Empire of Lust (Gods of Olympus Book 2) Read online

  I returned to the market by myself and spent hours wandering around the aisles. They had so many different varieties of food here that I had never heard of. Bright colors adorned the packaging and begged me to buy it.

  My trolley was very full by the time I reached the checkouts. I purchased a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as all the delicious looking foods of which I had no idea what they would taste like.

  Olives were at the top of my list, and I managed to find two very large jars of them. Too bad Willa didn’t like them, but that only meant more for me.

  Trying to get all the groceries on the scooter was difficult. There was a storage compartment underneath the seat, but that was all. I had to tie some bags to the sides and hold one on my lap before everything would fit.

  Driving home was slower than getting there. All the extra weight caused the scooter to strain and chug along, emitting more smoke than seemed healthy. I took it easily and enjoyed the scenery as I drove.

  Many men tooted their horns at me as I passed them in the traffic. I guessed I did look a sight with my red dress and matching scooter. It was good knowing I hadn’t lost my ability to attract men. Being around Laird so often made me wonder if I had. He certainly didn’t seem to have any desire to be with me.

  Laird didn’t appear to be at home when I arrived. His garage was locked up tightly, and he wasn’t in the backyard. There was no sign of him, so I hauled the groceries inside and parked the scooter in the yard. It felt a little like tying up my horse when I used the chain Laird had given me to secure the scooter.

  I put all the groceries away and chewed on some olives. The taste instantly reminded me of home. A lack of judgment saw me rereading my father’s note again. The words were just as angry as they were the first fifteen times I’d read it.

  My exile was going to last a very long time. It was right of me to start learning how to take care of myself. I couldn’t rely on passing the time idly while my father cooled down.

  I would show him that I didn’t need him. I would prove that I could be an independent woman and not just a possession that would be passed from one man to another.

  I would never let myself get into that situation again. When I married, it would be with a man of my choosing and because I was in love with him. Convenience and strategy would not play into it.

  With my newfound determination, I pulled out the new pan I bought for Willa and two eggs. This time I would make a delicious meal and not burn down the kitchen. This time I would succeed and prove I didn’t need anybody else.

  The eggs sizzled in the pan while I watched them carefully. I left any splatters until they were finished and the heat was turned off. I cooked the eggs until they were firm and then slid them onto a plate.

  Then I quickly cleaned up.

  Without causing any damage.

  The eggs were the yummiest meal I had ever had. They were not as good as anything the cook or Willa had made, but they held a sweet satisfaction that could not be found in any other dish.

  I had done it. I had cooked for myself, and nothing bad had happened. And this was only the beginning. I would use Willa’s books of recipes and teach myself how to prepare the kind of meals the cook could whip up effortlessly in those hot kitchens.

  I would not be useless any longer.

  7

  “How does somebody get a job?” I asked Willa casually later that night. We’d cooked dinner together, I could learn so much from her that wasn’t in the books of recipes.

  “What kind are you looking for?”

  I’d been thinking about that all afternoon. Being a goddess didn’t really come with a long list of skills that could be useful here. I doubted anyone wanted to hire a professional patron of love and fertility.

  But there were a few things that could translate. “I’m very good with people. Maybe I could work with the public?”

  “So that means customer service. There’s sometimes retail jobs in the newspaper or online,” Willa offered. I didn’t really understand much of what she just said.

  “What’s online?”

  “The internet.” She said it with a tone like I should know exactly what that meant. It was safer to go along with her so she didn’t discover my secret. However, I really didn’t have a clue what she meant.

  Hopefully, she wouldn’t get suspicious. “I’m not entirely sure what that is.”

  “You don’t know what the internet is?”

  I shrugged nonchalantly, like it shouldn’t have been a big deal. “I’m from a very small town.”

  Willa arched one eyebrow at me and grabbed her computer. I’d seen them plenty of times before in my travels, but I wasn’t sure exactly what the boxes did. Hers was white with a picture of an apple on the back. She opened it into two pieces and showed me the middle. “This is the internet.”

  The internet was amazing.

  Willa showed me how to use it to look up positions that were vacant. We scrolled through ads and discussed the possibility of each one. I really wasn’t qualified for any of them.

  But my father’s money would only last so long, and he made it clear he wasn’t going to send any more. When it ran out, Willa wouldn’t be happy about me staying on for free. She needed the rent and I wasn’t going to let her down.

  There was one ad that didn’t seem so bad. “How about this one? I like clothes.”

  Willa scanned through before she replied. “That could work. The clothes store is downtown, you should take your CV in and apply.”

  “CV?”

  “You don’t have one?”

  “I’m not sure what one is.”

  To her credit, Willa was a saint when it came to being patient with me. There were some things I could bluff, cooking and shopping were two of them. Other things, like the technology of this age, were impossible to work out without a guide.

  My CV was very short. I had to make up names of schools I attended and skills I had. There were no previous places of employment which probably meant my chances of getting a job were not great. Willa didn’t say as much, but I knew what she was thinking.

