How Cupid 732 Got His Groove Back

Cupid 732 had lost his touch.

Suddenly he was missing targets left, right and center.

After several months of botched assignments, his bosses met to discuss his declining performance.

“He was one of our best.  He had an unblemished record for so many years. I wonder what could have gone wrong” said the boss, who had hired him and mentored him.

“Do you know if he has any personal problems?” one of the other senior managers asked.

“Not that I know of” his mentor manager replied.

“Well, maybe we should appoint someone to go out with him on assignment to investigate”

“Oh, he is going to hate that.  For how long?  A week, 2 weeks, a month?”

“Maybe, a week to begin with.”

And so, Investigator Ti Amo was appointed to accompany Cupid 732.

When Cupid 732 was informed by his boss about Ti Amo accompanying him, he was upset, but he did not show it.

“You will like her” said his boss, “she is pretty cool.”

What he forgot to tell Cupid 732 was that Investigator Ti Amo was beautiful.

“I might miss my mark just because she is present,” Cupid 732 thought.

Luckily, Investigator Ti Amo was married.

“I don’t understand why they don’t trust me anymore” said Cupid 732.

“You know they value you,” said Investigator Ti Amo, “it’s only because they value you, they have sent me out to investigate and find out what’s wrong, so we can fix it.”

“I guess so” said Cupid 732.

But the very first assignment got Investigator Ti Amo worried.

Cupid 732 was supposed to take aim and shoot his arrows at a couple who was walking in the park.

He had taken aim and shot, no doubt, but he had completely missed the couple walking in the park.

“Hmm” said Investigator Ti Amo to Cupid 732.

“Is something wrong?” asked Cupid 732.

“Yes, both shots were completely off target”, she said, “The first arrow pierced a girl who was running, and the second arrow pierced a dog being walked by a lady.”

“Wow, that's messed up!” said Cupid 732.“I don't know how I could be so off the mark on both shots”.

He took aim with his bow again.

“Too late,” said Investigator Ti Amo. “I will call dispatch to have someone else take care of the couple.  Meanwhile, you and I should catch up with the girl, and the lady with the dog, and assess the damage.”

They caught up with the girl, and the lady with the dog.

The girl was on her haunches, petting the dog, and talking to the lady.

Since Cupid 732 and Investigator Ti Amo were invisible, they could observe the proceedings without being seen.

“What a cute dog.  What an absolutely adorable dog.  Where did you get it?” asked the girl.

“It is not mine.” said the lady.  “I am walking him for my neighbor who is ill.”

“That's nice of you!” said the girl.  “What is she ill with?”

“Lung cancer.  She has 2 months to live...max.”

 “Wow” said the girl,  “That's tough! Who is going to look after him when she dies? Come here, you sweet little pooch” said the girl.

The dog wagged his tail, jumped at the girl, and licked her face.

The lady watched the girl interact with the dog and said, “A thought just crossed my mind.  My neighbor may want to give him away before she dies.  I can ask her when I get back.   Would you be interested in taking this dog?”

“Yes, I absolutely would.  He is adorable” said the girl. And I will take good care of him, won't I, you little poochy woochy.” The dog responded with yaps and tail wags and big licks.

“Do you want to give me your number so I can get back to you after I ask her?”said the lady.“Hold this, while I look in my bag for a piece of paper”

“Sure,” the girl said.She held the leash, while the lady searched her handbag for a scrap of paper to take down her number.

When the girl had given her number to the lady, she said “Thank you.  So cool, I ran into you.  I will be anxiously waiting for your call”

“You should hear from me soon” said the lady.“Keep your fingers crossed.”

“I will” said the girl.

With that, they said goodbye.

The girl went back to running.

And the lady went back to walking the dog.

“Phew” said Cupid 732 to Investigator Ti Amo.  “That worked out okay. I got lucky on that one.”

“You did,” said Investigator Ti Amo. “Ok, who is next on your list?”

