The bartender shouted four words which froze Rick’s blood: ‘Show me some ID.’
Shrugging in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner, he pulled out his wallet and handed her the driver’s licence. Her eyes flicked from his face to the photo and back again.
‘Chris O. Komes?’ she said flatly.
‘That’s me,’ Rick lied.
The woman smiled discreetly, hinting that she got the joke – one that Rick was clueless to – then nodded and returned the card. As she poured the beers, she tapped the earpiece of the wireless headset she was wearing and spoke into the mic. The noise of the club was too loud for Rick to hear her words.
Rick paid with cash, then took the glasses and pressed his way through the throng. The interior of Olympus was dark but he found his way back to Calvin easily enough. His friend was chatting to a couple of women in their early twenties. Calvin introduced Helen and Pandora, and confirmed what Rick had surmised. Being out by themselves on Valentine’s night meant they were single.
While Calvin spoke with Pandora, Rick got to know Helen. The redhead worked as a receptionist for a law firm and lived in a tiny apartment with Pandora. They were saving up to finance their dream of opening a mobile florist.
For his part, Rick stuck to the story Calvin had prepared. They’d met studying theology at UCLA and were now working entry-level jobs at the Chicago Stock Exchange. According to Calvin, it was the perfect cover because nobody ever asked to be told more about theology or the stock exchange, and low level employment would excuse their youthful looks.
When Helen was asking what company she should invest in, somebody jostled Rick from behind. He turned to see a tall dark-haired woman. She wore a sleeveless white dress, tied over one shoulder, which fell to her mid-thigh. A thin golden rope was belted around her waist. Her dark eyes glimmered in the neon lighting. She leaned forward and whispered a gentle sorry in his ear, dowsing him in the scent of jasmine.
Without another word, she was gone, vanishing into the crowd.
‘So rude,’ Helen said, reclaiming his attention.
‘She said sorry,’ Rick said. ‘It was just an accident.’
‘Not her, you. Drooling after her while I’m talking to you.’
‘I wasn’t…’ he began but Helen had grabbed her friend’s hand and was pulling her away. Pandora resisted and Calvin stepped forward to ease the situation. He took the women’s clasped hands between his own and divided his gaze between the two of them.
‘Rick didn’t mean any offence,’ he said firmly, ‘and we’re both enjoying your company. Please stay.’ Pandora turned imploring eyes to Helen who soon succumbed to Calvin’s warm smile.
That was something about Calvin which impressed Rick. With just a soft touch and a few words, he could make people agreeable. In the eight months they’d known one another, Rick had witnessed the talent on five occasions. It appeared that Calvin wielded true magic, though he said all he did was invite his audience to open their hearts and choose the path of love over mistrust. Rick was not sure if his friend was a wizard or a hippy but it didn’t matter, the result was the same. Those touched by Calvin’s gift were left happier.
‘I’ll get you a drink to apologise,’ Rick said to Helen. She agreed, giving him the opportunity to get away and collect himself. At the bar, the same blonde bartender served him. Her lips raised in a conspiratory smile, baffling Rick.
As he waited for the vodka-cokes, he noticed the woman in the white dress again. She was walking directly to him. His pulse quickened as she neared. He cast a glance behind him but Calvin and the girls were out of sight.
‘You need to come with me,’ the woman said, her voice heavy with a European accent.
‘I’m flattered,’ he said, ‘but I’m with friends.’
‘It’s not a request,’ she said and gripped his arm. In a deft movement, she loosened the golden rope from her waist and wrapped it around his wrist.
Too shocked to resist, Rick found himself dragged toward a door marked Private. He recovered his wits at the threshold and stood his ground. The woman flashed angry eyes at him, digging her nails into his bare arm.
Rick pulled his arm back, unbalancing the woman. Seeing that he was stronger than her, he was preparing to use that advantage when the bartender grabbed him from behind and forced him through the doorway. The three of them stumbled ungraciously into a narrow corridor.
‘Get the door, Aella,’ the woman in white barked even as the bartender was closing it behind her.
‘What’s going on?’ Rick asked. ‘What do you want?’
Dark eyes narrowed as they fixed him with an icy glare.
‘You’re going to pay for what you’ve done.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Rick blubbered. Of all his fears of using a fake ID, none included being kidnapped by the establishment’s staff.
Staying silent, the women led Rick to a small office. The walls displayed numerous pictures of white buildings nestled in lush green hills overlooking clear blue waters. In two corners, waist-high pedestals held marble busts of handsome women.
Aella shoved Rick into one of two chairs placed before the room’s sole desk. The woman in white perched on the edge and studied Rick intently. With her piercing stare, thin nose and high cheekbones, she resembled one of the sculptures in the room.
‘Do you recognise me?’ she asked.
Rick’s forehead furrowed as he looked up at her.
‘My name is Hippolyta,’ she said. ‘And you are the infamous Chris O. Komes.’
‘That’s not my real name,’ Rick admitted.
‘I know. And I know your real name is also not Chrysokómēs. I know who you are.’
