Page 71 of Flowers Near Me

His mouth fell into a flat line as his eyes settled on hers. “Of course you could. You’re the spokesperson for the app she’s working on. Ask her to take a photo with you to post on social media then say you left your phone behind. Snap the photo and tell her you’ll put your contact info in, then check the message.”

What a rascal! He’d clearly thought through this scheme already. “Hermes,that’s too many lies and some sleight of hand.”

“Please, Persephone.” Was Hermes making puppy eyes at her?

She stared at the floor, wracking her brain for something better—or at least less daft—of a plan to suggest to him.

“I’ll bring you in,” Persephone said. “I’ll distract her; you check the phone.”

Hermes nodded, tension easing slightly. “But make sure she can’t see me. I only need a minute.”

With closed eyes, Persephone tried to calm her heart as it rattled around her chest like a squirrel who’d been plucked off a branch and shoved into a purse. “Okay, I’ll do it. When are we doing this?”

“Right now,” Hermes said, nervously running his fingers through his curly hair.

“Charon just brought lunch; she’s probably eating with her team…” Persephone thought for a moment. “I’ll see if the dev team will follow me into the conference room for a few candid photos. I’ll say I want to save them for teasers on my social accounts. Marketing wanted me to start taking a few candid shots anyway.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

They ascended back up to the office floor, her stomach now growling in worry and not hunger. During the short ride up, Hermes updated her on how her former team was doing, but she could feel the buzz of his anticipation.

“Wait over there.” Persephone pointed towards a hot beverage bar where Hermes could watch but remain hidden. From there, he could see her take the group into the conference room, then could scurry off towards the lunch area.

Her heels tapped the concrete floor, loose pants swooshing as she approached the dev team. Eurydice waved, and Persephone forced a smile, trying to ignore the sweat gathering under her arms. She could pull this off, even with her heart pounding like a drum.

“Hey, Eurydice. Could I get a quick photo with you and the dev team in the conference room? It’s booked the rest of the day, but no one’s in there now and the lighting’s fantastic.”

Eurydice dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin before standing up. “We’d be happy to.” Of course she would. After their first quick conversation in the Underworld office, Eurydice had made an effort to win back Persephone’s favor after playing a role in Hades’ trickery.

A few confused faces gawked at Persephone, but they all rose after setting down their food. When Persephone saw Sophia go to reach for her phone, she quickly instructed, “Leave your stuff! It’ll be fast, I promise.”

Sophia nodded and set her phone back down on the table.I can do this.

“Thank you. Follow me.” Persephone waved them along.

Like little ducklings following their wayward mom, the team walked towards the conference room. As they filed in, Persephone said, “Sit around the table and talk about your favorite food.” A few raised eyebrows were sent her way, but they obliged nonetheless.

With a glance over her shoulder, she caught the blur of Hermes headed towards the break room. This was stupid. Hermes had his share of mishaps, but this had to be the most ridiculous one yet.

The developers found seats around the long table, and Persephone guided them to gather in a way where she could get all of them into one shot. Once she finished directing them into position, she balanced her phone using its pop-out stand.

“It’ll keep snapping photos so just keep talking to each other.”What a farce.She was a phony and surely this group would rather be anywhere but in this conference room, pretending to be stock photo models. She waited as long as she could before the awkwardness grew so heavy it’d suffocate them all.

She checked her phone to look at the photos she never intended to use. “Fantastic. Thanks, everyone.” They gave her polite smiles, but Eurydice lingered as her team left the conference room.

“Are you worried about the app?” Eurydice asked, voice shaky. “Everything’s breaking at once.”

Persephone forced a reassuring smile. “It’s normal to have issues before launch. We’ll figure it out.”

Eurydice’s eyes dropped. “It almost feels like sabotage.”

Persephone felt a rise of anxiety, but she kept her expression calm. “Persistence will pay off. Trust me.”

Persephone tried not to shudder. Who could be behind it? One of Hades’ brothers?

My mom?

Shaking herself from her own worry, Persephone added, “Eurydice. The part where you feel like giving up or quitting is when you’re the closest to having your breakthrough. Keep moving forward and trust that you’ll get to the bottom of the issue before the app goes live. It sounds like there are lots of brilliant minds working alongside yours, so I have every confidence it’ll be sorted before you know it.”

---