Chapter 6

The St. Therese branch of The Coffee Club is one of the not so crowded branches of the said coffee shop. Not that this branch is at a loss, but most of its customers are drive through or take out due to the fact that this is the branch nearest to the expressway's entrance.

It was a ten-minute drive from Pure Act Café, but given the Friday night traffic, it took Joshua almost twenty minutes to go there. He was worried that the person he needs to meet might leave. He decided to call the person he's meeting after parking his car.

He opened the Phonebook app and saw the name of the contact. Cupid Mentor. As usual, no mobile number was indicated. He called it anyway.

It took three rings before the person answered.

"Joshua!"

It was a woman, and Joshua frowned as he felt something familiar with that sweet voice.

"H-Hi! Ahm… Are you still here?"

"Yup! Are you here?"

"Yes. Wait, I'm coming in."

"Sure. I'm the only one here so I won't give you any clue, okay?"

"Okay." He got out of his car.

"Okay. See you, Joshua!"

The call ended. Joshua proceeded to the coffee shop. True to her word, there was only one customer inside so she must be the girl that he was talking to earlier.

"Excuse me," he said after stopping beside her.

The girl looked up to him, and Joshua was shocked upon seeing her face.

"Hello, Joshua!"

"Ria?"

Ria smiled. "Long time no see, 'Mate."

"You're my Cupid Mentor?"

Ria giggled at his reaction. "Well, yeah."

When was the last time he saw her? Well, he sees her a lot because this classmate of his managed to become a well-known novelist. She is always on social media, either because of a thing she posted, or because of something posted about her.

But when it comes to talking to her, the last time he did was probably ten years ago.

"Can you sit down so I don't have to look up to you?"

Joshua sat down opposite her.

"So… congratulations!"

Joshua frowned.

"For being a Human Cupid."

"Oh, that…"

Ria smiled. "Why the long face?"

"You know, I still can't believe it. You see, I really thought cupids are these cute little angels with bows and arrows–"

"That they need to shoot to the hearts of two people for them to fall in love with each other?"

"Exactly!" said Joshua. "Isn"t it like that?"

"Sort of, but not really," Ria said. "First of all, not all angels are babies. You've seen a Guardian, right?"

Joshua nodded.

"Second, all Cupids are humans. The reason for that is only humans can understand human emotions. That is why they can better understand how the heart falls in love. Well, Guardians also understand love, but not the romantic kind. Do you understand?"

Joshua nodded again.

"But you got the bows and arrows right."

Now, Joshua is curious. "So you mean, we will still use those?"

"Yup," Ria answered. "But, you know, it's not just about bows and arrows. Sometimes you don't even need to use them."

"What do you mean?"

"You know sometimes, those two hearts that are connected by red thread, they recognize each other immediately. So, even on the first time they meet they can already feel the love that they have for each other. So, we don't need the arrows to make them fall in love with each other. But even so, with arrow or none, we still need to make the love grow between our two prospects. As much as possible, we want love to be a process. Love at first sight, or that feeling they get after being hit by the arrows, is shallow. It's just to get their hearts' attention to notice each other. That's not considered true love. It should not be sudden so it will be more precious and be valued more by people."

Oh yeah… All things that are not easily acquired becomes more valuable to a person's life.

"So, are you ready to know everything about being a Cupid?"

Is he ready? Joshua feels like he will never be ready, but what could he do? Somehow, he has made himself accept the fact that this is his destiny. No more backing out.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," said Ria when Joshua did not answer. "Why don't we order something for you first? I have a lot to tell you and you might get hungry."

Joshua suddenly remembered that he did not have dinner yet. He just ordered a clubhouse sandwich and some chamomile tea. He might get stressed with what he is about to hear tonight.

"So, let me tell you the rules in being a Cupid. First of all, no one should know that you are a Cupid. People should not know about Destiny, about Cupids. Everything that is related to this thing that we do, you should never tell anyone."

"That is not totally unheard of, right?" Joshua asked. "People know about Destiny, about Cupid."

"Yes, but they don't know that they are true," Ria answered. "What everyone knows, destiny is just… destiny. They don't know that Destiny can take human form. And as for Cupid, he's just a myth, the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Or, it's the same as what you thought."

"You have a point… Well, no one will believe me anyway, so promise, I won't tell anyone." Joshua even raised his hand like he is taking an oath.

"Good… Now, that is the rule, but there is an exception. You can tell only one person that you are a Cupid. And that person is your own red thread."