  Being a goddess didn’t count for anything when it came to skills required to work for somebody. Thank goodness I didn’t need any back home. Otherwise, I would have discovered how useless I was a lot earlier.

  After we’d sorted out my CV, Willa helped me set up an email account, and I applied for my first job ever. It was with a clothing boutique and seemed easy enough. I could wear clothes, so surely I could sell them too.

  Over the next few days, I searched for jobs as part of my routine. Willa said it wasn’t ‘hiring season’ so even getting an interview would be tough. I hoped she was telling me the truth and not feeding me lies to be kind.

  It took five days before I got an email requesting I attend an interview. It was with the third place I applied with. Like the first place, it was a clothing store. I was confident I would be able to do the job.

  I drove my scooter into the center of town where a line of stores sat next to the road. Finding the store I was after, I smoothed my violet dress and held my head up high.

  I could do this.

  The clothes weren’t that appealing. That was apparent the moment I stepped into the shop. They looked like poorly fitting rags—something even my servants wouldn’t consider putting on their bodies. People were actually buying these awful things?

  The smile on my face was completely fake. “Hi, I’m Dita. I have an interview at one o’clock.”

  The girl behind the counter couldn’t have been more than a teenager. She rolled her eyes and nodded toward a closed door at the back. “Through there.”

  I guessed I wasn’t going to get any more help than that. I went through to the door and knocked before someone yelled at me to “come in.”

  “Hello, I’m Dita,” I said to the older woman sitting at a desk in the small room. It was stifling hot with no air seeming to circulate in the tiny space.

  She shook my hand and tucked a pencil behind her ear. She was completely disheveled with her hair needing a good brush and her clothes needing an iron. The poor woman must really need a new shop assistant so she could have a break.

  “Take a seat, Dita. Have you had any other retail experience?” She smiled at me encouragingly. I wanted to tell her everything she needed to hear, but I couldn’t lie too badly. I would need to live up to expectations, after all. I couldn’t set the bar too high, or I wouldn’t be able to jump over it.

  “No, I haven’t.” Willa had schooled me on how to answer these types of questions. “But I’m a very quick learner and eager to excel in this field. I love clothes and feel I have something to add to your business.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “Your store is lovely. I’d be very excited to work here and am very reliable.”

  “But you have no experience.”

  “Yes, that’s correct.” What I lacked in experience, I tried to make up for in the smile I flashed at her. She stared for a few moments, for longer than was usually polite. She was probably feeling some kind of attraction to me. She might not have realized it, but that was what was happening. It was one of my powers to attract people, it didn’t matter what gender.

  She shook her head and broke the spell. “I really need someone I don’t have to spend a lot of time training. I’m rushed off my feet at the moment with everything going on.”

  “Like I said, I’m a very quick learner.”

  “What are your other skills?”

  This was where my list got very small. “I am very friendly and have my own transport. I’m confident I can turn up on time.”

  “What about using the computer?”

  “I know how to check emails.”

  “That’s it?”

  “I’m still learning other features of the device.” I had hoped it wouldn’t come up. Willa had implied how important computers were, but I hadn’t taken much notice.

  “So you have no experience in retail, and you don’t know how to use a computer? Is this a joke?” She implored me with her eyes.

  “No, ma’am, it isn’t a joke. I’m truly here for a job.”

  She handed me my CV back and stood. “Thank you for your time, Dita. I’ll call if you are successful, but I have a few more people to interview first.”

  I rose to my feet and took back the folder Willa had lent me. All the hope and positivity was sapped from my body with those few words. There was no way she would be calling me to say I was the successful applicant.

  I thanked her anyway and left the store. A part of me was very happy I wouldn’t have to sell the rags, but it would have been nice to have the opportunity. If this was what all job hunting was like, I felt ready to give up now. Maybe if I apologized to my father, he would allow my exile to end before my money ran out.

  Going home to an empty house didn’t seem all that appealing after the interview. Instead, I decided to go for a walk around the town. It was a good time to explore further and get to know the place better. Ocean Rise was a small city, and it seemed there were water views no matter where you went.

  I’d always loved the ocean. There was something about the smell of the saltwater and feel of the sand that sent happiness humming through my bones. I’d always lived by the sea and wouldn’t have it any other way.

  The closer to the water I walked, the more upmarket the stores became. The clothes shops down here were boutiques with designer gowns in the windows. Not a rag was in sight. These were the stores I could picture myself working in.

  If I could picture myself working at all.

  My eyes gaped open in awe as I passed by the brightly lit windows. So many beautiful things, all more expensive than I could afford these days. Everything was vastly more expensive than Sears had been. I was glad Willa had taken me there to purchase all my clothes and not this street. Otherwise, I may have been broke already.

  I stopped outside one of the windows that wasn’t like all the others. There were no clothes in this one, but a sheet covering up half the glass. I had to peek around it to get a better look at the inside.

