Matching Wits with Venus

by Therese Gilardi

  “Wait!”

  He saw the golden arrow glistening in the middle of the pile as Amelia stretched her hand forward. But it was too late. She’d already reached into the stack.

  “Ouch!” She drew her hand back and shook her fingers. “Something pricked me. I think it was the tip of that green arrow.”

  Cupid sighed with relief as Amelia held up her index finger, which bore an open cut. She reached into her pocket and wrapped a piece of tissue around the wound.

  “Here. Let me clean that for you.” Cupid reached for his bag, and then realized he had a handkerchief in his back pocket.

  “You’re so different than anyone I’ve ever met,” Amelia said as he poured bottled water over her finger. “It’s almost like you’re from another time period.”

  Cupid’s back stiffened. His head shot up.

  “I’m sorry. I meant that as a compliment. It’s like you’re from a more romantic time.” Amelia pointed at the bows and arrows, then at the handkerchief. “In my defense, who pursues archery and carries monogrammed handkerchiefs in the twenty-first century?”

  Cupid blushed.

  “Oh no, not again! That came out wrong. Whenever I’m really nervous, I have a hard time communicating. I meant that as a compliment. Let’s go back to my house,” she whispered.

  ****

  Amelia’s knees trembled as she straddled Colin’s bike. She inhaled his musky scent and rubbed her cheek against the back of his jacket, which had been warmed by the sun, as they rode past the ocean.

  Amelia smiled, watching the lithe surfers in wetsuits riding the white swells of water. Even from their high vantage point, she was the air tasted of sea foam. She was sorry to have to let go when they finally pulled up in front of the bungalow.

  “Let’s have a drink outside. The weather is so perfect,” Amelia said as Colin followed her into the living room.

  Petal looked up and darted from her basket. As soon as she smelled Colin, she whimpered and her tail drooped between her legs. She cowered behind Amelia, who scooped her up from the floor. Amelia kissed the little dog on top of her tiny head.

  “Say hello, Petal. There’s no need for you to be so shy.”

  Amelia held the dog up. Colin offered his hand as Amelia made soothing noises. Petal tentatively sniffed his fingers then licked his thumb. As Colin softly scratched behind her ears, she began to purr softly.

  Amelia smiled. “Come on. You and Petal can sit in the courtyard while I whip up some of my famous margaritas.”

  Amelia led Colin over to the French doors that opened onto the courtyard. He sat down on her loveseat and patted the cushion next to him.

  “See Petal? Colin’s got a special seat for you.”

  “Sit down next to me, Amelia. I’ve got something I have to tell you.”

  Amelia kissed Petal and walked toward the loveseat. “Let me get our drinks first. I promise you’re going to love my cocktails.”

  Amelia set Petal down on the cushion next to Colin and dug her nails into her palms. Once again, she couldn’t understand why she was acting so out of character. It was almost as though this man was a magnetic force whose pull she could not escape. Every day she thought about their deep conversations about poetry and art and the politics of the Italian Renaissance. And then of course there was Colin’s undeniable physical appeal. Amelia shook her head. She was beginning to resemble her father and all of his ramblings about how one could never break free from the power of Cupid’s arrow.

  “Talk to Petal until I get back.”

  Petal rested her chin on Colin’s jeans and closed her eyes. Amelia walked to the kitchen, where she absentmindedly reached for her grandmother’s old lemonade pitcher, a gift from Stella, as she poured the ingredients into the mixer and it began to run.

  The blender jumped on the counter. Amelia blinked her eyes, startled. It felt like the ground was rolling below her feet. She shook her head. She decided that her legs were a bit wobbly from the awkward stance she’d adopted at the shooting range. No doubt she must have overloaded the blender again, probably because she’d been busy thinking about how weak her legs felt. She reached for her pink glasses and arranged them, along with a bowl of tortilla chips and a cup of the homemade guacamole she always kept in the refrigerator, on the kitschy souvenir tray she’d bought on her trip to Palm Springs.

  As Amelia stepped onto the red stone tile in the courtyard, she felt the rumbling jolt familiar to all Californians. The pink cocktail glasses rattled as they shook. Colin grabbed Petal. The little dog whimpered as her slender shoulders shook. A thundering noise that sounded like a freight train approaching split the air as Colin stepped toward Amelia.

  “That was a real shaker,” she said, her voice cracking, as soon as the trembling subsided.

  Her hands were unsteady as she laid the glasses on the table. “Are you all right?”

  Colin reached for Amelia and pulled her to his chest. Her heart raced. Her breathing was shallow. A cold sweat built on the back of her neck.

  “Come on over here away from that glass door. There could be aftershocks.”

  Amelia smiled weakly. She knew it was silly, since little earthquakes hit California several times every day without incident, but she never got over the terror she felt when one struck. She remembered something she’d once read about a boy who’d been in the Northridge quake. He’d been a normal student before the earthquake, but afterward something in him had snapped. He’d become unable to read since he was using all of his powers of concentration to focus on guarding himself against the next tremor. The reporter who’d written the story was completely baffled by his behavior, but Amelia understood exactly the terror the boy had felt ever since he’d realized life could just disappear beneath the very foundation one called home.

  Amelia leaned her head against Colin’s shoulder. He stroked her hair as she patted Petal. As she closed her eyes an aftershock struck, bouncing the loveseat.

