Chapter Fifteen: Minthe

When Persephone came back into work on the Monday, Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief, and Merope brightened a little.

When the customers they had currently been serving had left to sit down, Cassandra awkwardly patted Persephone on the shoulder and, in her usually monotone way, said, "I am glad you are here. I heard about Thursday and was worried you would not show."

"Yeah, but I did text you that I was coming in," Persephone said, just as Merope gave her an almost motherly hug.

After taking Cassandra and Merope to the back to explain the truth about how she was a goddess, and how she was in fact dating Hades—yes, the Hades—and they couldn't tell anyone, Monday proceeded pretty normally. Odysseus came in and asked if Persephone was okay after Thursday, and she convinced him it was simply family troubles. She then took a selfie of her, Psyche, Cassandra, and Merope to send to Hades, along with Merope's advice that maybe Hades should avoid the shop for a little while, so his brothers wouldn't be suspicious as to why he was visiting so often.

When Persephone came into work on the Tuesday, things were a little more mellow. Still a little awkward, because they all knew they were working with a goddess now, and not just any goddess, but the daughter of an Olympian, and one of the big six at that.

Once Persephone had tied up her hair and put on her apron, she came to join Arachne and Cassandra out the front. Cassandra was organising the muffins, and Arachne was leant against the till filling out a sudoku book Cassandra has bought to keep them all entertained when there was nothing to do, instead of having them all on their phones. They still all went on their phones anyway, but the sudoku book was fun regardless.

"How's today been so far?" Persephone asked Arachne.

"Boring. I've already done one whole sudoku," Arachne said as she scowled down at the book. Persephone peered over her shoulder. "At this rate, I might leave at midday."

"Well, that's when Merope comes in, so it's fine," Persephone said as she also frowned down at the sudoku book, but neither of them were particularly great at sudoku. "Anything we gotta do today?"

"Uh, no idea," Arachne said, and she pushed the sudoku book aside as she raised her head. "Cassandra, are there any things we gotta do today?"

Cassandra, who was wearing green glasses and earring today, though the shade was slightly off from matching their aprons, paused in rearranging the muffins. "I don't think so. Minthe is coming in, though."

Arachne frowned. "What the hell is Minthe doing coming in on a Tuesday?"

"Arachne, don't wear so loudly in case a customer hears."

"Sorry, sorry. What on Earth is Minthe doing coming in on a Tuesday?"

"She left her purse here on Sunday, and only realised yesterday," Cassandra said. "She will come in when she has some free time, possibly lunch time."

"Oh, I might be gone by then," Arachne said as Cassandra turned back to the muffins. "If I am, don't worry; Minthe is really hard to miss."

Persephone had never met Minthe, the last person that worked at Cassie's Coffee, due to Minthe working the weekend that Persephone didn't, but she had heard a few things. "You said before she has mint green hair?"

"Exactly. She's as hard to miss as Psyche is," Arachne said.

Just after lunchtime, when Arachne had been sent home early, and Merope had arrived and was around the back getting changed into her uniform, a young woman walked in, and she definitely did not look like she belonged in a quaint little coffee shop hidden in the corner of the street.

She had pale skin, and mint green hair to her waist, and was dressed entirely in black, with heavy black make up to match. With her stiletto boots and long, slender boots, she appeared pretty tall at first, but when she came up to the till, Persephone realised she was actually more on the shorter side. Possibly even as short as Persephone and Arachne.

"You must be Minthe," Persephone said as her gaze flitted down to the woman's skirt. It was translucent, showing off all her legs, though she did wear some dark nylon tights for modesty. Persephone admired her confidence.

The woman stared at her. "Obviously."

"Minthe, hello," Cassandra said as she stood up. She had moved on from arranging the muffins, and had been arm deep in the fridge, reorganising the milk. "I'll get your purse for you."

Cassandra drifted around the back, leaving only Persephone with Minthe. She tried smiling. "Can I get you a drink? On the house, of course, since you work here."

"Sure," Minthe said. "Coffee. Black."

"Americano?"

"What else would I have?"

Well, she could have had a filter coffee, and Minthe should have known that, but whatever. An Americano was easy to make, and it meant Persephone didn't need to bother switching on the filter machine.

As Minthe drifted away to wait at the end of the bar, Persephone got to work on the coffee, making sure to write Minthe's name on the cup, with a little heart over the I.

"Do you want the special roast?" Persephone asked.

"Sure."

"Do you want an extra shot?"

"Sure."

"Any syrups?"

"No."

Dear Olympus, she was a talkative one. She could give Arachne a fun for her money for the title of Cassie's Coffee's Mean Queen.

"Here you go," Persephone said, and she smiled brightly as she handed over the coffee. "I hope you enjoy! I'm Persi, by the way."

"Yeah, I know who you are. You send selfies of yourself and the others to the group chat all the time," Minthe said, and she picked up her coffee and gulped some down, without even waiting for it to cool first.

Persephone grimaced. Oh my Olympus, was she okay? Had she burnt her tongue? Minthe didn't even twitch, so Persephone guessed she must have been okay.

