh…coffee…you…(Yes, c’mon Shawn, you can do it!)...um, did you, by any chance, leave your coffee mug here, the last time you came by?”

(Wait, what?!)

“This one? Nope, that’s not mine, but I can take it to the Lost & Found section, and check if anyone reported it missing.”

“Oh, uh, that would be great, thanks”

“Anytime! See you later.”

He mumbled back a quick bye and slumped in his chair after she left.

*sigh* Nope, I will not let this deter me. So, I did something which I haven’t done in the last few hundred years…I revealed myself to the human. Shawn might have felt my presence suddenly, and he glanced around until he noticed me. He did a double take and almost fell out of his chair. Yeah, my sinfully handsome looks do that to people.

“Woah, who the hell are you and when did you come in? Also, why are you wearing a skirt?!”

Affronted, I said, “Firstly, this is a kilt, and in my defence, I don't reveal myself to humans very often, so I forgot about my outfit. I got back from a Scottish wedding earlier, which happened because of me, not that they know, but anyways, I wanted to dress for the occasion.”

“Fine, but again, who are you?”

“Oh right, you didn’t recognise me. I’m Cupid, and I’m here to help you win over Clara.”

Giving me a blank look, he asked, “Is this some kind of a joke? Did Aiden send you to prank me?”

“I wish! You seem to be more difficult than my other subjects, but no human, I can assure you, I’m not pranking. I really am Cupid…The Cupid!”

He was still giving me the I-don’t-believe-you look and appeared seconds away from calling the security.

Sighing, I started showing off my powers by sending small objects flying over his head, turning all his table decorations pink and with little hearts on them, and a few other juvenile stuff which was entertaining for me while I watched his gobsmacked expression. Also, being in a human body, I was beginning to feel the chill, so I transformed my kilt into jeans and a t-shirt.

That shook him out of the trance.

“Oh my God, you are Cupid!”

“Glad that you finally believe me. Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time already. Come, let’s now formulate a plan on how you are going to ask Clara out.”

“Um, before we start, can I just go and collect my coffee mug from the Lost & Found section? It was gifted to me by my grandmother and holds sentimental value” he replied sheepishly.

Did I mention this assignment is hard? *sigh*

“Since I’ve already taken on a human form, I’ve decided to become your.. what is it you humans call it nowadays? Ah yes, wingman! I’m going to be your wingman. All you’ve got to do is follow

my lead.”

Conjuring up a fake work ID, we followed Clara to the Lost & Found section. She spots us immediately and approaches us.

“Hey Shawn, did I leave something behind?”

Before he sprouts gibberish again, I interrupt, “Hi, you must be Clara! Shawn wasn’t kidding about your beauty. You truly are breath-taking.”

Taken aback, Clara looked at me questioningly and then glanced at Shawn, whose face was turning fifty shades of red. Yes yes, who did you think planted that book’s idea into the mortal

world?

I continued, “Oh, my apologies. That was rather abrupt. I’m Colin Mikaelson, the newest member of the PR team. While I was getting my laptop set up, I asked Shawn if he knew anyone I could contact to see if they'd be interested in modelling for our Spring collection posters, and he was telling me about you. So, we came to find you. Would you be interested?”

“Oh, I’m…wow, flattered! That was so sweet of you, Shawn, thank you!” she replied, giving him a warm smile, to which he again just blushed and stood awkwardly. She looked at me and continued, “Yes, I’m interested”.

“Perfect! I’ll look into my schedule and share the shoot timings and other details over an email, once my laptop is fully set up.”

Now that I’ve established the first awareness moment, with Shawn finally having piqued Clara’s attention, I was hoping he’d take this opportunity to ask her out, but boy he continues to disappoint! It appeared as if both of them were content with just exchanging shy glances for the time being. I guess it’s time for a much stronger nudge.

“By the way, could any of you recommend a good coffee shop nearby? I always require my daily dose of a strong latte before starting work.”

Clara broke that ridiculous eye contact moment first to say, “There is a little cafe down the street called ‘My Happy Place’ run by a sweet old couple. The coffee there is amazing, and you must

try their scones as well…Have you tried them, Shawn?”

Amazing! She has given him a great opening to say something flirty like, “Not yet, but I’d love to try them with you after work today”, but sadly, Shawn the idiot, said, “Oh..I haven’t. I’m lactose intolerant”. He seemed to realise how stupid his reply was the moment after he uttered it.

Just when I thought this was a completely hopeless situation, ready to give up and focus my energy on contacting our technical support team to fix my arrows, which would get the job done immediately (trust me, much like your human world, our tech support team too usually takes 24 hours to respond until you start escalating), I felt my scroll and arrows vibrating. Excusing myself, I subtly checked my scroll and was shocked at what I saw!

With no time to waste, I pulled Shawn aside and informed him, “My scroll has been updated now and I’ve got to leave right away. I must let you know though, the moment I leave, all your memories of me as Cupid will disappear, and so will your love match with Clara. Since I was unable to establish and bless your love bond, your cosmic pairing will reshuffle and both of you will be matched with someone else. I’m sorry, Shawn.”

At that moment, I recognised a myriad of emotions crossing his face - disbelief, dejection, denial, and finally, determination.

“How much time do you have left before you leave? What do I have to do to save my bond with Clara? I’m not going to give up on her, Cupid. I’ve been in love with her for the last three years, and I know deep down that she’s the one for me. I don’t want anyone else, please. I’ll do whatever it takes to save this” he said desperately.

“All you need to do is make her accept to go on a date with you. The rest will fall into place…but you need to do it right now. Your time is about to run out” I informed him.

Immediately, he gathered his resolve and stepped towards Clara. I was anticipating his bold declaration of love, when he said, “Clara, can I have that coffee mug back?”

Both of us looked at him with matching confused expressions when he continued, “It’s mine actually. Asking you if that mug was yours was my latest botched attempt at asking you out on a date, and trust me, I've had many such moments with you. Every time I muster up my courage to ask you out, I take one look at your beautiful face, and I forget my words. I make…” but before he could complete his monologue, Clara chimed in excitedly, “Yes, I’d love to go out with you, Shawn.”

While they continued talking, I blessed their bond and took my leave. Finally, my task was done, and all it took was a small little lie. You see, one thing I’ve noticed about love in all my years is that, if you truly desire someone, you will do whatever it takes to cherish them. I knew that if I threatened to take that away and make him fear that he was going to lose her forever, he would take action. The part about getting a different soulmate was just a fib!

Besides, the moment my devices vibrated, I knew that my arrows would start working fine again. I could have easily zapped them and left, but where’s the fun in that? After all the efforts I’d put in the last few hours, I wanted to make this happen all on my own. Now, I can proudly say that even after many decades, I can still do my job the good old-fashioned way, without relying on

technology. *patting myself on the back*

On that note, now that my arrows are working, so is my scroll, which I just noticed has filled up with millions of names. I've to go and start zapping them all now, only then I can complete the

list before midnight. Goodbye, my Hawaiian vacation!

So hey, if you are a hopeless romantic, secretly pining over your crush this Valentine’s Day, there’s a chance I might visit you to give you your happily ever after! Though I must advise, don’t rely on me, or rather, my arrows entirely. You saw how that went! So, you put in your efforts to get your girl/guy, and I’ll guide you with my secret nudges.

Happy Valentine’s Day folks, and goodbye for now!