Eros (5 page)

Skye nodded weakly.
‘Sure.’

She turned round to see whether her customers needed anything.
If they wanted more drinks she’d hardly be able to take time out to try and chat.
Unfortunately, their glasses were all full, and every single one was focusing on the stage in front.
Bugger.

Steeling herself, she twisted round to face the restroom door.
How hard could it be?
It was three sentences.
Less than five seconds of her life.
You want to become more confident, Skye told herself.
You’ll never manage it unless you try.

The door opened and her stomach lurched.
Apollo emerged, a small smile playing around his lips.

‘Do it,’ she whispered, and walked right up to him and smiled.

‘Hello, I’m Skye.
I’m a waitress here at Nemesis.
Is there anything you desire?’

He looked her up and down with his cornflower-blue eyes and smiled disarmingly. ‘Well, hello, Skye.
Actually there is something I desire.’

An alarm bell began ringing in Skye’s skull.
Uh-oh.
Apollo leaned in towards her.
He smelled of musk and masculinity. ‘What I really desire is,’ he said, pausing for effect.

‘Yes?’ Skye breathed, suddenly terrified.

‘For you to get the fuck out of my way.’
He leaned back, his smile disappearing.
‘My sights are set a little higher than on a serving girl.’

Stunned beyond words at his rudeness, Skye stepped back.
He pushed past her, returning to his group of friends.
She watched as he gestured towards her and said something.
There was a wave of laughter from the group as they turned towards her.
Feeling sick, she blinked rapidly and almost ran down the stairs.
She squeezed through the people to the bar and shouted to the barman that she was taking her break.
He gave her a brisk nod, as if irritated that she was bothering him, and Skye sprinted off to the sanctuary of the quiet staffroom.

She headed straight into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
Her face was flushed and hot.
Don’t be an idiot, she told herself firmly.
You knew what kind of person he was; what did you expect would happen?
She turned on the cold tap and let the water run under her fingers for a moment before splashing her face in an attempt to cool down.
She grabbed a couple of paper towels and dried her skin, then took a deep breath and walked back to the door. Opening it, she realised that there were a couple of other staff members inside.

‘Where on earth did these come from?’
It was Marina, the Brazilian dancer, holding up a cupcake.

‘Goodness knows,’ came the answer.

Marina tossed the small cake down onto the table.
‘Must be some idiot who thinks that eating a mound of sugar, then dancing for an hour in a cage is a good idea.’

Her friend giggled.
‘Yeah, I can just picture you vomming all over Orpheus.’

‘Honestly,’ Marina said scathingly, ‘some people are just so stupid.’

Skye closed the door quietly and walked into one of the cubicles.
She flipped the lock, lowered the toilet seat, sat down and began to cry.

Coop and Hermes arrived late at Nemesis, squeezing in behind a couple who were holding hands.
Coop rolled his eyes and pointed to them, forgetting for a moment that his friend could no longer see what he was doing.
He nudged him instead.

‘Look at those two,’ he said irritably.

Hermes jumped.
‘At least they’re happy,’ he muttered.
‘I look like I’ve got no mates and I’m coming to dance on my own.’

‘You’re wearing a disguise,’ Coop reminded him.

Hermes scratched at his wig.
‘Yeah, a bloody annoying one.
I should have asked Zeus to make me invisible, too.’

One of the bouncers walked into Coop, shoving him against the wall.
He cursed, while the bouncer looked momentarily confused, glancing around and trying to work out what he’d just banged into.

‘It’d be a lot more fun if people didn’t keep smashing into me.’

‘I’m not sure any of this is fun,’ Hermes said grumpily.
‘Tell me again why we’re here.’

‘As I have already told you, you’ll soon see,’ Coop said as they walked into the Rock Room.
‘Now, be a mate and go and get me a drink.’

‘I can’t,’ Hermes replied flatly.
‘You can’t be invisible and have some drink floating in front of you and expect no-one to notice.’