Eventually, Cassandra reappeared, with a black purse in her hands. As she passed it to Minthe, she said, "I'm sorry. I got a little distracted talking to Merope."

"It's cool," Minthe said as she put the purse into the tiny bag slung over her shoulder. "See you Friday."

Without another word, Minthe swiped her coffee from the counter, spun around, then strutted out the shop. A few customers turned to stare at her butt as she did so. To be fair, Persephone was also staring at her butt. It was kinda hard not to when her skirt was see-through.

"She's… nice…" Persephone said. Cassandra didn't say anything.

#

At the end of the day, it was only Persephone and Merope left to close up, as was typical on Tuesdays. Since it hadn't been busy, they were practically already done with the close down by the time it came to lock the front door. All Persephone had to do was mop the floor, and then she headed around the back where Merope was counting the money.

"Would you like a lift back today?" Merope asked as Persephone stuffed her apron and work shirt into her bag.

"A lift?" Persephone asked as she wiggled into one of her normal dresses. Merope made sure to keep her back to Persephone as she changed, but none of the girls at the shop really minded getting changed in front of each other. They were all friends, after all.

"Yes, with my car," Merope said, and she chuckled at how confused Persephone sounded. "You always turn down lifts because you didn't want us to know where you lived, but now we know who you are, there's no reason for you to deny one now. Besides, I might get you back home earlier than you could if you walked."

"Oh, that's true," Persephone mused. "Sure, I'd love a lift."

Once Merope had finished counting the money and had locked it away in the safe, they turned off all the lights and headed out to her car. For a family orientated person who worked in a tiny coffee shop, Merope had a pretty sweet car. Then again, her husband, Sisyphus, was known to be kinda rich, and their sons were pretty well off too. It would make sense that Sisyphus, no matter how much of an arse he was usually, would want to spoil his wife.

"So, what did you think of Minthe?" Merope asked.

"Minthe?" Persephone said. "She was… nice, I guess. As nice as Arachne, if you know what I mean."

Merope chuckled. "I do, I do, but I do think you could get along fairly well if you tried. Neither of you are human."

"Oh, makes sense," Persephone said as she leant back in the car seat. Then she sat up straight and gasped, quick enough that her seatbelt locked into place. "She's not human?"

"She's not immortal or a goddess like you, if that's what you're asking," Merope said. "But she is a nymph. Didn't you notice her pointed ears?"

"Uh, I was too busy looking at her snake bite to notice her ears," Persephone said, which wasn't entirely a lie, but she had mostly been starting at Minthe's slick hair and her slender legs. Persephone had always been a leg person. It was why she liked the fact Psyche always wore shorts on her days off, and tight-fitting leggings when at work.

"We haven't told her you're a goddess, don't worry," Merope then added. 'And we won't, since you barely know her."

"But, uh, aren't you kinda telling me that she's a nymph?"

Merope chuckled again. "Minthe doesn't speak about it much, but it's not a secret she's a nymph. Though we don't know what she's a nymph of."

"Short goths, maybe," Persephone suggested.

"Maybe," Merope said. "Still, you could try talking to her, if you ever get the time to. You could get along. She's always a little huffy, a bit like Arachne, so she could do with someone as nice as you to cheer her up."

"Aww, you think I'm nice?"

"You're certainly the best at customer service, if we ignore how Psyche flirts with every attractive boy that walks in," Merope said. "Though, if you do get a chance to talk to Minthe again, it's best you don't mention you're dating Hades."

"Hey, why not?"

"Minthe doesn't exactly like the guy."

Persephone started pouting. Of course, Minthe didn't like Hades, just like Arachne hadn't (wow, they really were kinda the same). But, if Persephone could convince Arachne to stop hating Hades, Persephone was sure she could convince Minthe. Hades was simply misunderstood, that was all.

Maybe she would text Hades about it later. She never knew, maybe he could have known a Minthe. He had plenty of nymphs working for him after all, so it wasn't like it was a big stretch, right?

Finally, Merope pulled her car to a stop. "You'll want to get out here. I believe it's only a few minutes away from Olympus."

"Awesome, thank you so much for the lift!" Persephone said as she clambered out. "I'll see you Thursday!"

"See you Thursday," Merope repeated. "Now, hurry home. I know Demeter worries a lot, so don't be late."

"I won't be," Persephone said, and she closed the door and waved through the car window, just before Merope drove away. "Hang on, wait up!"

Merope knew Demeter worried a lot? Well, that was a bit weird. It sounded almost like she knew Demeter personally. But Merope was definitely a human, so whatever. Maybe she'd just heard stories. Then again, she had somehow known the directions to Olympus, or as close to Olympus as humans would dare go. Extra weird.

As Persephone hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder and started to head home, she was too busy thinking about Merope and making up bizarre conspiracy theories that Psyche would certainly enjoy, to even remember that she had been meaning to test Hades asking if he knew a nymph called Minthe.

A/N

I've been super busy and EXHAUSTED from work these past few weeks, so it's only a short chapter today. But we finally get to meet the last coffee shop employee, Minthe! And next chapter we'll be meeting some more new characters (hint: it's three Olympians o.o)

Blake