Battlefield (2023 Version)

1 Love Is Unbreakable

No one would do a better job than his boss at making Mark feel like shit. The man held an ability to hit Mark's every sore spot. The salt his boss held was saltier than those found in the ocean. It kept his unhealed wound open. He laid at night bearing the pain thinking of her each time.

Mark clenched onto the wrench in his hand. He laid on top the creeper under the elevated car with great desire to throw it across the room to hush his boss. Each word tempted his nerve. It was tolerable, the last two years working under Henry. The peculiar man lived with such a free spirit. That was something Mark couldn't keep up with. So, he played along majority of the time in respect to the man, who provided him shelter when he was most desperate.

"You said a Victoria's Secret body, right?"

"Yes," Mark growled. His jaw strained. Just any topic but this.

"Playful, easy-going, right?"

Her smirks flashed before him. The way her lips and eyes teased him before she walked away. Her legs and hip carried confidence, the one that he crushed.

Mark slid out and threw the wrench against the cemented floor.

"My heart!" Henry screamed and jumped from the couch clenching onto his chest. "It almost came out."

Henry occupied the couch more than any customer ever had. He asked more questions than all the auto shop customers combined.

"How great would that be." Mark never hid how he felt when Henry pushed his limit. Henry was something.

Mark cleaned his dirty hands with the dirty rag hung on the opened car hood. He propped himself against the opposite side of the couch to better assist his boss.

"I'll pay you for a full day if you just go on this date."

Mark moved a cushion away. Henry had no problem violating Mark's personal space.

"I've already told you—"

"You have no interest, I know. But the girl I found matched everything you described."

Mark eyed him, didn't know correlation existed between the date Henry had been pestering Mark over a week and the type of woman Mark described.

"Come on. What am I supposed to tell your father when he calls? The guy is still depressed as ever?"

That was probably the reason why he invaded into Mark's territory. The man considered himself Mark's guardian when Mark's parent entrusted Mark under his care. As if a 25-year old man couldn't care for himself. If his parents cared in the first place such thing wouldn't matter.

"I. Am. Not. Depressed." Mark reached for the water bottle on the coffee table and popped the lid open.

"Sure, you're not." Henry dismissed Mark's thought. "Why not go on this date then?"

"I'm just not interested." The rim of the water bottle touched his bottom lips.

"Cause you can't forget the girl you'd described?"

Water gushed out of Mark's throat. After a few attempts of clearing his throat, he turned to Henry. "What are you talking about?"

Henry spent a second eyeing Mark. "I'm not as foolish as you take me for, Mark."

His eyes rolled elsewhere, and he kept gulping down water. Henry sounded intimidating when he said Mark's name. It was rare. The man seldom used Mark's name. But Mark was guilty of questioning Henry's intelligence.

"Just meet her. It's not a blind date. It's just like a date like when you need someone to accompany you, for fun."

For fun?

"It's not a get-to-know-each-other thing. It's a place that provide service for male."

Provide service for male?

Mark didn't know if it was going to get any worse than it sounded. It sounded like Henry frequented an adult place. Henry continued his explanation about the agency he subscribed. It claimed to tailor their services to assist male to better understand their relationship problems.

"They haven't been in business for long, but it's a reputable agency based on reviews and what I heard."

"You've done it before?" Mark couldn't wrap his head around the concept of this agency. It sounded like a scam. Do people really put their trust in dating, not dating, in these kind of relationship agencies?

Henry flashed a wide smile. Mark knew it. It was his first time trying and he wanted Mark to be the guinea pig.

"I've done plenty of research. I have friends who used their services. So, they are valid."

Still, it didn't sound convincing. Mark wasn't convinced to give up his security for the fun of Henry.

"Actually, I registered myself but something came up so I can't make it. But don't worry, she's your style not mine. I found a match for you. Matched all the criteria you've listed." Hopefully, it'll reawakened your interest in the opposite sex.

"All?" Mark raised an eyebrow. That mere fact made his heart slumped and he hoped he wasn't foolish for listening to it.