“A girl who is tutoring a foreign student in English at her house.  So far, all the student knows is that he likes being tutored by the girl.  Today is the day, he realizes he is in interested in her romantically, and picks up the courage to ask her out” said Cupid 732.

“Ok, so they will be sitting at the same desk.  That's good” said Investigator Ti Amo. You shouldn’t have any problems with this one. Let’s head to her house”

As they winged their way there, Cupid 732 said, “I am baffled how I messed that last one up”

“Me too,” said Investigator Ti Amo.  “You have the reputation of being such a good shot.”

Investigator Ti Amo had been appointed by senior management to investigate why Cupid 732 was off his game.

After the incident with the girl and the dog, Investigator Ti Amo could see why they were worried.

Anyway, Cupid 732 and Ti Amo soon reached the house where their next targets were. 

They entered the house and went straight to the study where the girl was giving her student ESL lessons.

The girl and the student would soon be madly in love with each other, but at that moment, they didn't know it.

The ESL lesson was drawing to a close for the day.

“Oh,” said the girl to the student, “one last thing before you go.  A few days ago, when I wasn't able to make it home in time to give you your lesson, you left me a note on which you wrote, 'I waited.  You lated. I left.' This is incorrect.  The correct way to write this is 'I waited for you, but you were late, so I left.'”

The student nodded and cleared his throat. 

“Is there anything else?” asked the girl.  Both of them looked silently at each other. This was the cue for Cupid 732.  He shot arrows at both of them. 

Suddenly, neither the girl, nor her student, wanted the lesson to end.

“Yes, I was wondering….”stammered the student.“Would you like to go out with me this Saturday?  We could go to this restaurant called Top Kapi.”

“Sure”said the girl, feeling her heart beating fast. What time should I be ready?”

“7 o'clock” said the boy, whose heart was also beating.

“Bingo” said Investigator Ti Amo.  She put her hand out to high-five Cupid 732. “You nailed it.”

“That was easy” said Cupid 732.

Cupid 732 fished out the list from his quiver to look up the next assignment.

“Who are our next targets?” asked Investigator Ti  Amo.

“There is a textile convention at the fairgrounds nearby.” replied Cupid 732. “There is a young girl staffing a Bombay Dyeing booth; and there's this young boy who is about to arrive at the venue on his scooter to pick her up and give her a ride home. They have had a few dates so far, but have not declared their love for each other.  Today is the day he will tell her he wants her to be his girlfriend.”

“With your help, of course” said Investigator Ti Amo.

Cupid 732 nodded.

He and Investigator Ti Amo made their way to the fairgrounds. 

“There’s the booth,” said Investigator Ti Amo, spotting the Bombay Dyeing booth.  “And there she is”

“Where?” asked Cupid 732, looking around.

 “There,” said Investigator Ti Amo, spinning him in the direction of the booth, and pointing to a girl dressed in orange.

“I see her,” said Cupid 732. “And now, to prove I am a good shot, and to salvage my reputation after that terrible miss, I will aim my arrow right from here and get her.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” said Investigator Ti Amo cautiously. “It's quite a bit away.”

“You forget how many shots like this I have done in my career” said Cupid 732.

“I was just thinking today may not be your day, for whatever reason.” said Investigator Ti Amo.

“I am about to prove you wrong” said Cupid 732.

Cupid 732 took aim with his bow and arrow. A few seconds later, the arrow left his bow with a whizz.

“Ouch,” said Investigator Ti Amo.

“I missed?” said Cupid 732. “I couldn’t have. Not again! What or who did I get this time?”

“A girl with a camera who was standing nearby to the girl in orange.”

“This is so weird" said Cupid 732. “I am going to aim for the girl in orange again.”

“I suggest you get closer,” said Investigator Ti Amo.  “This is your second miss today.  We don’t want to waste shots. Anyway, here comes the guy. I see him parking his scooter.  We will get up closer, and you can get both of them.”

“Is he wearing a blue and white checked shirt?" asked Cupid 732, squinting.

“That's him” said Investigator Ti Amo. “Hey, what are you doing? I said we should wait for him to reach the booth, and for us to get clo…..”