Joshua frowned. "You mean the person who is destined to be my forever love?"

Ria nodded. "Exactly. You might be wondering why. Well, it's because since she will be your partner in life, it's just sensible that she knows everything about you. But, you cannot tell her until your destiny was finally fulfilled."

"What?" Joshua frowned.

"I mean, until you've started your happy ever after, you can't say anything to her."

"You mean, after we're married?"

"Not really," Ria answered. "Don't worry, you'll feel it when it is time. Well, I also don't know because I haven't experienced that myself. My Cupid Mentor just told about it."

"Who is your Mentor, by the way?" Joshua asked.

"Her name's Janice Alonzo. You might meet her one of these days… Oh, by the way. Her contact info is on your Cupid Phone."

"Huh?" Joshua took out the phone that Destiny gave him. "But this is empty."

Ria just looked at him. Joshua opened the phone, then went to the Phonebook. He was surprised to see the names on the contacts list.

"How…?"

"It will be activated once your Cupid Mentor sent you the first text."

Joshua looked at her.

"Regarding that phone, since we're already on that topic, let me tell you about it as well. To a normal person, the phone will need a passcode to open. But in reality, it doesn't have a passcode, so no one will be able to open it, more so hack it. That means, you're the only one who could open it."

Joshua looked at the cellphone once again.

"The battery will never drain. It will always be 77% full. It will always have signal for data and Wi-Fi connection. But mind you, you can't use that for anything other than Cupid stuff. But it doesn't matter, because you know what? That will be more exciting than any other Youtube channel or Facebook page you follow."

"But it has Youtube on it." Joshua looked at the cellphone.

"That Youtube app can show you what actually happened to anyone in this world. As in anyone."

"Really?" Joshua suddenly became excited. "As in, whatever happened? Anywhere? To anyone?"

"Yes, but that app is wholesome, okay?"

"What do you even mean by that?!" Joshua exclaimed.

"Nothing. I just told you it's a wholesome app. Also, you can only watch something there that concerns your prospect. I mean, your mission. You will be punished if you used it for pleasure or anything that has nothing to do with your mission, or you being a Cupid."

"What? Like every Cupid is being monitored in heaven?"

"Exactly," Ria answered. "And, mind you, no one does monitoring as good as they do up there. All your actions will sure be accounted for and nothing will be missed out."

"And what will be the punishment?"

"Something bad will happen to you. You can watch it there on the Youtube app, those Cupids that were reprimanded. We have a playlist for those on our phones."

It is not just the punishment itself, but the embarrassment caused by that incident that is worse. Joshua made a mental note not to mess up with the rules.

"To a normal person, that is just a normal cellphone. But like what I've said, it has special apps. Like, in Safari, you can search about anyone or any place or anything on this Earth. Anyone even those that are not famous or well-known. But again, make sure that–"

"It's about my mission as a Cupid," Joshua said to finish her statement.

"Exactly," said Ria. "That's good. You easily learn… Just don't use it as your personal phone. All you can call or text there are your fellow Cupids, the Guardians and Reapers, and of course, Destiny."

"Wait! I can talk to angels?" Joshua was amazed.

"Yes. Look are your contacts list."

Joshua did as told.

"Those names with bow and arrow emoticons, those are the Cupids. For Guardians, it's the smiley with halo and for the Reapers, it's the black fedora hat emoji. Now, the Guardians, the Reapers, and for Destiny, when you call them, they won't just answer. They will suddenly appear. So, remember not to call them carelessly. Since you're the only one who can see them, surely you won't like others to see you talking to yourself, right? For sure, that will instantly be a trending topic on Twitter."

Joshua nodded. "I understand."

"Okay… So basically, that's everything about the cellphone. Actually, if you notice, it's still included in the first rule."

"How many rules are there? And, do I need to memorize all of them?"

"You have to memorize them because if you violated the rules, you will be punished," said Ria. "Actually, they're on your Reminders app."

Joshua opened the said app on his Cupid Phone, and there he saw the rules that Ria has been talking about. He counted them and coincidentally, there are ten rules on the list. First is what Ria just told him.

No one should know you are a cupid; people should not know you are their cupid.

"The second rule is what Cupids break most of the time."

Joshua read what is written on the list.

Cupids should not tell anyone what their destiny is; people should not know who they are meant to be with.

Joshua somehow understands why this is the most violated rule on the list.