The Client

After careful considerations and weighing in all the facts, Faith had made up her mind. She was going to pay forward a favor, even though she knew that the recipient would never know the nature of the gift. Faith had gotten a love coach to help her break a series of destructive patterns that wasn’t helping her find love. It had been a long and painful realization, but the process had been quick. She had to thank Steve for this. Her hope was that she’d give him the same gift in kind before it was too late for him.

Faith had what many called a very successful dating portfolio. She was fortunate to be highly selective in the males she entertained as suitors. They were rich, had plenty of toys, were well connected, and felt entitled to have the goods they lavished with prizes. Faith wasn’t that kind of lady. Sure, she allowed a few of the suitors the luxury of a date here and there, but the shallow pretentious rituals felt hollow. The game was the same. Wine, dine, attempt at sex. And the few who were great enough to woo her in bed turned out to be bores. Had she allowed herself to sleep with all the few suitors she dated, she’d feel empty inside and worn out.

That all changed when she met Steve. He was different. Sure, he was educated and intelligent, a mix that was not nearly as common as the fleeting notion of common sense these days. Steve was grounded most days. He was a gentleman. A bit too polite and timid, but kind hearted and well meaning. His major flaws was that he didn’t fit into the social scene he attempted to play in. The man was fearlessly enamored with the high life without pockets to match. However endearing that was, Faith knew that he couldn’t deliver on half the projects he volunteered for.

Projects were the real name of the game. He wanted to save the wealthy elites from themselves. That’s how Steve had met Faith. He was out on the country club on a guest pass and had successfully wooed her into a series of wonderful dates that he could barely afford. Steve had no idea that most of the gals did background checks on outsiders before taking the risk. Steve was a good man. Just a bit naive and broke. Not broke in the literal sense, just playing way outside his league. The running joke being that Steve appeared to hope that if he was nice enough, he’d get that great catch that wouldn’t mind bailing him out of financial hell and then everyone would be happy. In time, the lucky lady would have her vindication when he made his fortunes and all was well in love land.

Faith realized one day, during one of their many dates that not only was she one of the few who got more than a date or two with Steve, she was also the only one with whom he didn’t pretend to have all the money answers. The gals about town did talk in less than flattering ways about the financial short comings of Steve. His honesty had been refreshing. In one of their honest talks, he had pointed out that Faith had a habit of finding men who had the appearance of being polished and kind only to turn out to be total duds in the sack and also emotionally impotent. They were unable to form meaningful bonds and the reason why they were good together was that he was different. Only, he was not so different. Steve was just a less fiscally savvy version of the same. That’s where the coach came in. Steve had recommended that she see one if things didn’t’ materialize between them. And that’s what she had done.

Steve had not realized that he was part of Faith’s pattern. His lack of insight only made it more painful to watch him flounder about one gal to the next hoping to find the perfect project. His desire to fix a woman’s issues and make her perfect was creating a lot of headache for him. Had he not been so bent on fixing her, maybe they’d have been together for the long haul. Unlike other relationships that were clearly and cleanly defined, theirs had been vague and unclear. Unlike other relationships that Faith had to break off, Steve had wandered off and found another project to fix. That one ended up in a massive disaster.

Faith watched in horror and sadness as the man she had allowed herself to love went off to chase another who disrespected him and humiliated him all the time. Steve had taken it quite personal that he couldn’t please that woman. She changed appointment times on him randomly and blamed him for being too early or too late. The man couldn’t muster the courage to call her out on her pettiness. What Steve didn’t know was that the damages his reputation suffered had pretty much locked him out of the circles he wanted to play in. While that wasn’t a loss really, the emotional hit tore the man apart.

Faith just wanted Steve to catch a break and fix himself. He was going to make a great partner one day. The weekend of the massive flash flooding, Faith watched in deep sadness as Steve’s name was destroyed on social media. The date had painted him as a money hungry vagrant who lied and fooled women into dates so he could take their money down the line. That woman had thanked the weather for sparing her the humiliation of his charming words. Fabricated text messages were posted showing the empty promises and lies Steve supposedly had sent. The man was not going to be allowed next to another socialite for a while to come.

To help this good man out, Faith had asked her coach to work on Steve and save him from himself. The situation was not going to look very good. Any gal making any competent social search online would find the critique and cut him off before his good side had a chance to win. Or so Faith feared. The coach had assured her that things could work out if he was willing to change. And while taking on an unsuspecting client was not standard, the coach had worked with enough high end clients to question their motives for what lengths they’d go to get what they wanted. Plus, the pay was going to be really good.

At the end of their coaching session, Faith had gained valuable insight into herself and how she approached love. The sweet vanilla lifestyle of romance was going to be a thing of the past. So good had the lessons been, around the time of the flash flooding, Faith had run into a kind gentleman who gallantly assisted her out of the rain. Their conversations moved about smoothly, swiftly, and felt comfortably natural. There was no flaunting of moneys, no showing off assets, and no thirsty pawing at her body. The respect was genuine, deep, sincere, and transparent. Faith only hoped that Steve would be smart enough to take the coaching, as there was a potential relationship at stake. Faith wanted him to experience wonderful joy and peace in love. It was imperative the coach got a hold of Steve, won him over, and helped him touch his inner king before he lost his kitten to another lesser man.

And so it was, Donna was pulling up to the address given. All had worked out as advertised. The man did live in a small culdesac place. The homes were small, the yards tiny. Mercifully, the side yards had enough room to let the few neighborhood kids move about and feel comfortable. The coach was glad she had taken her ‘everyday’ car this time, as the working class neighborhood would not have taken a 100k car as fitting in nicely.

Looking about the file one last time, before stepping out of the car, Donna just couldn’t help but laugh a little. The man in question, Steve was a visual catch. He was very well educated and held an impressive list of jobs. At present, while not employed by anyone, he volunteered at a few organizations and spent part of the year helping the local school put together programs to give the youth a helping hand in life. The man was not poor but was definitely strapped for cash. His business was his main source of income and most of that went to paying all two of his employees quite well for their efforts. The man was generous to a fault.

Donna knew early on that Steve did now know the type of women he really wanted. The types he had chased after were all over the map. The only thing they had in common was their need of validation from powerful men. Once he knew who he was, then, the type would fall away and he’d see that the woman he wanted all his life was right beneath his own very nose. Donna had agreed to help because of the selfless way in which Faith had appealed to her to help a man she would never have. Faith understood she wasn’t his and that he wouldn’t be happy without finding his own.

With that, Donna shut the motor off and prepped herself to step out. But first, checking that her minimalist makeup was on perfectly, she put on her DK sunglasses, and suppressed the smile she felt coming every time she placed on a designer pair of sunglasses baring her first name. Time to put Steve through a few paces and see if he could be nudged into reality as well as Sarah’s arms.

a publicly available photo of a Lexus on Instagram. No affiliations to the photo owner. No connection to the story. strictly for visual effect