But she was too late. Cupid 732 had taken aim. 

Whoosh went the arrow.

Investigator Ti Amo watched helplessly as it left Cupid 732’s bow.

“Did I get him?” shouted Cupid 732, excitedly.  “I must have.”

Investigator Ti Amo shook her head. “If him is a tree, then yes, you got him,”she said.

The next moment, the girl with the camera was staring at the tree with awe and wonder. She soon began to take pictures of the tree.

“Ha! You got lucky again,” said Investigator Ti Amo to Cupid 732.

“What do you mean?” said Cupid 732.

“You shot the arrows at a photographer and a tree, and now the photographer has fallen in love with the tree, and is taking pictures of it.”

“Really.  I don’t believe it.” said Cupid 732.

“I kid you not” said Investigator Ti Amo.  “Come, let me show you what you have done.”

They got closer, and Cupid 732 saw for himself, what she was taking about.

He was devastated.

“It's all over for me.  I think I have lost it.  Do you think I have lost it, Investigator Ti Amo?” he moaned.

“No time to think about that now.  The guy with the scooter has reached the booth.  Let's get up close, so there will be no chance of you missing.”

Cupid 732 opened his mouth to protest, but Investigator Ti Amo yanked him towards the booth, and said, “Just do it.”

“Okay,” said Cupid 732, “but I don't understand why I am messing up so badly, and why the problem is only getting worse by the day”

“Me neither” she said. “But, hopefully we’ll find out.”

So Cupid 732 and Investigator Ti Amo got up close to the booth, where the boy in the blue checked shirt and the girl in orange were talking.  Cupid 732 took aim with his bow and arrow.  He got the girl in orange.  He took aim with his bow and arrow again.  He got the boy in the blue checked shirt.

The next minute, the boy in the blue-checked shirt said something to the girl.  She said something back and he gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Yippy” said Investigator Ti Amo.  “We can strike that one off our list.”

“Are you trying to make me feel better? Because I am not loving it” said Cupid 732.

Just then Investigator Ti Amo got a call.

“We've been tracking Cupid 732's shots. Have you been able to figure out what’s going on?”

“Not yet. I’ll get back to you on that.” she said.

“Who was that?” asked Cupid 732.

“Never mind” said Investigator Ti Amo, but she was worried, because things were not going well for Cupid 732, and she couldn’t figure out what was behind it.

The day got worse and worse.

Determined to salvage his self-esteem, Cupid 732 was taking shots from longer and longer distances, and missing them all.

Fortunately, for him, the repercussions were harmless.

One pair of arrows that missed their targets, pierced an elderly nun who was walking with a group of younger nuns, and a little boy.

The little boy ran up to the elderly nun and said, “I love you”.

The young nuns tittered, but the elderly nun picked up the boy and said “I love you too”.

There was another pair of arrows that pierced a diabetic lady and a box of candy in a store.

The lady made a beeline for the candy, but luckily, her daughter was able to talk her out of buying it.

And Investigator Ti Amo blocked some arrows before they reached the wrong targets.

…The pair of arrows that zinged towards a dog and a cat in a house.

…the pair of arrows that zinged towards a person sitting in a movie theater and one of the movie stars on the screen.

And all the time, she kept Cupid 732 moving on, so he could get some of the easier shots.

Luckily there were several targets on Cupid 732's list which were no-brainers.

Such as the couple at the high school dance.

They were slow dancing, and all Cupid 732 had to do was to take aim at both their hearts, so the guy would ask the girl whether he could see her again, and she would say yes, and then his mother would drive him to her house to see her a few days later, and history would be made.

It was a challenging day of hits and misses, but Investigator Ti Amo and Cupid 732, got through it, and were finally down to the last assignment.

Cupid 732’s last assignment for the day was at an Optometrics store.

The owner of the store, Gary, was about to be visited by Amy, one of his loyal customers, who was around the same age as him.

Both Gary and Amy had been married, and were now divorced, and since they had always liked each other, Cupid 732 was to shoot his arrows at both of them, and get their perfect romance started.

