CUPID'S DUTY

"You must be Emilie martins," Kacper asked, looking at the lady sitting pretty, dressed in a sea-green flowery dress in front of him. Her auburn hair was let-down to her shoulders, she wore a black sandal.

"Yes I am," she replied lifting her head from her desk to see the man with a deep masculine voice that called her name.

She saw a handsome, physically fit man wearing a black Kiton K5 suit and a black Bolvaint shoe. He smelt of lavender.

"You look so much like Olivia Smith, my student in 5th grade, are you in any way related to her?" Emilie asked inquisitively.

"Yes, I'm her dad, Kacper replied." "I'm so sorry, I didn't introduce myself properly, I'm Kacper…. Olivia Smith's dad," he said stretching out his right hand, gesturing for a handshake.

"I'm Emilie Martins, the grade 5 teacher." she introduced herself shaking his outstretched hand.

Kacper had come for a PTC-parent teacher conference, which was a success. It was a fund-raising event for supplemental educational materials and experiences for the students. Kacper was about leaving when he decided that he would see the teacher his daughter couldn't stop talking about before he left. It was so easy for him to locate her classroom.

"Oops, that was a very long handshake, I'm sorry for that." Kacper said, finally letting go of her hands.

"It's alright, it happens sometimes, anyone can get carried away," Emilie replied smiling. "You look so much like Olivia, the resemblance is striking." she added.

"Yeah, I get that all the time," Kacper nodded, "people say she's a mini me" he added laughing.

"They're s so true, she's your twin," Emilie replied. "Just to clear the air, I love all the kids in my class and I know I'm not supposed to have favourites, but she's one of my favourites, she's just too precious not to fall in love with." Emilie said looking from side to side, to indicate that she doesn't want anyone else to hear her.

"Everyone she has met, fell instantly in love with her, I agree, she's so loveable, that's why she's my little angel." Kacper said smiling.

He was used to getting positive feedback from people about Olivia and he loved it, it made him feel like he was doing a good job raising her. He was always so proud of her and himself too.

"Olivia was so true about this lady's beauty, she is even more beautiful than what I made out of Olivia's depiction." Kacper thought.

"I must confess that you're so beautiful, Olivia did not do justice to your beauty with her description." he mustered courage to say to Emilie.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you." Emilie replied shyly, her cheeks looked slightly red from smiling.

"Please Olivia must not know I told you, but my girl talks about you every day and all the time, you've really won her heart." Kacper said.

"Really?" Emilie asked Kacper looking really surprised.

"Yes, she does every single day when she gets back from school, she sings about everything you said to her in school." He replied.

"Well…I guess I really did win her heart," Emilie said shrugging her shoulders. She had a fulfilled look. "She's a good kid, her mom must be so proud of her." she added.

"Her mom is not with us, but it's okay" Kacper said looking down.

"Oh…I didn't know, I'm so sorry about that." Emilie responded with an apologetic look.

"Its fine, you don't have to be sorry." Kacper replied.

"And thank you Emilie, for always boosting Olivia's already growing confidence with your nice words, I'm really grateful." Kacper said.

"That's no big deal, it's my duty as a teacher, and I love seeing my kids soar even higher than Me." she replied.

"I must get going now, Olivia will be waiting for me. I have to pick her from my aunt's place," Kacper said as he stood up to leave. He had been sitting next to Emilie all this while.

"Thank you for sparing so much of your time to talk to Me." he added while standing

"You're welcome, it was a pleasure talking to you." Emilie said as she walked him to the door of the classroom.

"I hope we get to see some other time." Kacper said and turned to leave.

Emilie stood at the door watching him leave. "What a perfect gentleman." She muttered.

"I think your best friend has just been struck by love." Emilie said while taking off her sandal and falling on the bed in Savannah's room. She threw her purse by the side of the bed and inhaled deeply while staring at the ceiling. She had a very big smile on her face.

Emilie had stopped by at Savannah's place on her way home. Savannah's apartment was only a few blocks from hers. She needed someone to talk to and Savannah was the only person she could think of. She couldn't keep all the feeling in, so she decided to let them out to Savannah, in order to keep sane.

"Please honey, not now and not again." Savannah replied as she sat on the chair in front of the dressing table, very close to Emilie, and turned towards her.

"I know I've said this to you over four times in the last seven years, but this one feels different, but I'm not sure of how I feel, that's why I decided to come talk to you." Emilie replied sitting up on the bed.

"This one feels different," Savannah said with a funny face, mimicking Emilie's voice. "That's the same thing you said for Jeff, Benny, Tyler and even Gentry, but you ended up crying and running back to me for comfort, with Gentry you were down and depressed for months, and now that you're on your feet you want to fall back in again, I don't think I'm ready to see you go through that again." Savannah said with a very concerned look.

"I know how every other one ended, you didn't have to remind me." Emilie said to Savannah. Talking about her past relationships made her really sad.

"I didn't mean it like that babe, I just want you to be happy and alright, you're already more than stressed out and I don't want you regretting any action you take." Savannah said holding Emilie's hands.

"That's why I'm not concluding just yet, I want to be really sure of everything." Emilie replied.

"So who's the very lucky man?" Savannah asked coming over to sit by Emilie on the bed.

"It's Olivia's dad, the smart, sweet girl in my class." Emilie replied shyly.

"I don't think I remember. You do tell me about many smart and beautiful girls in your class." Savannah said.

"The one I told you left a note on my desk telling me how beautiful I am and that she loves me, don't you remember?" Emilie said shaking Savannah by the shoulder.

"Oh… now I recall," Savannah replied nodding her head.

"It's even your student's dad, girl! You're into big things" Savannah added laughing loudly and falling on the bed.

"Please stop sounding that way." Emilie said closing her ears with her palms and stamping her feet.

"Its fine dear, I'm just kidding," Savannah said while trying to catch her breath. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with that." She added.

"I was trying so hard to be calm while talking to him." Emilie said.

"Wow… is he that fine, I mean is he cuter than Gentry?" Savannah asked sitting up

"Yeah, he is. Gentry's handsomeness is nothing when compared to Kacper's. He's drop-dead gorgeous. He made my insides burn." Emilie replied staring at nothing in particular. She looked lost.

"So his name's Kacper. Come back from fantasy land, honey." Savannah said laughing and giving Emilie a pat on her left lap.

"I agree it's all fantasy, I don't even think the guy we're talking about is interested in me. And I'm not even sure of my own feelings, I just know I feel something really strong for him." Emilie said.

"That's love honey. You can't tell the heart whom to love, it does as it wishes." Savannah said with a sweet smile.

"That's also true, and that's how the same heart ended up leading me to the wrong people every time," Emilie said sounding funny.

"But even if this may turn out to be real, I don't think I'm ready for it, I'm scared history will repeat itself this time again. You know how much I believe in finding my 'prince charming' who will sweep me off my feet and living the fairy tale 'happily ever after' but I don't think it believes in me." Emilie said. She became suddenly sad.

"Put all that past behind you and let's hope for the best, be the optimistic Emilie I know and raise your head up high." Savannah said smiling and holding Emilie's head with her hands.

Emilie smiled. Her eyes were closed, she was quiet. She didn't know what else to say, she felt like a heavy load was lifted off her shoulders. She was relieved and her worries lessened.

"It's getting late you should start going home, or your mom will be worried. Fierro and I will walk you home." Savannah said.

Fierro was Savannah's dog. He was her closest friend after Savannah.

She got up from the bed and picked up Emilie's purse from the floor beside the bed. She beckoned on Emilie to follow.