  Laird was on the floor, a box in front of him that he was opening. I knocked on the window and saw his head pop up to see me. I waved before he waved back. We stared at each other for a moment before he remembered his manners and let me in.

  “Hey, Dita.”

  “Is this your gallery?” I asked, taking a step inside. My curiosity was killing me, I needed to explore further.

  “Yeah, for the next month anyway. Then it will be handed over to the next artist.” Laird was wearing a blue T-shirt with khaki shorts. He didn’t look like an artist today, but he was still one hundred percent pure hotness. “What are you doing down here?”

  “Oh my God, who is this?” I was saved from answering by a man emerging from the back of the gallery. He was shorter than Laird and his hair was so long it touched his shoulders. He had a smile that took up most of his face. I couldn’t help but grin at his enthusiasm.

  Laird didn’t seem nearly as impressed as I was. “This is my new neighbor, Dita. Dita, this is my assistant Rocky. He’s helping me out with the gallery stuff.”

  Rocky pushed past Laird to take my hand in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of my hand. It was a very sweet gesture. “So pleased to meet you, Dita. My god, it’s like looking at the sun when I look at you. Are my retinas going to burn out if I stare for too long?”

  His words were similar to those a poet had once said to me. My memory stirred a longing for home. “Maybe you should get some sunglasses,” I teased.

  “Or stop looking,” Laird replied with no hint of joking in his tone of voice. The man was so difficult to understand. One minute he was being nice and lending me his scooter. The next he was basically telling people to leave me alone. I’d honestly never met anybody like him.

  Rocky looked at Laird for a moment, obviously trying to understand him too. “Well, it’s a pleasure meeting you, Dita. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to holler and I’ll be right there. Seriously, just call me.” He made a telephone with his hand and held it up to his ear. I decided I liked Rocky, he had spunk.

  When it was just Laird and myself, the silence threatened to get awkward. I tried to fill it quickly. “So this is your art gallery. It looks like everything is coming along.”

  “We’re still way behind.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you’ll get there.”

  “Would you like a tour?” Relief flooded through me, I hadn’t wanted to ask if he was really busy. But I desperately wanted to see some of his artworks. Perhaps if I saw what he created, I might understand Laird better. Wasn’t all art an extension of its creator?

  “I would love a tour. As long as you’re not too busy, of course.”

  “I could use a break.” With that being said, Laird guided me around the gallery.

  He hadn’t been lying when he said he was behind. There was only a week to go until the opening, and I saw lots of empty walls where paintings and displays were supposed to go. Glass displays remained barren and signs were perched beside empty spaces.

  But, in the back, it was like going into Pandora ’s Box. A large portion of his collection was waiting to be put out. Some items were still packaged from being transported, but many were just waiting to be displayed.

  I was instantly attracted to a sculpture sitting by the wall. It was as tall as my waist and made out of clay that had hardened into place. The subject was a male looking off into the distance. His body was perfect with every muscle bristled for action. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  “This is yours?” I asked.

  Laird joined me, his hands wringing together. “Yeah, I call it ‘Warrior God.’ Do you like it?”

  I wanted to run my hands over it and feel every single groove and plain. “It’s outstanding. What made you create it?”

  “The clay spoke to me. I just did what it told me to. The warrior was inside the block, and I carved him out. He wanted to be free. Please don’t think I’m crazy.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy,” I replied. “I think you’re a master of your craft. This warrior is truly amazing. I can’t imagine anything more beautiful existing in this world. Just the look on his face is enough to inspire an entire army to follow him into battle.”

  “You really think so?”

  “Yeah.” I was almost breathless from staring at the sculpture. I could imagine this man’s full life story paved out in front of him and behind. He would walk with courage and never look back.

  Laird tugged at my elbow. “Come on, there’s plenty more to see.”

  I had to force myself to leave the warrior’s side. I would have easily been one of those that followed him wherever he went. Stories and legends would be told about this man if he were real.

  Laird took me around the rest of the storage area but nothing compared to the sculpture. His paintings were beyond comparison with any other artist, and his experiments with other mediums were inspirational. There was nothing I didn’t like. His show was going to be outstanding.

  “You’re going to be famous one day,” I told him at the end of the tour. “People from all over the world are going to know your name.”

  “I think that’s an exaggeration, but thank you,” he replied. His hands were in his pockets like he wasn’t sure what he should do with them.

  “I can’t imagine having anything left over after the opening night. You’re going to have to work quickly for the next show.”

  “It takes me so long to set these things up that I probably won’t have another for a while.”

  “This is technically retail, correct?”

  “Um, yeah, I guess. Why?”

  “Just wondering. I had a job interview earlier for a retail position. I was just checking I fully understood what retail was. It seems people wanting to hire are pretty picky about classifications.”

  “You’re looking for a job?” I nodded. “How’d the interview go?”

  “Terribly. I’ve got no retail experience so apparently that made me as appealing as dirt,” I said sadly, shuddering with the memory. The woman had changed so quickly when I told her about my lack of experience.