Read No Such Thing As True Love for Free Online

an open range. For a moment, Maritess felt a twinge of guilt for setting him up to have such a bad time. She knew her friends had flaws, but she thought they were small enough for him to look over. It was only a moment more before the defiance surged back up to her surface. He thought that, somehow, a perfect woman would just waltz into his life. Maritess couldn’t help but feel like she was looking at the stupidest man on the planet.
     
                “You know what I think, Markus?” she didn’t wait for him to voice the anger that shot out when he looked at her. “I think you’re procrastinating. I think you’re just looking for reasons to reject these women because you don’t want to do the hard work of actually building something meaningful. Again, like I said, and I’m proving to be right, there is no such thing as a quest for true love! What you’re looking for doesn’t exist. Sure, the girls have their flaws, but that doesn’t make them not worth someone like you ,” she remarked in her typical, arrogant and matter-of-fact tone.
     
                Markus held all of his muscles taut to control the rage she had triggered in him. He looked at Maritess. As beautiful as she was, she elicited such frustration, such unadulterated anger within him that he just couldn’t stand to be in her presence for a moment longer. He stopped the treadmill and hopped off. He leaned down closer to her and said, “Maritess, I’m canceling my membership. You are the most ridiculous person I have ever met, and you are just as crazy as your friends. Thanks for the help, but goodbye.” Markus turned to stalk off towards the locker room. Maritess stood there, and forced herself not to look around at all the gym members who were no doubt staring at her.
     
                She strode to the lobby, and waited for Markus to come out of the locker rooms. She tucked herself into a corner, and he walked right past her when he exited. “So, just like I thought then. I knew you couldn’t take training here for very long. It’s a shame though, your work was just starting to show,” she said, as indifferently as she possibly could.
     
                Markus spun on his heel and walked up to her. “I had no problem with your training, it’s your life advice I couldn’t stand, Maritess. Not to mention, you are so damn rude, it’s no wonder you don’t believe in something as simple and as human as love,” Markus said. He looked down into her porcelain face and noticed, for the first time, the light array of freckles on her cheeks. For a fleeting second, a rush of heat ran through her. She turned her head to push it away.
     
                “Okay, I’ll make a deal with you. Keep your membership, and I’ll keep an open mind about your quest. You go out with one more of my friends. Hey, maybe this one will be the one, right? Isn’t this a quest about trying different solutions and seeking? If you guys work out, everyone wins. If not, then I will refund you for all the sessions you’ve paid for since you started. What do you say?” Maritess looked up into his eyes, and poker-faced her way through the moments before he answered.
     
                “Why in the world would you think that another one of your friends would work out?” he asked her, incredulously.
     
                “Look, my friend Renee is not crazy. She’s not so high-class. She’s a real, down-to-earth woman. She owns an independent art gallery, so she’s pretty easy-going. I was kind of saving her for last. She’s the one I think you’ll have the best shot with,” Maritess said as she nodded her head assuredly. Just to agitate him a bit more, she said, “I can call her. Unless, you know, you’re just going to give up and go journal about it. Or aren't you even keeping a journal anymore?”
     
                Markus sneered at her. The insult had hit its mark and done its job. He