Soulmates are Overrated

Chapter One

"I found my soulmate!" Jennifer plops in the leather chair stationed in front of my desk. Her black hair is splayed over the back of the chair. Her eyes are glued to the drop ceiling above us.

I shake my head at her foolishness and turn my attention away from the screen in front of me. Any type of distraction from the thousands of reports I need to catch up on is welcomed. "Jen, you can't keep visiting the hospital down the street to hit on the hot doctors. No one has as many injuries as you do." I curl my fingers to create air quotes when I say "injuries."

Jen glares at me. "That's not what I meant, but I might have twisted my ankle this morning." She rubs at one of her ankles, twisting her face in pain. "Those kinds of things you can't leave unchecked."

"...especially when there's a cute doctor on the clock?"

"Exactly!" She jumps up.

"What happened to your injured ankle?"

She stares off into the distance, clasping her hands against her chest, "it must have been the thought of that gorgeous Dr. Brown that cured me."

A few of my coworkers pass the door, picking up on the high level of procrastination in the room as they walk by. "Jen, while I love hearing about the attractive men you interact with, I do have some work to accomplish."

"Oh please, we both know that this conversation is probably the most productive you've been all day. That's not why I came in here, though. There's this app..." She angles the phone in her hand so I can see it. In the center of the screen are two pink cartoon hearts standing sorrowfully in the center as the cupid above them aims his bow and arrow straight at them. When he hits his targets, the hearts light up and embrace each other. The entire scene resembles one of those annoying children's cartoons.

"You seriously downloaded that stupid app?" I roll my eyes.

Jen pulls the phone to her chest. "The only thing stupid about Soulmate Scanner is that it wasn't created sooner."

"Wow, you've already been brainwashed."

"Davis, where's the report for today's meeting?" Mr. Bucher shouts from his windowed office down the hall. I curse at his early arrival and scour my desk for the stack of papers.

Jen ignores our boss and continues, "Anyway, his name is Adrian and he lives in Peru," she rolls the word in her mouth as though she is tasting it.

I halt in my shuffling and raise an eyebrow. "You really think a guy you've never met before, or even heard of, is your soulmate? You don't even live in the same country, Jen."

"You're just jealous that I have a really hot guy on an island, while you have a balding husband."

My gaze drops to the picture on my desk of Julian and I. It was the first day of our honeymoon in New York City; not the typical honeymoon island, but it was the luxury we could afford. In the picture, he had his arms wrapped around me as I stretched my arm out to take the picture of our smiling faces. His brown hair was poking out of his baseball cap and his favorite black sunglasses shaded his chocolate eyes from the snap of the camera.

"He isn't balding," I counter Jennifer's remark, "and this isn't about me. This is about you and the fact that you got scammed."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Alex."

I roll my eyes, before Mr. Bucher yells for me once more.

Sighing, I tuck a folder in the crook of my elbow and proceed down the dreadful walk to Mr. Bucher's office, leaving Jen. Mr. Bucher is sitting at his desk, the phone held to his ear as he nods, with his bushy eyebrows furrowed in concentration, at whatever the person on the other side of the line is saying. Worry lines strain his face. As silently as possible, I slip into the room, and set the neatly arranged portfolio on the end of his desk. I tiptoe out of Mr. Bucher's office, hoping I can make it around the corner without him noticing.