Chapter Seven
Eros

I wasn’t entirely sure how I was supposed to act with him sort of staring at me, although I don’t think he realized he was even doing it.  He looked about as amused as Zephyr did, although his amusement seemed to stem from happiness at the fact that I was there rather than because of some private joke.  Which made it only slightly less annoying, if only because it didn’t feel like he was laughing at me the entire time.  The strange thing was that I was used to guys – even ones at hot as Eros was – staring and pining after me.  Maybe it was because we were the only people in the mansion, or maybe because it was the idea that he brought me specifically to stay with him, but I felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

He wasn’t judging me, I could tell.  That was something girls tended to do with me, making sure I was up to par with their ideas and what was supposed to be ‘cool’.  They all hated me for it, choosing not to conform but still being a Karalis.  They had to like me no matter what the hell I did.  But I could always feel their disgusted gazes on me whenever they thought I wasn’t paying much attention.  Some of them did judge me – the nasty ones who wanted someone hot and easy.  The ones who only dated cheerleaders and thought it was hilarious to attempt to shove a freshman into his locker.  The sort of guys I particularly didn’t care about.

Other guys merely stared, pining after me for whatever reason.  While I knew I wasn’t anything remotely ugly, I also wasn’t the dazzling beauty that our head cheerleader was, the person that beauty in our school was based upon.  I wasn’t even prettier than Penny or Phoebe, to be honest.  I wasn’t the sort of beauty that most guys pined after.  With my freckles and what Mom called button nose, I was the sort of guy that a guy would be friends with before realizing they felt something more to them.  The sort they could feel confident their mothers would positively love.

I knew it was because of my father that boys pined after me.  They wanted to be famous as well, which is why typically I didn’t bother with the ones who stared.  Every now and then, I would catch the attention of a guy that I would think was my type – another homely sort of guy who could possibly share the same interests as me – but for some reason, the idea of being in a relationship just never really appealed to me that much.  After all, a relationship would take time away from my reading.

It was so strange that I was getting all sorts of mixed signals from Eros.  He was hot enough to be one of those guys who wanted me merely because of my name, and yet, somehow I got the sense of out him that he was more like those computer nerd guys who fall over themselves whenever I walk into the computer lab for whatever reason.  He was the sort of guy who’s had my same interests.

Maybe it was because I found him relaxing in a library that made me believe it.  Maybe it was just my strange sense of people.

Either way, I wasn’t sure what the hell to do.  I wasn’t really used to talking with boys, at least not one on one like this, without any schoolwork buffered between us.  I was going to have to have an actual conversation with him, and I wasn’t sure where to begin.  Especially since he seemed content enough to just sit there and watch me read.

Like that wasn’t awkward at all.

“So,” I said just to break the silence.  I hadn’t forgotten that I was extremely annoyed at him, of course.  “If you really are a rich, pretty playboy, where are all your bunnies?”

He looked a little surprised at the question.  “Bunnies?” he asked, looking utterly confused.  “Is that…what do you mean?”

“Your, um, harem, I guess.  You’re little Playboy Bunnies?”

“Playboy doesn’t just refer to Hugh Hefner, you know,” he said dryly.  “And besides, its your term, not mine.  I never said I was actually a playboy.”

“Ugh,” I said, throwing my hands in the air.  He grinned at that.  He liked grinning, I noticed.  “Fine, you’re not a playboy.  You certainly look the part, though.”  He shrugged, allowing that.  “Okay, so how about this: where’s all your servants?”

“What makes you assume that I have servants?”

“Um, I don’t know; could it be the huge mansion we’re currently sitting in?  You can’t have a house this large and not have help.”

“I’m guessing you speak from experience, Miss Karalis?”

I felt myself blush.  “Well, yeah,” I said.  “And our house isn’t nearly this large.  So why are you and Zephyr the only ones where?”

“I inherited the property,” he commented.  “The house was already here when I come to live here, but I wasn’t able to afford the help.  So…it’s just me and Zephyr.”

