Page 13 of Hera

Augustine was confused for a minute. “With needle and thread? Do they destroy that much of your clothing?”

“I’m a Goddess. I can usually use my powers, but—”

Aphrodite hurried over to them. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but notice your—” She gestured at Hera. “Distress. Can I help?” She held up her fingers.

“Please,” Hera said. “Hang on a minute. If I can calm down, they usually go away.” She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths and the wings disappeared. She opened her eyes again. “Now, please.”

Aphrodite snapped her fingers.

“Thank you very much.”

“Not a problem, honey,” Aphrodite said. She moved away.

“You cannot fix them?” Augustine snapped his fingers, imitating Aphrodite.

“Exactly.” Hera flailed with her hands, making him smile. “Anyone else can, but I can’t. It’s like my lotions and other potions. They work on everyone elseexceptfor me. Just a tiny bit frustrating. More so now that my sister’s gone to live topside.”

“Did you live with your sister?”

“Yes, I did. Are you close with your brothers?”

“I do. I live with them. What do you do, when you are not making incredible lotions?” Augustine wanted to know everything about this amazing woman in front of him.

“I work in the back of ButterNut Bakery.”

“You bake, too?”

“Oh, no, definitely not!” Hera laughed again. “I meant with the books. What about you? What do you do?”

Ah, the million dollar question. He couldn’t very well say that he was an underground fighter. “I work in sports entertainment,” he said, using the line that he and his brothers had come up with for just this sort of scenario.

“That’s exciting! You must have lots of stories to tell. What sort of sport?”

The bell rang then, startling them both.

“I guess our time’s up,” Hera said.

Augustine hoped she was disappointed, although he was glad her questions about his job had been derailed. “I will come find you after the dates?”

Hera smiled. “Yes, please.”

Yes!

Augustine shot her a smile. “Should I leave my jacket with you in case of further accidents?”

“I don’t think it will happen again,” Hera replied with a wink. “It only seems to happen when I’m incredibly flustered or stressed.”

“I hope your reaction to me was not stress?” Augustine asked.

“I assure you, it was the opposite of stressed,” Hera replied demurely.

A man clearing his throat from beside Augustine distracted him and he leapt to his feet. “My lady,” he said with a bow as he moved away to the next table, not even glancing at the man taking his place.

The rest of the dates passed by in a blur of faces and names that he didn’t bother to remember. Every time he switched between dates, he would look back at Hera, only to find her gaze on him. He didn’t write anything further on his ballot, just circling her number and putting a ‘10’ next to it. On his next switch, he added her name just in case he’d remembered her number wrong.

At the end of the dates, he double-checked his ballot before it was collected by Eve.

She glanced at the back and smirked up at him. “Just the one, then?”

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