Cupid's Curse

Serenity resonated within me as I stared into his eyes, a smile dared to sneak up on my face. His eyes were the Amazon rainforest, so full of life. They were the first drops of rain on a warm day, ever so vibrant. It was as if I could hear the cuckoos' sing their beautiful melody. I was lost in the deep abyss of this luscious forest and strangely I was not afraid. His-

Wait, what am I doing? I felt strange. My cheeks were warmer than usual and there was a strange pounding underneath my rib cage. My hands rested on my chest feeling the abnormal rhythm of my heart. Did I need to go to the hospital? I looked back at him only to feel butterflies invading my stomach. My eyes widened as the realization set in. Sirens blasted off in my head like banshees as I looked into his stupidly adorable eyes. With dread I looked above his head, to see the word friend in bold red slowly being erased. Each letter popped and a new letter engraved itself in the air. The new word came into place and I felt my world come crashing down. Crush. I had a crush. I wondered when did my highly induced hormonal mind begin to formulate this curse- I mean crush. Perhaps, this crush had begun during our first few days working together.

The room was filled with the clitter clatter of fingers typing against computer keyboards and young adults who'd rather be anywhere else, but that room. It was the summer and the air conditioning blasted into the room, making any jacketless person regret their poor decision of not bringing a jacket and one of those poor persons was me. I could hear the mix of montoned voices with overly exaggerated voices bounce off the green and white walls. Currently, I sat in front of a bright computer screen with private information of past alumni of my university and the program was calling an alumnus. I prayed that the phone call would go straight to voicemail and I would not have to ask another alumnus for a donation. I was a telemarketer and I was currently tossing a football with my coworker. His name was John Doe. We sat next to each other at work and loved to be cheeky with the rest of our team at work. The phone call was on its fifth ring and by our standards, I was allowed to hang up after the sixth ring or if it went to voicemail. Suddenly a feminine voice entered my headset and my poor posture suddenly sat straight up in alertness.

"Hi, this must be Mrs. Doe I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Doe," I asked in a voice that even I could not recognize, but got all the donations and sales for my university. I heard shuffling next to me and looked at the source of the ruckus. It was John and he was bouncing in his seat like a little boy. I stared at him in confusion and his erratic behavior.

"Did you just say, Doe?! That's my dad! That's my dad!" My eyes widened as John rolled his chair closer to me before pulling off my headset. I pressed myself against the dark green wall next to me as he tried to take over the call. I tried to tell him it was his mother, but the only thing that escaped my mouth was a gasp. At the moment I did not know if I should have found this whole scenario to be humorous or just simply horrifying. "So, Gloria how is it going? Oh, by the way, what's for dinner tonight? The spaghetti last night had a bit too much garlic don't you think?" His mother had ended up donating twenty dollars and all I could do was stare at this boy. Perhaps, this was the source of the infection. Of course, there may have been a chance that I had caught the virus over time. With our constant bickering for each other no wonder, I had been infected by Cupid and his ludicrous bow.

Note, I did not want a crush. These crushes were basically a curse from Cupid himself. I was usually blessed by only having those ten-second crushes that go by as quickly as they come. I could at least function like a normal human being and not act like a complete vegetable whenever that special someone is around. Unfortunately, this was not one of those acute cases. It was more chronic and the symptoms were deadly. John had been one of those crushes that lasted longer than ten seconds going into weeks and weeks. Perhaps, I should have started praying after the incident with John and his parents. Initiate the fumbling of my words and the clumsiness of my limbs. It is as if I were sick and the diagnosis was that I had caught the crush virus or as I like to call it Cupid's Curse. This deadly plague has many symptoms which you can identify if you have captured this deadly virus. In my case, they were an invasion of thoughts, the need for attention, and jealousy. However, not every case may be the same as mine if someone were to join the contagiously dangerous epidemic. As a foreclosure, symptoms may vary amongst individual.