“Why not sell the house and just move somewhere you could actually afford.  And maybe be around people?”

“Maybe I don’t want to be around people,” he suggested.  “You’re making a lot of assumptions about me, Psyche.  The whole point in me bringing you here was so we could get to know one another, not so you could jump to conclusions.”

“I’m sorry,” I found myself saying for some reason.  “I’m just confused, that’s all.  I mean, I’m, for all intents and purposes, kidnapped, offered a chance to stay, and I agree to it just so I could find out why I was kidnapped in the first place.  And I’m just still very confused.”

“This isn’t exactly the sort of thing that you’ll find out right away, Psyche,” he said, leaning forward.  His eyes were extremely bright, but they lost their amusing shine, leaving him looking like he was just talking to a friend.  I felt a little more comfortable without him mooning over me.  “That’s half the fun, after all.  What’s the point in being given all the answers?”

“You’re mad, aren’t you?”

“Insane?  Possibly a little bit.  My family’s full of nut jobs, so I wouldn’t be surprised if any of that’s rubbed off on me,” he admitted off handedly.  “Part of the reason why I hid myself away in this place.  I’m not sure polite society would be able to handle my eccentricities.”

“Kidnapping random girls, and treating them kindly?  No, I think you might be right,” I said, shaking my head.  “So why me specifically if not because of our names?  And honestly, I thought Psyche was pretty much, but I think Eros takes the cake.”

“Really?  You think my name’s funny?”

“Psyche at least was a mortal girl who had a god fall in love with her.  God names aren’t actually names people use.  I mean, how many people are named Zeus, or Ares, or Aphrodite.”

“Thank God for that,” he muttered to himself.  “But I’ve heard of celebrities giving their children even odder names before.”

“Yeah, and I think that’s how Papa got away with naming my after his favorite myth.  I suppose you’re lucky your family seems rather rich as well.  They can get away with it.  But you never answered my question.”

“About why I chose you?”  I nodded.  “I thought I explained it already.  You are famous, Psyche Karalis.  It’s hard not to notice you.”

“So you’re only interested in me because I’m famous?”

He considered that for a moment, looking like he was trying to choose his words carefully.  “I know of you because your famous, I guess is one way to put it.  But it’s not just the way you look that had me interested.  I’ve seen the way you move, I’ve seen the way you act, and I’ve seen the way your mind works.  And that’s got me fascinated.  I thought to myself, ‘that is the sort of girl worth knowing’.  I do apologize for the straightforward approach, but…:”

“You don’t get out much, I understand,” I sighed.  “This is all just so…weird, I apologize.”

“You have every right to be annoyed at me,” he said sincerely.  “I’d be annoyed at me if I were you.  And seriously, if you just want to go home and forget this ever happened, that can still be arranged.  I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

I glanced at him, since he sounded honestly concerned about my reaction.  “I’m not sure how I could forget this, but I think that’s what frightens me the most.  I don’t want to forget this, for some reason.  Not again.”

Not again?  That just slipped out somehow, and I blinked at myself for a moment.  Eros seemed just as surprised that I said it, but he didn’t comment on the fact.  “I know it’s weird,” I continued, trying to shake off my unease.  “I mean, I shouldn’t want to stay based on my situation.  But…I don’t know. I just trust you guys, I guess.”

He continued to look a little unnerved, but tried to play it off.  “Well, that’s good; I was hoping you’d say something like that,” he said, grinning again.  But it was an easy, happy grin rather than the creepy one he had been using before.  One that I could feel comfortable receiving, and one that caused me to grin in response.  Eros was a bit weird, but in a good way, actually.

He nodded at the book in my hands, still open to the first page.  “So you like that story?”

I glanced at it.  “Papa used to read it to me a lot.  It’s his favorite as well, and I suppose I just adopted it as mine as well after hearing it so many times.”

He nodded at it.  “You know that was based on the Cupid and Psyche story, right?”