Coop scowled.
‘Fine.’
He looked around, spotting the quieter gallery area.
‘Let’s go up there.
I’ll be less likely to be walked into there.’

‘Up where?’

‘There.’

‘Coop, I can’t see you pointing, remember?’

‘The gallery, up to the bloody gallery, alright?
That’s where Apollo will be anyway.’

Hermes closed his eyes for a second.
‘I’m not sure that…’ He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence before his friend grabbed his elbow and began yanking him over in the direction of the stairs.
A startled looking waitress passed him, obviously wondering why he seemed to be walking with his arm out in front of him.

‘This is a really stupid idea,’ he hissed.

‘Chill out,’ Coop drawled, climbing up the staircase and pulling Hermes over to the side.
‘Look, Apollo’s over there with all of his fawning minions.’

‘Yeah, so?’

‘We watch and wait.’

‘Can’t I just enjoy the band?’

‘We’re not here for the music,’ was the terse reply.

Hermes leaned against the railing and stared down at the crowd.
He registered a small clear voice saying something next to him and half turned, realising it was a pretty waitress asking if he wanted a drink.

‘No, thanks,’ he muttered.

Coop dug an elbow into his ribs and he groaned in pain.
The waitress looked alarmed and he managed to grimace a smile.
Fortunately, she turned away and left him alone.

‘Don’t do that!’ he hissed.

‘What?
I want a drink.’

‘And I already told you that you can’t have one.
Coop, let’s just go.’

‘No chance.’

Ignoring Hermes’ protests, Coop turned round and watched Apollo.
There had to be at least eight people surrounding him.
Coop recognised a few of them as hangers-on from Olympus.
None of them had any real power to speak of, probably because it made Apollo feel more important if he surrounded himself with weaklings.

Coop also noted Helios hovering anxiously downstairs, flicking nervous glances at the Sun God.
Because, heavens forbid, Apollo shouldn’t have his every whim pandered to, thought Coop irritably.

Even when Orpheus came on and began belting out their first song, he didn’t turn back round.
He was waiting for just the right moment which, fortunately, didn’t take long.
Barely three songs in, Apollo pulled himself up and began walking towards the men’s restroom.
Coop grinned to himself and pushed off from the railing.
It was time to have some fun.

‘I’ll be back soon,’ he said casually to Hermes, who muttered something inaudible back.

Coop trailed after Apollo, dancing behind him and pulling faces.
Okay, it was pretty childish but it was still fun.
As soon as they were in the bathroom, he set his plan into action.
Apollo unzipped himself at the urinal while Coop carefully turned on a tap until it was barely dripping.
He caught some of the water on his fingertip and flicked it at the urinating god.
Apollo jerked and turned around as if expecting to see someone there; of course all that was visible was the seemingly empty restroom.

Coop smirked and flicked more water at him.
Apollo cursed and this time looked up at the ceiling as if he expected to see a leak.
As soon as he did so, Coop carefully picked up one of the foul-smelling yellow urinal cubes and flung it at Apollo’s back.
Apollo spun round, arcing a stream of urine onto the floor and making Coop laugh aloud.

A look of comprehension spread across Apollo’s face.
‘Let me guess,’ he said slowly, ‘the little God of Love is here to spread some mischief.
I’d have expected no less.
Did you really think I wouldn’t hear what my father has done to you?’

The smile disappeared from Coop’s face.
‘You’d better watch your back, you know.
You’ll never be completely sure whether I’m around spying on you.
You might call it mischief, but I’m going to be having a hell of a lot of fun.’

‘Really?’ Apollo asked drily.
‘Do you think I should be worried that you’re following me into the men’s room to flick water on me?
Frankly, my little cherub, if that’s the most exciting thing you have to do with your time, then feel free.
And feel free to spy on me whenever you want.
All you’ll discover is that my life is considerably more interesting than yours.’
He zipped up his trousers and walked over to wash his hands.

