His head spun his skin grew hot. Misery clawed at his heart and choked his throat, forcing his eyes to well, his stomach to heave. He fell to his knees and scrambled for a rubbish bin to vomit in.
“It’s all gone” he thought through fat sobs.
He had wanted to fall in love again for 10 years, a desperate shell with a rusting heart, clinging to hope so it would not slip away from him. His wife would want him to move on, he knew, and it had been so long since her passing, but how could he even begin? His friends suggested an agency, since speed dating and “just meeting people” were absolutely off the cards. He could never convince any woman to date him without some outside help. So he searched for and found one.
The dating agency set him up with a lady named Lily. He had paid a huge fee for the guarantee of a match, as it was something he could not resist. She had indeed been ideal. Charming. Beautiful. Funny. Youthful….. Perfect. He could not wipe the smile from his face after their very first meeting.
His infatuation with her took hold, the heady feeling of being in love swallowed him, he was desperate to feel it forever. The agency could take care of the wedding plans, it was agreed, for a fee…
But then she disappeared without a trace. Leaving him devastated and sleepless with concern for her safety and his near breaking heart. The agency would head an investigation for him. For a lot more money…
It had gotten away from him so quickly that he now found himself bankrupt. All his money was gone, and so was Lily.
He guessed she had been a figment of his desperation all along.
This is from a news headline. I would like to add that the man in this story was taken for over $3million. A court has ordered the “agency” and woman to return it to him.
B.B. Darlington 