“Er, well, yeah,” I said, shrugging myself.  “I mean, that’s why Papa liked it so much, and why he liked to read it to me so much.  Why, is it your favorite as well?”

He laughed at that, a pleasant sound that didn’t really sound like he was humoring me.  “You could say that,” he said, grinning toothily at me.

It found it a little strange that once I got over my initial annoyance with him, he actually was very easy to talk to.  I wasn’t sure if was just because I didn’t give talking to boys much of a chance, or if there was actually something about Eros that made it easy, but I just sort of went with it, and didn’t realize what I was really doing until I had already been caught up in what we were talking about.

We didn’t really talk about anything in particular, but the conversation just sort of flowed from us.  We talked about anything and everything, although he was still very much avoiding the question about why he brought me here.  But I suppose that was okay – after all, I was beginning to think it was basically a game for him to see exactly when I could pry that information from him.

“I do have to admit that it has to be lonely here in this huge house all by yourself most of the time,” I commented after he pointed out that Zephyr wasn’t actually around too much. 

“Unfortunately, it’s something that you get used to,” he admitted.  “I mean, it gets to the point where you’re so used to just looking after yourself that you’d rather be by yourself than try to act ‘normal’ around other people.  I don’t mind Zephyr around, because he respects that.  And because having human interaction from time to time is rather nice.”

“I bet.  Although, compared to my life, living on your own must be paradise.  I’m looking forward to the time when I get to leave home and leave all that mess behind me.”

He cocked his head at me.  “Really?  You’d be willing to leave your family like that?”

“What?” I asked, whipping around to look at him.  “What the hell?  God, no.  I’d be living on my own, but I wouldn’t want to give up my family.  Papa’s taught me that family is the most important thing a person could have.  Family has to accept you for exactly who you are, and has to be there for you.  I wouldn’t give up my family for anything in the world.  Although…”

“Although?”

I laughed slightly.  “Although I honestly wouldn’t mind shoving my two sisters, Penny and Phoebe, off a cliff.”

He snorted at that, looking delighted.  “I’m sure that could be arranged,” he teased.  “Zephyr might know a guy.”

I giggled at that, and how he was able to tease me.  “But seriously, how in the world do you deal with all this space if it’s just you?  That’s what I meant about downgrading, by the way.”

“Again, isn’t something you get used to, actually.  Here, why don’t I show you around?”

I didn’t want to give up his hopes by telling him that I had already ventured around his mansion, and seen the important parts, especially since it might be viewed as a little rude.  But an actual tour would be nice, because peeking in the rooms and not getting a story associated with them hadn’t been fun at all.  It was something Mom liked to do when showing off the house, giving the room a more personal feeling.

Besides which, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend more time with Eros, although I had a feeling that wasn’t going to be a problem so long as I was there.  He might be ‘used’ to being by himself, but people were inherently social beings, and craved the company of others.  As long as there was someone in his house, he was going to gravitate towards them.

And there was the matter of him bringing me here specifically so he could get to know me better.  The only way he could do that properly was if he spent time with me, and not lurk around just watching me like Zephyr had mentioned.

He stood, and I followed suit.  “This, of course,” he said, stretching out his arms, “is the library.  It’s not exactly the most impressive collection of books one might find, but I’ve been told that its rather extraordinary for a private collection.”

“I take it you like books?”

He shrugged.  “There’s only so much one can do when they’re on their own most of the time.  A lot of these are just for show, though, because it felt more impressive to have a full library than a library that was only, say, a fourth full, wouldn’t you think?”

“I suppose that’s true.  But what’s with the Greek books?”

He looked a little nervous.  “Um, well…I thought it would be interesting to have a few books in the language of my ancestors,” he said quickly.  “Those, of course, are mostly for show.”

“I understand,” I said.  “Papa thinks it’s funny when I drag out the Greek books from his library and just stare at them.  I like the ones with pictures, because then I can make up my own stories about them.”

“You can’t read Greek?”

