Nerthus“Oh, you just unlocked a new fantasy of mine.” I giggle as Owen leans over the counter as I’m brewing his coffee.“Wait until you drink it. Maybe you will change your mind.” He straightens back up with a chuckle.“You underestimate the power of a fantasy, my dear. You could mix dirt into that, and it wouldn’t change a thing.”I snort at him grinning like an idiot, before I finally hand him his beverage. “Here you go, cute stranger.”“For the lady.” He smiles widely, passing me a 50-dollar bill, insisting that I keep the change.“Thank you, Owen.” I let my arms slump as I put the cash into my register and take out my tip.He checks his watch and groans. “I have to get going. Is our date still standing for tomorrow?”I nod flashing him a happy smile before we bend over the counter simultaneously so that he can press a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll pick you up at 8.”“Can’t wait,” I say, watching him storm out of the café.Lizzy appears next to me with a giggle. “That was an awful deep
Nerthus“Did you use to come here with your teenage girlfriend?” I ask with a giggle, and he looks out of the window, avoiding my gaze.But I can see his smirk.“Are you introducing yourself as Aria to everyone now because you know I hate the name?”I groan, slumping against the leather seat. “Come on! You have to stop answering my questions with one of yours.”He clears his throat as he shifts in his seat. “I didn’t have a teenage girlfriend, Nerthus.”“Why not?” I ask, getting a frown.“Did you?”I wrinkle my nose as I feel disgusted for some reason. “Touché.”His deep chuckle gets me to smile, and I lean my head against the leather as I turn towards him fully, pulling my legs up.He let me drive outside the city, and we reached a lookout point with a nice view over trees and a waterfall flowing into a river.I am quite positive that this is a spot for the kids to make out in peace, but until now, we seem to be alone.“So?” He asks, tilting his head at me, tearing me out of my thoug
NerthusI would walk to wherever you want me to.… embers“Huh?” My eloquent question, as I get dragged out of my train of thought, gets me a nice smile from Owen.“I was asking if you wanted a glass of champagne or if you preferred a rosé.”As if only reawakening from my trance, I notice only now that a waiter is smiling at me uncomfortably. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’d love the rosé.”“Lovely,” Owens murmurs before he grabs my glass for me, thanking the bouquet waiter.“Everything alright, Aria?” He asks, causing me to nod repeatedly.“Sure,” I answer, putting my hand on his arm. “I am sorry. I had quite a bad shift today. I knew I should have taken a day off for this evening.”Today’s shift at the café has been exhausting for real, but not because it was particularly hectic. Not even the morning rush of customers was able to keep my mind off my night with Arawn and what he had said to me.First, I was convinced that I must have hallucinated because I was obviously ecstatic.But the more
Arawn“You cannot hide forever.”I tsk as Elinor storms into one of the separate sitting rooms of the venue, catching me sipping an expensive brandy. “Watch me!”“Ah, Mr. Rodberg!” She scolds me as she scurries through the room, ripping open the curtains to open a window. “You shouldn’t act so childishly and disappear from your own party. It doesn’t behoove a man of your status.”Scoffing, I spread my arms theatrically. “And you shouldn’t go around disrupting conversations. And yet here we are.”The feeble light of the lanterns outside streams into the room, pulling it out of its darkness.“Man of my status,” I add in a murmur, taking another sip.“Yeah, yeah.” She says, moving to clear the table in front of me, putting my brandy away under my protest. “You can go on acting like a spoilt, sulking child, but someone had to do something. You will end up losing her to that sunny boy. Do you know what he works with?”I groan as she stops to stand before me, lifting her finger, reprimandin
Nerthus “Wow,” I say dreamily as I am braiding the tassels of her scarf. “You two are adventurous.” Emily is just about to inquire about my Thanksgiving after having gushed about theirs, as I jump at Owen slumping back down at the table.Saved by the bell.My panic rises as I see Arawn taking his place as well, and I turn around. Checking if he has a split lip or a black eye, I am equally relieved as I am disappointed.I’m such a disgusting character.“Everything alright?” I ask, and he nods looking at me as if I had caught him red-handed.“Sure. Why?” He leans forward to press a chaste kiss on the corner of my lips, making me freeze.Shaking my head, I stare at him in disbelief. “Nothing.”“We will discuss it later like we said we would.” He lowers his voice with a smile, and I nod absentmindedly.I am more confused than ever, and honestly, I am scared.Maybe they didn’t talk to each other, and happened to just come back into the room by coincidence?My fingers itch to grab my pur
Nerthus I’m so angry at him that I’m set on giving Owen the last piece of me nobody ever had.I don’t care if I’m doing it out of spite, I just need him to be out of my system.“So, here we are.” Owen smiles at me as he parks his car in front of my alibi building.“Home sweet home.” I chuckle as I turn my body towards him. “Would you like to come upstairs?”He grimaces shortly before he moves his head away from me.Oh, no!“I’d love to, Aria.” He says as he looks back at me like the boy with the tuba who is about to break up with the girl from the math club.Because he talked to the quarterback about her!That fucker!“I’d really, really love to.”I force a chuckle as my throat dries out. “So, why don’t you then?”“We still
Nerthus “Can I bring you something else, sweetie?”Mr. Entitled Asshole: You aren’t at home. Where are you?A man dressed in a suit looks up from his phone with a dizzy smile. “No, I’m alright, Aria. Thank you!”Mr. Entitled Asshole: Where the fuck are you? Answer the phone!“Call me if you need anything.”Mr. Entitled Asshole: I don’t have the key to your fake apartment.He nods, returning to his flashing screen as he leans back onto the counter.I clean up the counter swiftly with a rag as I take the order of a couple of young ladies blabbering excitedly.Mr. Entitled Asshole: Are you here? Are you going to open the door or not?I was already knocked out as his texts reached me, and I still don’t know if I’m sad or happy about it.My day shift at the café and my current shift at the bar surely took a bit of my thoughts away from the asshole, but I was still struggling to concentrate on the tasks.More than anything, I was angry, and eventually I thought it served him right to be le
Nerthus The week starts as badly as it ended.I feel exhausted as I didn’t sleep well another night. Expecting Arawn to come over to collect his debt, I’m practically useless for anything as I feel as if running on adrenaline.As days pass, my subtle fear turns into frustration as I don’t even get a text from him.And soon enough, I find myself feeling disappointed as he doesn’t show up.But still manages to steal my sleep this way.In a weak moment, I am tempted to contact him, but Jenna saves me from my embarrassment as she tells me that he must have gone out of the country for some meeting as Dario had to go with him.At least a text!I go through my days with my shifts in the café and the bar as well as casual dinners and drinks with Gigi and Jenna.Not that it helps a lot.Sitting on my bed, I chew on the skin around my