Reclaimed Heart

Emma’s POV

The city of New York bustled with people as I watched from the high rise building. It was almost mid morning, and the streets were as busy as ever.

I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time as I listened to Marcus, my date, speak about his achievements. I was already getting bored with his incessant talking. The only good thing about this date was the location

“That was how I got promoted to the position of assistant Manager.

What do you think?” The pride in his voice is evident in the tone.

“I think that's just fantastic, you must really work hard to have achieved a lot in such a short time,” I tried to flow with his topic.

“maybe we can,”

I didn't get the chance to finish before he interrupted me again.

“I am aiming for the position of manager soon,” he continued.

His voice became distant as I cupped my cheeks, and placed my elbows on the table. I groaned inwardly

“This was going to be a long morning,”

This has been my lot for the last four years, I am a successful event planner, though not as successful as others in the field, but I am content and happy with what I have achieved for myself within the years past.

I grew up in a family where love and attention mattered more than the money, so I was not really bothered about not making much.

Ever since my ex boyfriend, Jason broke up with me, which was actually disheartening. I decided to give love a second chance, I ended up giving love more than a second chance.

My best and closest friend, Anna, introduced me to this dating app where I would meet guys, and whoever was a perfect match would hit me up so we could meet.

The first time I went on a blind date, I swore never to go again.

The account of the person I spoke to was catfished. We decided to meet at a park, I almost barfed when a ragged bearded man approached me.

I could not believe my eyes. He even claimed he did it to get girls to meet up with him. I left in a fit of anger,

Anna encouraged me not to give up. As most of these accounts could easily be catfished, so we came up with an idea of a video call before meeting, which sort of made me feel better.

Since then, it had been a case of meet and break up. At one time I almost got scammed by a good looking hunk, his name was Collins, he had the sweetest mouth ever and was good at enticing.

He spoke about this huge investment offer from the company he was working with, and advised me to pour my money into it.

To be honest, his pitch was really attractive, I was already bought.

I could have fallen a victim as well, luckily for me, my account had reached its transfer limit of the day.

Collins was picked up by the cops the next day, he was a fugitive, and had scammed a number of women in different cities, before the law finally caught up with him.

After that I decided to give it a break, but I didn't give up, until Marcus.

The constant ringing of his phone brought me out of my reverie, I knew then that the date was over.

“We should do this again sometime.” Marcus smiled at me as he hugged me tight, the scent of his cologne like burnt wood, my nose twitched as the scent hit hard.

“Definitely, we will,” I held my breath a little, waiting for him to leave.

He attempted to kiss me, but I turned my cheek to him instead, the feel of his mouth against my skin made me cringe.

“Absolutely not,” I completed, immediately he was out of earshot.

I blocked him on the app and deleted his number too.

As I walked into my office building, Irene, my secretary , helped me with my bag.

“How did it go?” She was among the few that knew about my dating saga.

“Trust me, you do not want to know.” I replied, really exhausted

She followed me to my small office, the place I was most proud of. I sat on my comforting chair and flipped the heels from my legs, grateful to be free of them.

“Remind me not to ever go on a date with a banker,” I groaned.

“From the way you sound, I can tell it didn't go well.”

“Why did these men always appear different from their profiles, and I don't mean the looks. Their personalities are just,” I made a face to mark home my statement.

“I thought you were looking for hardworking men. You know real working class men,”

“He is, actually, a working class man, but I couldn't stand how he was always talking by himself. You know those kind of men, always showing off their achievements to make themselves appear important, that is a huge turn off for me.”

Irene passed me a bottle of juice, I drank it with gratitude, I didn't even order anything at the restaurant.

“You know what, I am done.”

“That would mean giving up.”

“I am not giving up on finding love, I am giving up on the app.”

“I've heard that before.” Irene teased.

“This time's for real,” to prove my point, I brought out my phone and disabled the account before deleting the app.

“Wow, you really mean it.”

“Did anything happen while I was away? Did anyone come to see me or,” I changed the topic.

“There was a letter, I'd go get it.”

“A letter?” I asked in surprise.

“Who still sends a letter these days when you can just text or send an email.”

Irene returned carrying an envelope.

She slipped on the table, I opened it and read through, my lips slightly parted.

As my eyes got to the end part I dropped the piece of paper and screamed.