“I’m American; I don’t have much need to read my father’s language.  I’m lucky I know how to speak it, to be honest.”

He chuckled slightly as he led me out of the library.  There was, in fact, an entrance on the main floor that I hadn’t really noticed; either I hadn’t been down that hallway, or I had just assumed it was a doorway to another empty room.  Either way, I was a little relieved that I didn’t have to climb all the way to the top of the mansion, and have to deal with that weird third floor, in order to get to the library.  After all, I had a feeling that I was going to be spending a lot of my time in there.

Naturally, he took me through the rooms I had already been in, and I tried to act like I had never seen them before.  I think he caught on, though, since he didn’t dwell too long save for a quick explanation of the room’s purpose.

“I’m gathering you took a quick look before you managed to reach the library, huh?” he asked once we were in the kitchen.

I felt embarrassed.  “Yeah, sorry,” I muttered.  “It’s just, you know, I figured I’d be stuck here for a while, and I was curious.”

“Oh, no, I’m not mad,” he said hastily.  “I was just making an observation, that’s all.  It was either that or you had the same things in your mansion, so it didn’t impress you all that much.”

“We do, but not on this grand a scale,” I told him.  “Everything seems to be twice as big as what we have back home, and that’s quite a feat, I must say.  We don’t have a ballroom, though.”

“Ah, yes, that.  That never did get a lot of use.  I think it’s mostly just for show, anyway,” he told me speculatively.  “It’s like every mansion at the time when this was built needed a ballroom or something.  I don’t know; I keep it in order just in case, but really, it’s always been one of those empty rooms.”

“Why are there so many empty rooms?”

“Well, because I’m the only one here, and as you can imagine, I don’t get many guests,” he admitted, leaning against the counter.  “I don’t see the point, really.  I keep your room ready just in case, and out of boredom, but for the most part, I have it arranged that if I did get more than a few guests, I could make them comfortable.  It would just take a little more effort on my part.”

“That’s sad, you know.”

“What, that I don’t get many visitors?  I suppose; I mean, my mother likes to pop in from time to time, so I guess that’s something.  I know what you’re thinking: what’s the point of a mansion if you don’t have visitors?  I think it’s mostly because the people I usually associate with have mansions of their own, and never really stay overnight if they can help it.  Besides, like I said, I inherited the house anyway.”

“Just your mother comes to visit?”

“Trust me; my father would rather have nothing to do with me,” he muttered again.

“Oh,” I said, a little surprised, but I realized that made sense.  Well, not the part about his father wanting to have nothing to do with him.  The part where he got along better with his mother than his father.  Wasn’t that the way it always was?  That’s why it was called Momma’s Boy and Daddy’s Girl, because children tended to gravitate towards their opposite gender parent.  At least that’s the way it was with me.

“I suppose this would be a little more exciting if I had more to show you,” he admitted.  “You’d think living a lonely life would allow more chances to decorate, but, you know, I’m a guy.”

“Yeah, I’m impressed that it’s as put together as it is,” I teased.  “Papa’s study is mostly filled with dark leather chairs and dark furniture, and Mom says it’s just a guy thing.”

“Yeah, no; I do like things light and bright,” he laughed.  “Here, let me show you something a little more interesting.”

He reached for my hand without thinking, and it felt somewhat natural to have my hand in his as he pulled me towards the front door, leading me outside.  I honestly didn’t think anything of it, despite the fact that I’ve never held hands with a guy that wasn’t related to me before.  He was excited to show me what was outside, and I think that’s the main reason he had a lapse in judgment.

“Is this what you do when you’re bored?” I asked once he stopped me.

I was in the middle of a rather impressive garden, the sort you expected to see in an enchanted forest in some magnificent fairy tale.  Everything was in bloom, and I had a sneaky suspicion that every variety of plant was somehow in that garden.  It was extremely organized, and carefully taken care of, such that you could tell this was a labor of love rather than just happenstance.  The walkways were wide and abundant, such that one could easily walk though and admire everything.  There were even grassy areas where people could just sit and observe.

