"Apollo!" Ema called as she let him into the house. "Sorry, Lana's got another client in the back room so we have to stay out here." She signalled to the sofa. On the coffee table was a huge collection of oils, towels and lotions.
"Do you mind if I don't remove my shirt completely? I'll just pull it down." He clutched his chest.
"That's fine. I know you're probably not feeling too good right now." She gently pushed him onto the sofa. He pulled on his shirt buttons and the shirt slipped down from his shoulders.
To Ema's surprise the skin on his shoulders was a pale white. The top of his arms which was exposed was surprisingly muscular.
"This might be a little bit cold." She grabbed a tiny tub of lotion and poured some onto her hands. The contact made Apollo jump, probably because of all the tension in his neck. She massaged the lotion into his neck gently, careful not to put any pressure on his aching muscles.
"That smells nice." He was enjoying the scent of the lotion and when she opened the bottle of sweet strawberry smelling oil he was already in heaven.
"I know." She almost smiled and began to massage his shoulders in gentle circles. Occasionally she dipped her fingers below his shoulders and explored the exposed skin on his back, for 'scientific' (the science of seduction) purposes. His skin was soft and she couldn't resist what she was doing. She quickly came to and began to trace along the sides of his neck feeling the tension as she applied the tiniest amount of pressure.
"This is why you should relax a little more Apollo." She put a little bit of pressure on to a painful pressure point in his neck, causing him to yelp. "Sorry."
"No problem." She worked hard at easing the pain in the younger man's neck. As he began to purr in delight and lean back Ema could see why Lana loved her job so much. She was already leaning back against the sofa and she didn't stop him from leaning back, she just continued to rub his neck gently, savouring his purr as it got louder. Lana had let her client out and crept up behind Ema.
"Boo!"
"Jesus!" She jumped in shock.
"You're looking a lot healthier than you sounded on the phone Apollo." Lana sat on the chair opposite him. She noticed a red mark on his tanned chest where the shirt had fallen a little lower.
"I know what you're looking at." Apollo unbuttoned his shirt more. There were ancient scars from slash wounds on his chest. The wounds looked as if they were in two layers. The bottom layer was definitely an S shape formed by three wounds but the upper injury looked like two other letters made by many other injuries.
"How'd you get wounds like that?" Ema had slid from behind him as soon as Lana had scared her.
"I was attacked." Apollo closed his eyes. "By a couple of members of the Starr family when I was a kid." Apollo tried to control the queasiness in his chest.
"You have a wound on your neck too." Ema gently rubbed her hand across the long thin mark.
"I was almost strangled to death by the same people. They tried to choke me on my scarf."
"On a more lighter note. You look really good. A nice tan and good muscles you got there." Lana smiled slyly at her sister then back to Apollo.
"Uh…thanks." He blushed.
Apollo yawned; his irregular sleeping patterns were starting to affect him.
"Ugh…I need coffee." He felt relieved that Ema had worked all the tension out of his neck. Lana watched as her sister nodded to her; that was her way of telling her to make a move.
"I'll take you to the café round the corner." Ema smiled. "I need your help with something anyway." He smiled at Lana as they ran out the door, her face reflected it – clearly her sister had done a good job with his massage.
Outside the café Ema requested Apollo's help.
"Just before I left to England, I'd told Jake to meet me and Lana at the airport." Ema took a sip of the milkshake before continuing. "For as long as I could remember her and Jake had a thing for each other. Lana never displayed these feelings to him because she was worried about what I'd think. When I'd returned home I expected to see him answer the door or Lana have a wedding ring and his baby in her hands. Whenever I tried to speak to her about him she blocked me out – she still does it now. That's why I don't understand what happened."
"So what can I do to help?" Apollo asked.
"I need you to arrange to meet Jake alone." Ema glanced down at the table. "I need an outsider's opinion on whether he still likes Lana or not. I picked you because you're like a living lie detector – you can tell if he's making stuff up."
"Um thanks…" Is that a compliment? "What makes you think he'll say yes if I ask him to have this chat? And what do I say once I get him there?"
"You don't drink alcohol do you?"
"Not during the day no." Apollo took a mouthful of his coffee.
"Well there goes that idea…" She looked at the scar on his neck which was barely visible beneath the thin, red, silk scarf he wore to cover it. "I don't know if what you said back out the house is any direct relation to Angel but I don't want her to be there anyway. That means the police station's out unless you go there before twelve – 'cause she delivers lunches at that time."
"I can do that." Apollo nodded. "I'm not exactly working tomorrow anyway."
"So you'll do it?" Ema's eyes lit up.
"That's what I just said, isn't it?"
"Thanks Apollo."
"So what do I have to ask exactly?" He looked up as the sky turned grey and already the life in the town was dying out.
"Just questions about his relationship with Angel, his past with Lana and maybe some other girls…?"
"Sure alright." Apollo then smiled coyly. "What's in it for me if I do it?"
"Uh…" Apollo then began to laugh.
"I'll let you think about that one." Ema's cellphone began to ring. "Cellphone."
"Hello? Oh right, sure. I'll be back in about five minutes then." Ema spoke into the small pink device.
"Who is it?"
"Lana, to tell me she's made dinner." She replied. "You want me to…? Alright." She covered the receiver with her hand. "She wants to know if you'll come too."
"Ok."
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A meal for three? More like for ten. The table was set out with some pasta dishes, pizza and fajitas and various other continental dishes.
"Wow, you two sure know how to eat." Apollo sat on the left hand side of the table.
"We love to have a big meal at the end of the day because we starve ourselves during the day."
Apollo sat and gorged out on the meal while plotting what to ask to the cowboy cop in the morning. Ema cleared the dishes up with Apollo's help and was washing them in the kitchen while Lana decided to question Apollo.
"Apollo, you are single aren't you?"
"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with you." Apollo replied.
"I'm not asking for me. I'm inquiring for someone else." She replied coolly, clearly this woman was not one to crack under pressure.
"Alright then."
"Have you ever cheated on a girl?" Apollo felt as if she was intruding but still answered:
"Nope."
"Forced them to do stuff they don't wanna do?"
"Nope"
"Are you the kinda guy to pick a girl who looks absolutely fantastic even though she might be as smart as a germ?"
"No. I prefer girls with a mix of personality and looks." Apollo stared at her. "Who are you inquiring for?"
"My secret, client confidentiality you might say."
"More like your client probably doesn't know you're asking."
"Hm…you're starting to learn more about what I'm like." She purred. "Anyways, I'll give you a lift back to your apartment if you'd like."
"Thanks but I'll walk home."
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His fingers were hooked into the belt loops of his jeans as he passed through the quiet city streets. One of his headphones was in his ear, the other hanging over the front of his shirt. He passed by big-shot attorney Leia Starr. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say hi. Apollo ha a distinct link with the Starr family, especially since Leia's parents ran the orphanage where he grew up and Leia's younger sister was the woman who raised him – ironic really since she fell pregnant at fourteen then terminated it – only to take care of the two year old orphan Apollo two years later.
The link between the Starr family and him was broken when Leia adopted Apollo for a while so that her sister – Joanna could go on holiday. Joanna and Leia did nothing wrong to him and nobody knew of the links but him and them. It was the daughter of Leia – Jake's partner responsible.