Solitaire

Chapter 2

The chair in Zeus's office felt cold against her thighs, but she didn't adjust her position. The post behind the ruler of the gods had a typo in it, but Persephone said nothing. She held on to her mother's hand, but avoided her eye.

Zeus stood up to make up his pronouncement. The filled with electricity, a sign of significance and power in his next words.

"To pay for her crimes, Persephone will serve 100 years without the light of day."

Persephone turned on the living room lamp. Light of day didn't have any meaning on electricity. She checked on her leftovers in the oven and pulled them out into a plate and began slurping up the noodles on her couch. The music still blared from the speakers. The bass beats so low and loud she mistook the first few door knocks as off rhythm drums.

Knock-knock.

Perspehone perked up like a meerkat, wondering if that sound was real or not.

Knock-knock.

Coming from the door. Persephone dropped her noodles, and the bowl clattered to the ground. She scrambled to the front door and swung it open. "You kids need to knock it off-" She spat out as threatening as possible. Then she saw Hades standing in the apartment hallway, his hand still raised as if to knock on the door again. Hades. His suit from work still on, his shirt buttons undone at the top. His tie loose.

Persephone and Hades looked at each other for a fraction of a second. She was standing so close to him she could smell him and die from pleasure. Then Persephone slammed the door in his face. The wind pushed back Hades hair.

"Persephone?" Hades asked, hurt, speaking through the door.

"I'm sorry!" Persephone yelled. "I- uh. Hold on!" She hurried over to the table and pickup her bra and hooked it on quickly under her shirt. She picked up the broken bowl of noddles and tossed it in the trash. She checked herself in the mirror, pinched her cheeks and calmed down her hair. She smelled her arm pits, shrugged, and grew a bunch of flowers in her hair. "Sorry!" She said again and opened the door just a little. "I wasn't expecting anyone." She spied Hades through the crack in the door.

"No." Hades held the back of his head in his hand. "I suppose not."

"You-" Persephone poked her head out the door and looked both ways. "You really shouldn't be here, you know." She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into her apartment quickly. "I-." She shuffled her feet. "I'm not supposed to have visitors."

"I know." Hades nodded, a guilty blush creeping up his neck.

"You might get in trouble if someone finds out you're here." Persephone tugged on the collar of her shirt. "I know how much of a stickler you are for rules."

"This is still my kingdom." Hades took a moment to look around at Persephone's surroundings. Persephone waited for him to go on further in his statement but he didn't. She followed his gaze, her messy apartment.

"Sorry for the mess. I, I wasn't expecting company." She fidgeted with her hair. "I'm not normally such a slob."

"Has anyone been bothering you?" Hades brushed past her comments. "At the door, you said something about-"

"Oh." Persephone rolled her eyes. "There are some dumb teenagers in the building that think it's funny to pester the shut-in, crazy, bad guy."

"You're not any of those things." Hades said in a serious tone and Persephone's face softened. "Let me know if they keep bothering you."

"Oh, that's not necessary. They're just-" Persephone shook her head. "Stupid. We all are stupid and young once."

Hades clicked his mouth and sighed.

After a moment Hades reached into one of his coat pockets, and pulled out a glass tupperware with a bright pink lid. "You left this at work this afternoon." Persephone continued to work at Underworld Inc. But her sentencing only allowed her to interact with coworkers as the job demanded it. She wasn't to socialize with anyone outside of work. Hades had been watching her day after day, withering away in her solitary confinement. "So, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and bring you dinner with it."

Persephone's eyebrows shot up. "You- you brought me dinner?"

Hades shrugged awkwardly. "Well, I- I wasn't sure what you liked. Here." He offered it to her.

"Oh." Persephone bit her lip and her eyes slid to the side. "I-I can't accept that."

Hades tensed up like a cat. "Wh-Of, of course you can."

"My apologises." Persephone smirked wickedly, trying on her best impression of the king of the underworld. "I can't accept gifts from employers. It's not a good look." She spun around Hades popping up on the other side and sliding the dish away from his hands. She laughed and set it on the dinning room table. "You should see the look on your face." She opened the lid and inhaled the casserole. "MMmm."

"I haven't heard you laugh since-" Hades faltered off.

"Hmm?" Persephone turned back to him.

"Nothing." Hades shook his head. "I hope you like it." He started to back away slowly.

"Not so fast." Persephone pulled on his neck tie, causing it to come undone completely. "I wasn't kidding. I can't accept this."

"Persephone." Hades nearly begged.

Persephone began to tie his black tie back on, flying up to wrap it around his neck. As he tightened it up to his Adam's apple she said, "Only if you eat it with me." Persephone smiled sweetly and pulled out a chair for him.

Hades stood in the middle of Persephone's apartment, holding up everything he wished he could do and everything he wished he could say to her.

"Please." Persephone batted her eyelashes. "If you're going to break the rules. . . will you stay for awhile?" She bit her lip again, holding back just as much as Hades was. When she looked back up she let some of it escape. "I'm terribly lonely."

Hades stayed for dinner.

They ended up talking all night. Persephone poured more wine in his glass and filled hers up as well and they continued chatting on the couch.

"You've never seen 'Astral Wars'?" Hades balked, his jaw dropping. "How?"

"I grew up in the mortal realm, dummy. Mom wouldn't let me watch tv."

"Not even when you went to Olympus?"

"I really didn't go to Olympus that much." Persephone shrugged and sipped on more wine.

"Well, alright then. I suppose I'll have to come back tomorrow with my copies."

"Really?" Persephone moved closer into his lap. "You'll come back?"

"I can't, with good conscience have any of my friends go around without seeing Astral Wars. I suppose we could start with Episode III The Three Kingdoms Strike back." He hummed to himself. "We should watch them all." He looked down at Persephone. "It'll take awhile to do it."

"I don't mind." Persephone beamed. She didn't finish the thought in her head. I don't mind as long as you're with me.

When Hades left, Persephone pulled him into a hug. "I'll be back." He promised.

"Don't let anyone watch you leave here." She whispered back into his ear. He looked at her once more as he began to close the door.

"Wait!" Persephone yelled. "We can't watch Astral Wars."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't have a TV here." Her face fell. "So… if you don't come back. I-I understand."

Hades laughed. Then suddenly he was out of sight and Persephone stared down the empty dark hallway. And she was alone again.

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate ya.

xoxo Goldie