The gardens themselves looked like they took up the entire space my entire property sat on.

“Well, yes and no,” he said, grinning at my reaction.  “It’s gotten to the point where these flowers just basically grow like this on their own, but I do love coming out here and seeing how everything’s doing/  It’s so peaceful here that it’s easy to lose track of time.”

“I bet.”  I frowned as I saw yet another Cupid statue defaced, this time with about a dozen arrows stuck through its head.  I was rather impressed that someone could shot an arrow though the statue’s head and not shatter it to pieces.  One further up ahead was beheaded.  “You have a think against love?”

“What?” he asked, glancing at me with a bewildered look.

I gestured at the statue.  “Every single one of these are destroyed in some manner, I noticed.  Cupid represents love, does he not?”

“In a sense,” he said through gritted teeth.

I studied him for a moment, trying to figure him out.  “Or perhaps it’s that you have a thing against Cupid himself?”

He relaxed a bit, grinning widely at me.  “It’s just…silly, really.  I mean, a baby going around shooting people with arrows and making them fall in love.  Wearing a diaper?”

I laughed nervously.  “Well, he’s not really a baby; he’s a cherub.  It’s a Victorian idea, taking something pagan and making it more heavenly.  It is silly, though, since if they didn’t want something pagan, why did they name him Cupid?”

“I suppose they couldn’t very well name him anything else,” he agreed.  “Cupid, after all, was already a well known figure in Roman mythology.  I still get annoyed at the image, though.”

“No, I understand,” I admitted, fingering the feathers on one of the arrows.  “After all, you’re named Eros, who’s the Greek counterpart of Cupid.  I’d take offense of it as well if I were in your position.  Thankfully, the only thing that’s come out of my name is psychology, or the study of how the mint works.”

“There’s the psyche, but I suppose that’s another mind thing,” he agreed.  “Then again, there’s not much to be done with your namesake, considering her name meant ‘mind’ or ‘soul’, which I believe to be much nobler concepts.”

“You don’t think love is a noble concept?”

“Love can be tainted.  Sure, the mind or the soul could be as well, but not nearly as much as love.  And there’re so many different kinds of love.  Hell, sometimes ‘love’ is just a word that’s tossed around and never meant.  Love can be noble, certainly, but it’s not constant as it once was.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

He lead me around the garden as we chatted, which offered a much better backdrop to our conversation.  It was sort of strange that he has a dislike for the cherub version of his namesake as well – I hadn’t given it much thought until Papa told me the story of Cupid and Psyche, and I had been a little confused.  After he explained the history of it, I decided it wasn’t fair that Cupid – or Eros rather – would be classified as a baby­ – and I found myself disliking the concept as well.  But as far as I could tell, I was pretty much the only person who did, at least until I met Eros.

But the thing that really got me was the fact that I couldn’t seem to stop collecting them.  Every year around Valentine’s Day, I’d find more and more being added to my collection against my will, partially from my own hand grabbing them before I knew what I was doing, and partially because my relatives thought I actually collected them.  I hid them when I found them, not wanting to look at their creepy little faces.

And yet I seemed to have a whole herd of them somehow.  Hell, I couldn’t even sleep unless I had one of my stuffed ones sitting on my bed, which I thought I’d have outgrown.  And I tried my hardest to get over it.  But that was the main reason I had to sneak one of my stuffed animals into my bag.  Because I needed my stupid little cherub Cupid at my side.

I hoped Eros didn’t find out, because I think I’d be a little mortified at this point if he did, considering it was very clear that he didn’t really care for the version.

The light was only slightly dimming as we started to approach the house again, and I was rather taken back when I tossed a glance at my watch.  “Good Lord, is it really that late?” I asked, since I wasn’t used to it still being this light around dinner time. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked as he led me up the stairs.  It was probably about then that I realized he had been holding my hand the entire time, and I hadn’t actually noticed.  But I didn’t want to be rude and drop it now, not after working for so long in that manner.

