Finding Cupid

Chapter 1

                                                                                   EROS

            My first thought of the day was unusual. Not because of the thought itself, but because of the fact that I was thinking it. The thought had been said out loud many times all over the world, no matter the era. In fact, the thought was actually one of the more common once, one of the most common ones, if I may be so bold as to say so.  I shook my head in confusion, trying to clear my mind, but still, the three words resonated through the amphitheater that was my brain.

            The thought, the one that shocked me, was this: I am lonely.

            Never, not once, had I been lonely. I had always had my bow and arrow to prevent loneliness in others, and that had always been enough for me. Of course, I knew I could have someone if I wanted. Just one look at me would be enough. They would be excited because they would be Cupid’s and that would be enough for them, but at that moment, I wasn’t longing for someone shallow, merely attracted to me for my looks. I was craving substance.

            So I stocked my arrows, sure that helping people fall in love would cure me of this insanity, and headed into New York.

            It took me a while, but I headed into a large apartment, giving an open house.

            Alice stood alone in a crowded room. She stood with her arms crossed across her chest, her eyes averted. She stood alone because no one saw her. And then I did. I looked down from my seat on the chandelier and I saw her, shooting daggers at the floor with silver-gray eyes, her soft brown curls falling over her shoulder. I saw her and figured she had never once been in the comfort of someone’s arms, never once had the opportunity to be someone’s everything.

            I picked out the nicest boy in the room; a boy with the decency to say hello to a passing stranger, the manners to offer someone a drink, and the looks of a god; someone who almost looked like me. But then, the girl looked up. No one ever looked up at me. It was almost as though she saw me. She gave a soft smile, and I lost my mind. I aimed my arrow.

            And, for some unbeknownst reason, her smile and the sad, unwanted look in those big eyes made me forget what I was doing. I let go and the arrow went flying at her. She looked at me again, this time worried, and I watched as the arrow plunged into her heart.

            The potion spread quickly, and before I knew it, she was staring at me with an intensity I had never seen before. I quickly motioned for her to meet me outside, and she nodded, gathering up the green briefcase and pocketbook, slinging her coat over her shoulders to keep warm, and walking out the door.

            “What have I done?” I moaned, and then I vanished to meet Alice outside.

            Alice was waiting for me on a bench by a black telephone booth covered in ads from random phone brands. She had gotten out a book and was happily flipping through the yellowed pages. I sat down next to her, waiting for her to realize I was there. The comfortable, worn pages of a Charles Dickens book hid her face, but I could tell from her hands that she was gorgeous. Slowly, I reached over and pulled the book away from her face. She was sitting there, grinning like a fool; her cheeks flushed a bright pink.

            “Hello there,” she smiled, holding out a hand. “Alice Parker. What’s your name?”

            “Uh… Eros.” I quickly came up with a name. “Eros Terra. Nice to meet you,” I shook her hand, clearing my throat from painful awkwardness. “So, um, look, there has been a mistake.”

            “Really? What kind of mistake?” She looked around, pushing her hair out of her eyes and smiling at me again. “I just met you!”

            “Well, you see, um… There is this guy named Cupid… he sometimes goes by Eros. He… he shoots these arrows and he makes people fall in love, and he accidentally hit you… well, actually, I hit you. I’m Cupid.” I shrugged awkwardly.

            “I’m confused here,” she said, pulling on a strand of her hair. She crossed her arms and stared at me. “So you’re Eros, or Cupid, depending on whether or not we are going by Greek names or Roman names. I’m not an idiot, I read mythology. Just so you know. I figured something was up. Anyways, you pierced me with an arrow. I’m supposed to fall in love with you. Actually, I have a sort of crush on you. I wouldn’t call it love, considering I just met you, but I guess it is a bit more than a crush. Anyway. So you hit me. By accident.”

            “Yes. I hit you. By accident,” I emphasized the “by accident” part, mostly because she seemed like the kind of girl who would run a blade through someone who toyed with her emotions. “I was aiming for someone else, but you looked at me and smiled, and it kind of seemed as though you saw me.”

            “I did see you. You see, I saw you on a chandelier, but I knew that you would get in trouble if I pointed you out to anyone so I didn’t. Wait… you were aiming for someone else. Who else would you…. Aren’t you cold? It’s the beginning of February!” Alice pointed at my pink polo shirt and jeans, no jacket or scarf or gloves. I laughed, not meaning to, but I couldn’t help it. She was so easily distracted.

            “I just tell you I was trying to hook you up with some guy who I thought you might be happy with, and your question is ‘Aren’t you cold?’” I threw my head back and she stared at me.

            “Well, I’m treating you like any other person. Not that I would ever talk to someone I don’t know, but oh well,” she shrugged. I closed my eyes for a second, and then something cool touched my forehead, sweeping aside a curl that had swirled into my eyes. The cold stayed there for a few seconds, and then I opened my eyes and looked at her. She continued with her answer. “I figured that if you wanted me to treat you any different, you would have me groveling for mercy at your feet right now, and because of that arrow, I would actually do it.”

            Slowly, her hand backed away from my forehead and curled onto the strap of her purse. She stood up to leave, and I kept telling myself you have to fix this; you have to get rid of the potion inside her. But for some reason, I didn’t try and wipe her memory clean like a chalkboard. For some reason, I stood with her.

            “You won’t be able to leave,” I rushed. She turned around.

            “What?” She put her hands on her hips, the love struck look in her eyes dissipated to pure annoyance. “What do you mean by ‘You won’t be able to leave?’”

            “I know how this works,” I said. “You think you’re okay right now. You think you can walk away. You can’t. All those feeling you had about guys before I shot the arrow at you? Those feelings are still there right now. You still don’t trust me. But once you start thinking about me, which happens when you leave,  you won’t be able to stop.

            “You won’t eat, you won’t sleep. Everything you do will remind you of me. Until you get to me and we have a “real” kiss, you won’t be able to do anything. But I can help you find a cure. A cure for this insanity.” I tried to suck the words back in, but I couldn’t so I sat there and watched as she took them in.

            “A cure, huh?” She put her hands on her hips, pursing her lips. She hesitated for a minute, her face softening. “I’m not sure if I want to be cured.”

            “What do you mean? Of course you want to be cured,” I stared at her in disbelief.

            “I haven’t felt like this in… wow…. Well, I haven’t felt like this in years. I don’t really want to go back to feeling lonely and angry. I just… I don’t want to.” She started to walk away again. This time, I followed.