Worst Cupid Ever

You Must Love Raymond

Don't notice me. Don't notice me. Don't notice me. Ada chanted the words in her head, desperate to disappear.

"Twelve matches." Luke's words were like a blow to the head. "She didn't even need the help of Rifters to destroy them all. I see here that she just got another match. Why is she still in the field?"

"Those matches were given by the One Up High. What do you expect us to do? Put someone else on it?"

"I think you are missing the point, Maya. The reason Cupid Divisions exist is for matches to work. Two matches are understandable, but twelve?" Luke pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Have you tried sending a message up?" He dropped his hand and observed the Helmets with a lifted eyebrow.

Maya shrugged. "Over and over."

The swelling need to cry burned at the back of Ada's throat, but her sadness dropped when Bo gripped her hand under the table and squeezed it in comfort. Tasha's eyes also held sympathy as she glanced her way. Ada blinked back tears; she was so grateful she was a cupid of the Southern Cupid Division. She couldn't imagine being in Luke's Division. Where were the other Helmets in charge? Probably pushed to the background; Luke seemed like the kind of cupid who would do that.

"And what was the reply?"

"You wouldn't believe it if we told you." Bo let go of Ada's hand as she grinned at Luke.

"I am listening," he said, disinterest clear in his voice.

"Told us to forgive her faults. As casual as that." Tasha said with a smile.

Ada wanted to smile but she forced herself not to. She had been told the story of the day she was delivered to the Division. How her pod went crazy. And the message that was sent by the One Up High. They said she had been clutching the piece of paper, and that the One Up High was the one who named her. No other cupid was ever named by the One Up High or came with a message. Her delivery story always made her feel special.

"How is that an answer?" Luke frowned.

Ada deflated.

"Go ask the One Up High, Mr. Smarty Pants," Bo fired back.

Luke's frown suddenly dissolved. When he spoke, his words were measured, like he was dealing with a bunch of retards. "That's why my Division would always be more successful. The One Up High never said anything about not assigning another cupid to her matches."

"What are you suggesting?" Maya asked, voice sharp, expression even sharper. "Are you suggesting we interfere? Is that what you do in your division?" Her hands dropped to her sides as she stepped closer to the screen.

Luke waved a hand in a dismissive manner. "Do not get carried away by your imaginations. I forward my records, you read them..." he paused and eyed all three of them. "Or do you? Since it seems slacking is your thing now."

"Luke, act reasonable," Maya bit out. "Do not make assumptions that annoy."

"Assumptions that annoy?" Luke released a bleak laugh that ended almost as soon as it began. "I do not make assumptions. I state facts."

Maya's stance showed she was trying hard to contain her negative emotions. Ada had never seen the head Helmet in such a state, not even when she drew graffiti across her office wall.

"Is that why you called for this meeting," Maya glowered at Luke, "to influence us to drop one of our cupids because her matches aren't working?"

Drop? What does drop mean?

"Do not put words in my mouth. Matches are sent because they are expected to work. When a cupid persistently fails at the only thing she was created to do, she defeats the purpose of what we stand for. Look at this."