I felt my stomach sort of roll at that mention.  “Yeah, a little,” I said, not wanting to sound like a pig.

“Would you care to join me for dinner?”

“Join you for dinner?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.  “Like, do you want me to go and get on some fancy dress and we have like a dinner party, with dancing and whatnot?”

He laughed after a moment of confusion.  “You watch too many movies, Psyche.  There’s no one else here, so what you’re wearing now is fine.  I just…”

“Nah, I get it,” I teased.  “You’re just being polite.  Yes, I’d like very much to join you for dinner, thank you.”

He looked relieved and happy that I said so, for some reason, and I felt happy that I made him happy.  It was so strange, considering the fact that I had only known him for a few hours, especially considering he basically abducted me.  But there was something about him, something I couldn’t put my finger on, that felt familiar somehow, and I just knew I could trust him.

I actually half expected him to make a show of making me dinner out of what was in the kitchen, but instead he just led me to the massive dining room, picking a seat for me and pulling out my chair.  I watched as he sort of scurried around the table in order to sit opposite from me, but at least we weren’t sitting at the heads of the table, considering I think each end had its own zip code.  It was then that I realized he picked the spot because there was, in fact, already a plate of food sitting there.

“Um,” I said, glancing at it in surprise.  “I thought there was no one else here.”

He glanced at his plate in surprise.  “I, um…Zephyr,” he said hastily.  “He, um, likes to cook, so I made it part of the deal that he’d cook for me when I had guests.  He’s way better at it than I am.  I don’t want to poison you, Psyche.”

I chuckled, although I could tell that there was something else there that I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get out of him.  He gestured for me to start eating, and I was rather glad that I had actually listened to Mom when she was explaining table manners to me.  Neither of my parents cared how we ate in front of them, but when we had guests, it was another matter all together.  I didn’t have to embarrass myself in front of Eros.

At least until I realized that Eros wasn’t quite using the same manners as I was, so I just shrugged and dug in, taking care to at least not talk with my mouth full, because that was rather disgusting.

“So, how are you enjoying yourself?” he asked, catching me a little off guard.  I had been explaining how annoying my sisters could be.

I stopped mid-bite.  “Oh, um…well, a lot, actually,” I found myself admitted.  “I mean, aside from the whole kidnapping and being kept from my family thing.”

He cocked his head at me.  “Do you want to stay?”

I was surprised at the question, since I thought I made it clear that I didn’t mind.  But there was something else to the question.  He knew I had agreed in the first place because I felt I had no other choice if I wanted answers; now that I had a taste of why I was here, he wanted to know if I wanted to continue staying here, or if I wanted to go home.  And I don’t think this question involved crazy mind erasing techniques.

I considered it.  On the one hand, no one knew where I was.  I just disappeared, and I’m sure everyone was worried sick about me.  I was looking forward to spending the week with my father’s family, and seeing Chryssa and Spiros get married.

But on the other, a week completely away from Penny, Phoebe, their posse, and the reality show seemed too good to be true.  And I had enjoyed my time with Eros.  I felt like if I didn’t stay, I would never see him again, and I certainly didn’t want that.

I think, in the long run, Mom and Papa would understand why I said what I did.  “Of course I do,” I said brightly.  “But only for the week.”

“I, um…the week?” he asked, hesitant.

“Well, for starters, I’m fairly certain my family’s going to be worried about me, and anything over a week will just to torture.  But there’s also the fact that I am in college, and I happen to clear about a week away with my professors, so it sort of works out.”

I thought I was going to be given another condition: either I stay with him forever, or I just go home.  But he was silent for a very long moment as he thought it over.  “A week?”  I nodded.  He cocked his head slightly.  “Okay, you’ll stay with me a week then.”

I suppose I should have been a little more annoyed at my situation, but I was still feeling extremely happy that I was making him happy, so to see him smile seem to make everything all right.

Chapter Six

Modern Day Cupid Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight