AN: I don't know if you'll like this chapter. I think I wrote it kind of confusingly. Thoughts?
Aphrodite
The lady at the counter tapped her thumbs on the desk nervously. She thought long and hard, often opening and closing her mouth but never saying anything. Finally Aphrodite got annoyed.
" You will give me the job. " she charmspoke.
" Of course you can have the job. " said the lady, dazed.
Aphrodite smiled and turned on the spot. She really didn't need to be an employee, but employees were the only people who got to use the makeup, and this store had the best makeup selection. Aphrodite walked around the store, pursuing some nice clothes for her date with Ares. Of course, she could have just snapped her fingers and transformed whatever she was wearing to something fit for well, Aphrodite, but it was always good to look around for new things. She didn't want to be caught dead in something she already wore. Especially if she somehow ended up on Hephaestus TV again. Fates curse her husband.
Aphrodite devoured racks of clothes until she finally found the perfect dress to go with her midnight blue heels. Aphrodite
picked up the dress and turned towards the fitting room to make sure it fit. Aphrodite walked into one of the fitting rooms and was just about to close the door when a sob rang out.
Aphrodite was unable to mask her curiosity. She moved in the direction of the voice, which was just outside the door. She tilted her head slightly in that direction. A teenage girl was crying steadily into her father's shoulder.
" Nothing I try on looks right! Mom would know what to do! I miss her so bad! " the girl choked out.
Aphrodite studied the girl closely. Even with her puffy and red eyes, she was a diamond in the rough. Aphrodite felt bad, if that was possible. The girl was probably having a fashion emergency and missing her mother. It was enough to make anyone's eyes mist. Of course, Aphrodite couldn't relate since she didn't have a mother, but it probably was a bad feeling.
" Prom is ruined now! I can't find a dress! " the girl said, a little more composed but still crying.
" Its okay, honey. " the dad said awkwardly, patting her back repeatedly.
Aphrodite sighed. The girl had no dress for prom. And prom was the second most important event of your life, behind your wedding. Aphrodite snapped her fingers, which changed her blue top and skirt to the awful uniforms that the employees had to wear. She strode over to the girl her father and clapped her hands to together, trying to look eager and salesperson like.
" Can I help you? " she asked.
" No. " said the girl.
" Yes, she needs a prom dress. " said the father.
Aphrodite ignored the girl's answer, nodded and hurried off to a rack she saw before filled with fancy dresses. She calculated that the girl was probably a size four, and that she would look good in darker colors. Aphrodite took out all the size four dresses in darker colors. She scurried back towards the girl and pushed the dresses into the girl's reluctant hands. The girl mumbled a thanks and went into the dressing room.
Aphrodite waited with the father.
" Hi, I'm Greg. That was my daughter, Diana. And you are? " said Greg, the man.
" Im... Helen. Helen Paris. " Aphrodite said, extending her hand.
The man shook it. He was very handsome in a Tom Cruise way. He studied Aphrodite very intently, probably thinking she was beautiful. Mortals' minds were very easy to probe, so they didn't see her changing hair and eye colors like she had to do for demigods and gods, who weren't so easy to probe. Under different circumstances, Aphrodite probably would have gotten to know him better, but he was kind of old, and Aphrodite could tell that his wife had recently died. Before they could say anything else, Diana burst out of the fitting room. She wore a black dress covered in sequins. It was very form fitting at the top, which was sometimes a good thing, but Diana was too young and frankly she just looked like a sausage.
" No. " said Aphrodite.
And so it went on. Diana tried on dress after dress after dress, but all of them were deemed ugly or unfit by Aphrodite. Diana seemed to get grumpier and sadder the more dresses she tried on. Finally, she came out wear the last dress. A smile played on her face.
" I love this one! " she cried.
Aphrodite stood their, dumbfounded. Diana was wearing Aphrodite's dress. The one Aphrodite had picked out for her date with Ares. Aphrodite must have slipped the dress into Diana's pile on accident. But Aphrodite knew Diana needed it more than she did. She looked well, as pretty as Aphrodite. The real Aphrodite sighed and motioned for Diana to twirl. Diana obliged, then stopped, giggling.
" I love it! " squealed Diana.
" Thats the one. " said Aphrodite, though her lips were pursed.
Diana smiled at her father, then at Aphrodite, then she went back into the fitting room and came out in her regular clothes. She hugged Aphrodite then thanked her profusely. Aphrodite smiled, but pulled Diana and Greg back when they tried to leave.
" Your not done yet. " said Aphrodite.
" Why? "
Aphrodite shook her head then led Diana to the makeup center. Since Aphrodite was an employee, she could put makeup on Diana.
" You basically don't need a lot of makeup, just some lip gloss and eyeshadow. " said Aphrodite when Diana sat on the makeup chair.
Aphrodite went into a detailed explanation of how to put of the makeup, how to bring out the green in Diana's eyes, and how to put pencil on Diana's eyebrows so they look defined, not bushy. When they were done, Aphrodite was exhausted. But Diana was jumping up and down in her seat, giddy with excitement.
But it was all worth it. The sparkle in Diana's eyes, the way her face light up, and the way she looked at Aphrodite, as if she was her savior, made it all worth it. It made it so worth it that Aphrodite didn't even care that she had missed her date with Ares just to help Diana.