Cupid 732 and Investigator Ti Amo were at the store,before Amy arrived.

“Hello Amy, good to see you,” said Gary, smiling at her, when she walked in.

“Good to see you too, Gary. Ready to do my eye test, so I can order my new glasses” said Amy.

“Step this way, Maam” he said, leading her to the eye exam room.

Amy followed Gary into the eye exam room, and sat down in the chair in front of the eye chart.  

Gary cleared his throat and put the eye glasses frame onto her face.

Then he turned off the light, and put the first set of lenses into the frame Amy was wearing.

Cupid 732 and Investigator Ti Amo, who were invisible to them, looked on.

“Ok Amy, read the first line of the letters in the chart” said Gary.

“HVZDS” answered Amy.

Cupid 732 squinted at the letters trying to read along.

He was surprised at the ease with which Amy called out the letters on the first line.

“Can you read that easily?” Cupid 732 whispered to Investigator Ti Amo.  

“Yes,” said Investigator Ti Amo, “HVZDS”

“Wow,” said Cupid 732, “I can barely read it. How about the next line?”

“Yes, I can read that, easily too” said Investigator Ti Amo, “NCVKD”.

“Wow, I thought the third letter was a W.  Are you sure it’s not a W?”

“Pretty sure,” said Investigator Ti Amo.

“How about the line Gary is asking Amy to read now?” whispered Cupid 732.

“You tell me what it is?” said Investigator Ti Amo.

“BZSMM” said Cupid 732.

“Wrong.  It's CZSHN”

Cupid 732 had even more difficulty with the smaller letters on the next line: ONVSR.

And he had even more difficulty with the still smaller ones on the next line: KDNRO.

Of course, he couldn't read the next few lines at all.

At that moment, both he and Investigator Ti Amo had the exact same thought, and turned to each other.

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Investigator Ti Amo said.

Cupid 732 nodded.

“Yes, I think I figured it out too.  The reason why I've been missing all those shots is because I need....” said Cupid 732. 

They both completed his sentence at the same time....“glasses”

“Bingo” said Investigator Ti Amo. “You need glasses.”

“Thank goodness for this assignment” said Cupid 732.  “If not for coming here and trying to read the eye chart, I would never have figured out I was short-sighted.  What a stroke of good luck.”

“What a stroke of good luck, indeed” said Investigator Ti Amo.

And so a day of foreboding ended in complete joy.

Cupid 732 was able to get down to the business of making Gary and Amy fall in love with a light and happy heart.

With great pleasure, he took aim at Gary and Amy's hearts, and let his arrows fly.

No sooner had he done that, when Gary thought how he had always liked everything about Amy - her soft voice, her slim figure, her perfume, and Amy thought how she had always liked everything about Gary – his humor, his politeness, his gentlemanly ways.  The two were soon looking intensely at each other, and talking about going on a date soon.

“Let's go.  Our work here is done” said Cupid 732.  

As soon as they were out of the office, Investigator Ti Amo said,“My work here is also done. Get your eyes tested, get a new pair of glasses, and you will be good to go.”

 “I can't thank you enough” said Cupid 732.

 “Don't thank me, thank them” said Investigator Ti Amo.  From where they were standing outside Gary's office, they could see Gary and Amy talking inside.

 “Thank you” said Cupid 732 throwing a butterfly kiss at Gary and Amy.

And that's the story of how Cupid 732 got his groove back.

Within days, he had a pair of glasses, he could see his targets clearly, and no one had anything bad to say about his performance again.

But because of what happened to him, Cupid 732 asked me to pass on this message to all you love bugs out there….

If you suddenly fall in love with the wrong people, or the wrong people fall in love with you, it could be because Cupid needs a new pair of eyeglasses. So don’t ever give up hope about meeting your Mr. or Ms. Right. Happy Valentine's Day! 

As always, thanks for reading and have a great day and week…..M…..a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Ajay and Subhakar for their comments on my last post and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, tweets, shares and votes….Much appreciated.