COURTSIDE HEARTS

four years, and I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. But then she just up and left, without any explanation. It's like she neve

fool, Riri," A

ave to kiss a lot of frogs before we find our prince or princess. And sometimes we just need a break from all the kissing and the frogs to regroup and figure out what we want."

to put myself out there again and risk getting hurt? I don't know if I can take any more heartbreak." Rihanna's eyes were r

a continued. "So even though it might be hard, don't give up on love. Take a break if you need to, but don't give up. You are amazing, and you deserve someone who will love you for who you

w what I would do without you." She took another deep breath and then let out a sigh. "Maybe I just need a break from the whole dating scene. I'm going to take some time to focus o

d back to the office," Ava said, looking at her watch. "But we can talk more about this later, okay?"Rihanna nodded. "Yeah, of course. Thanks for listening, Ava. It

e with her coffee, Ava couldn't help but think about her own love life, or lack thereof. She hadn't been in a serious relationship for a while, an

ng what to expect. To her surprise, the message was from a coworker, inviting her to join a group of friends for happy hour that evening. She smiled, feeling a bit

ke some new friends. She tried to push away her doubts, unlike Rihanna, who was trying to meet both men and women, Ava was mostly interested in men. But in her experience, many of the men she had m

esk and sighed, opening up her laptop and trying to focus on her work. But her mind kept wandering to thoughts of love and companionship. She tried to push the thoughts away, but they kept coming back, nagging at her. She felt restless and

As she started typing, her phone buzzed with a notification from a dating app she had recently downloaded. She sighed, knowing that she probably sh

s. She continued to scroll, telling herself that it was just a bit of fun, nothing serious. But then she saw a face that caught her attention. He was handsome and seemed to have a kind smile. She found herself looking at his profile, r

heart was racing as she thought about what to do next. Should she message him? Should she just leave it and hope he messaged her first? She was completely torn. On one hand, she wanted to reac

it to buzz with a new message. And then, after what felt like an eternity, it did. He had responded, with a simple "Hello back." Ava's heart leaped, and she q

ntrigued by this man. She couldn't help but wonder if this could be the start o

ith excitement. She could barely contain herself as she hurried to Rihanna

ook on her face. "What's up? You look like you jus

d, "No, it's not a ghost.