‘I’m going back out now,’ he announced.
‘You can come and join us, you know.
You can have fun watching all these human girls fall over themselves to be with me.’

Coop snorted.
‘You know very well that they prefer me.’

‘Not when you’re invisible, they don’t,’ smirked Apollo.
He raised a hand in the air and waved it in a mock salute.
‘Toodle-do, Love.’

Apollo walked out.
Coop remained where he was for a moment, seething.
Okay, flicking water in the toilets was an immature thing to do.
He was man enough to admit that.
But it didn’t mean he was finished by any means.
He stalked out after the Sun God, just in time to see some poor waitress’s face crumple as Apollo obviously said something insulting to her.

Coop watched as Apollo sauntered back to his friends and rubbed salt in the wound by encouraging them to laugh at her.
Coop’s hackles rose.
He wasn’t above some petty mischief but he wasn’t about to stoop to a level where people actually got hurt.
He turned back to see the girl run off down the stairs and suddenly knew exactly what he was going to do to teach Apollo a lesson.

Spotting Hermes in the same spot where he’d left him, he walked over. ‘There’s something I need you to do.’

‘Coop, there’s always something you need me to do.’

‘Yeah, but this time it’s important.
That waitress?
The one who asked you if you wanted a drink?’

‘You’re not getting any alcohol, Coop.’

‘No, no, it’s fine, I don’t want a drink.
But Apollo does.’

‘Huh?’

‘When that waitress comes back, tell her you want to buy Apollo a drink.
Send over a bottle of champagne.
But she has to deliver it personally.
She won’t want to do it but you need to make her.’

‘Why would I want to make someone do something they don’t want to do?
I wouldn’t want to wait on that smug bastard either,’ Hermes complained.

‘Trust me.
This will be worth it.’

It seemed an age before the girl came back to the gallery.
When she did, Coop noted the drawn look on her face and felt a wave of sympathy.
It was okay though: he was about to make her feel a hell of a lot better about herself.
He grinned.
Everyone needed an ego boost from time to time.
He nudged his friend. ‘There she is.
Go and get her over here.’

‘Coop,’ Hermes began.

‘Please.’

Hermes sighed heavily.
‘Fine.’
He beckoned the waitress over.

‘Yes, sir?’

Hermes eyed her.
She appeared very subdued, especially against the buoyant energy of the crowd.

‘I’d like to order a drink,’ he said gently.

‘Of course.
What would you like?’

‘Champagne, please,’ he said.
‘A full bottle.
But it’s not for me.’
Hermes pointed over to where Apollo was sprawled across a chair.
‘You need to give it to him.’

The girl’s face dropped and she blushed.
‘Um, I, can get you the champagne,’ she started to stutter, ‘but maybe it would be better if you delivered it yourself.’

Hermes felt awful, but he could feel Coop jabbing him in his side.
‘No, I’d like you to do it.’

She stared at him, emotions openly warring on her face.
Then, finally, she nodded.
‘Okay.’

Hermes watched her turn and head down to the bar to make the order.
‘If you’re doing this to torture that poor girl, Coop…’

‘You know me better than that.
I don’t mess with innocents.’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look less inclined to do something.’

‘Perhaps.
But the “flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lonely.”’

‘Huh?’

‘Wordsworth.
He was a poet.’

‘I know who Wordsworth was,’ Hermes growled, as the girl returned with a tray.

She barely looked at him as she passed although Hermes carefully followed her progress.
When she reached Apollo’s table, the Sun God looked up at her, amused.
He said something to her and her face flamed while his friends laughed uproariously.

‘Coop, this is really bad.’

Coop wasn’t paying any attention.
He’d pulled out his little golden box and was already assembling its contents.
He stepped to the side to get a clear shot and trained his sights down onto Apollo’s heart.
The Sun God wouldn’t know what had hit him.

As soon as Coop was positive that Apollo was looking directly at the girl, he squeezed the trigger and struck him directly in the heart.