‘I’m just Rick,’ he murmured. ‘Rick Linton. I go to Lake View High.’
Hippolyta snorted.
‘You’re a highschooler? How naive do you think I am?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Rick said. ‘Please, don’t call my dad. Just let us go and I promise we won’t try to come back.’
‘Us? That’s a good point.’ Hippolyta turned to Aella and said, ‘Bring his friend.’
‘Yes, Queen,’ the bartender said then left the room.
‘What are you going to do with us?’ Rick asked.
‘We’re going to have a conversation about the evil you have perpetrated.’
‘Evil?’ Rick said, gulping back tears. ‘We were just trying to hook up. We didn’t mean any harm.’
Hippolyta shook her head, disgust on her face.
‘All you do is cause harm. All of you.’
Rick’s confusion prevented him forming words. It appeared Hippolyta discerned his question, nonetheless.
‘Men,’ she explained. ‘Always trampling on the hearts of women. Having no regard but for their own lust. Leading them on. Taunting them with false promises.’
‘I don’t understand.’ Rick’s voice quavered.
‘And you couldn’t. A man’s love is fleeting and selfish, but a woman’s takes over her entire essence.’
The door opened and Calvin entered, closely followed by Aella.
‘What’s happening, Ri- erm, Chris?’
‘They already know, Cal,’ Rick said.
Calvin’s eyes fell to the golden rope bound around Rick’s wrist. His lips curled up momentarily, before he scrunched his face up in bewilderment and turned to Hippolyta.
‘What are you doing?’ His voice was remarkably calm considering their predicament.
‘Sit down,’ she said, pushing him into the chair beside Rick. ‘You’d do well to listen too, but the main person I want to hear this…’ – she pointed a finger at Rick – ‘…is Eros.’
Rick blinked. He looked at Aella who was smirking at him. He turned to Calvin, his friend’s face impassive. He returned his gaze to Hippolyta and said, ‘What?’
‘You thought your little wordplay would fool us? Chris O. Komes, an anglicisation of Chrysokómēs.’
‘It’s a fake ID,’ Rick said. ‘Cal’s cousin got them for us.’
‘Of course it’s fake,’ Hippolyta agreed. ‘But Chrysokómēs is a real nickname for Eros.’
‘Who is Eros?’ Rick asked.
‘The god of love,’ Hippolyta answered with a grimace. ‘The breaker of hearts. The crusher of souls.’
‘I thought Cupid was the god of love,’ Rick mumbled.
Hippolyta screamed in his face. ‘Do not insult me.’
Calvin leaned toward Rick and whispered, ‘Cupid is the Roman god. Eros is Greek. Similar job specs, but different pantheons.’
‘Eros is the destroyer of women,’ Aella said, giving time for Hippolyta to regain herself.
‘I don’t understand,’ Rick repeated. ‘I thought women loved love.’
‘What would you know about it?’ Hippolyta snapped. ‘When a woman falls in love it is heart-wrenching. Can you comprehend the number of times a woman has cried from the harsh word of a man? The consuming vacuum caused by an unrung phone?’
‘Do you know how hot burns the self-hatred of being the wrong body shape?’ Aella added. ‘The years wasted waiting for a hero?’
‘But we’ve not done any of that,’ he whimpered. ‘We’re only seventeen,’
Hippolyta snorted. ‘Our history may be shrouded by mythology, but you and I know the truth of our origins. We know what we are. My sisters and I formed this place as a refuge from you, from the indelicacies of all men. A sanctuary for the broken and the lonely.’
‘Then why let boys in,’ Rick asked, ‘if this is supposed to be a girls-only club?’
‘Because solace and shelter are not always enough. Because tears and heartache sometimes need more than time to heal.’
Rick’s scalp tightened. He may be inexperienced in life, but he’d seen enough movies to know a veiled threat when he heard one.
‘That’s nothing to do with me,’ Rick implored.
‘Lies. You cast your arrows and impale an innocent’s heart, condemning her to a life of pain. Such exquisite stinging is the gift of Eros.’
‘I’m not Eros,’ Rick said.
‘You would say as such, snared in my charmed girdle.’ She gestured to the golden belt she had wrapped around his wrist.
‘Is that a gift from the gods?’ Calvin asked with awe.
‘A blessing from Ares himself,’ Hippolyta said with her head high. To Rick, she said, ‘Only such divine power could stay your poisonous hand.’
‘But I’m not…’ Rick stopped, aware his pleas were falling on deaf ears.
‘He’s telling you the truth, Hippolyta,’ Calvin said, getting to his feet.
‘Why should I belie-’ she began. Her face froze and her head swivelled to him. ‘I didn’t tell you my name.’
Calvin took a step toward her. ‘I know you’ve been hurt, mighty Amazon queen,’ he said softly.
She bristled and pulled away from him but he was next to her in an instant.
‘Now that I know you are without your girdle,’ he said, placing one hand on her forearm and the other at her back, ‘I can begin the healing.’ Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, ‘Pistépste stin agápi.’
Though the words were Greek to Rick, the power of the love god allowed the translation to be known in his heart:
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