  “I never get used to it, that notion that everything you thought was solid as a rock can just disappear.”

  Colin cupped her chin and tilted her lips to his mouth. She kissed his lips softly.

  Amelia stood up.

  “Come on,” she whispered, leading Colin into the house.

  She gently deposited Petal in her basket. As she stood up Colin wrapped his arms around her waist. He spun her around to face him.

  “I love you,” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  Amelia took her hand in his. She marveled again at how perfectly their fingers fit intertwined. Amelia looked at his veins, sticking out ever so slightly, so full of life. She thought about how Daniel’s hand had once looked that way, so vibrant, and how often she took for granted that there would always be more time for days at the beach and drinks on the patio. But things didn’t always work out that way: illness and earthquakes and a myriad other disasters could change life in an instant.

  Amelia squeezed Colin’s warm fingers. She led him across the living room, and down the tiny hallway that ran through the center of the bungalow. She stopped before a white wooden door then reached up to stroke his face.

  “I love you, too.”

  Amelia turned the brass doorknob and led Colin into her gardenia-scented bedroom.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cupid looked down at Amelia as she slept. Their night together had been even better than he’d imagined. He’d felt a connection with Amelia that he hadn’t known with any of the goddesses he’d been with through the centuries. Given his physical perfection and his status in the world of the Roman gods as the son of Venus and Mercury, who were both important deities, he’d always had his fair share of admirers. And that wasn’t even counting Concordia’s friends. He was used to seeing women’s pupils dilate and their cheeks flush whenever he showed the slightest interest.

  But now he wanted more. Cupid was looking for a connection on a deeper level than the mere physical. He’d experienced a hint of that last night, but he knew it was too soon to
engage in a physical relationship with Amelia – they hadn’t had enough time to get to know each others’ likes, dislike and quirky habits. If he continued along this path he’d never know for certain if they had that lovely companionable connection he’d seen in some of the long married couples he often revisited decades after he’d slung the arrows that had made them fall in love, or if her attraction to him was mainly based on the physical.

  Cupid knew that a large part of ensuring that his relationship with Amelia was more than mere physical infatuation on her part included revealing who he really was. He’d known from watching his mother when he was young how women felt about deception. He still shivered when he remembered the way Venus had burnt down an entire forest in Russia when she’d learned of one of Mercury’s many discretions.

  Cupid sighed. He’d been so close to confiding to Amelia that he was a Roman god, and seeking her forgiveness for his deception about his identity and the fact that he had initially come to her shop with the less than honorable idea of stealing her matchmaking methods. But then the earthquake struck. He was angry with himself for giving in to his passion last night, before he’d come clean. But he’d been unable to stop himself.

  He looked at Amelia’s red hair, fanned out across her white lace pillowcase. He would tell her the truth this morning. Surely she would understand….

  Amelia moaned in her sleep.

  “Why did you have to leave?” She cried out. “WHY?”

  Cupid reached out to touch her shoulder, but she remained in her dream state. Her body shook, as though she was weeping. He frowned. Clearly Amelia had been hurt in the past. For all he knew, she’d been the victim of a broken love affair; thanks to the slipshod way Venus had him shooting arrows these days it happened more and more. Back before the world had been so populated, Cupid had shot both members of a couple with an arrow, to ensure that they each fell strongly in love. But Venus’s new schedule, the one he’d attempted to speak with her about, had changed all that – now he had to shoot one party and just hope for the best. He was sure that was why the world was seeing so much divorce, so much heartache.

  Cupid sighed as Amelia cried out once more. He didn’t want to add to her sense of abandonment, or risk making her feel a sense of betrayal that she had been with a man about whom she really did not know everything. For her sake he’d continue pretending to be a mortal financial advisor from Italy. The truth would have to wait a little longer.

  ****

  “I love it!”

  Amelia stuck her hand into the bucket of ocean water at her side and smiled as the cool drops ran through her fingertips. She and Colin were sitting on the beach at Playa Del Rey, beneath the huge cobalt and white striped umbrella he’d purchased to shield her fair skin from the sun.

  It was one of those glorious spring days that reminded her of why she adored southern California. The beach was full of children digging sand castles, joggers making their way along the water’s edge and people lying back next to unopened Sunday editions of the “L.A. Times”. The air was smog-free. A slightly cool breeze made Cupid’s hair stand up on end. Amelia laughed as she tried to smooth it with her hand.

  It had been two weeks since her night with Colin. She still flinched when she remembered the sense of horror she’d felt when she’d woken up and seen him lying next to her, propped up on that beautiful arm of his. She’d wondered if he thought she was the type of woman who automatically landed in bed after a few dates.

  “Colin”, she’d begun. “I have to say….”

  “We have moved too quickly,” he’d replied.

  She’d smiled in relief.

  “I agree. This night, it will be a pleasant memory but we won’t speak of it again until you are ready.”

  She’d been dumbstruck with relief. However, as soon as he left she became fearful she’d never see him again. She’d passed the day pacing up and down the floorboards at Happily Ever After By Amelia, trying and re-trying her newest computer applications for the patented personality profile. She was certain he would not keep the dinner date they’d arranged. But there he was, waiting for her in the restaurant. True to his word, he had never mentioned their night together again. She smiled at the memory, although a small part of her was beginning to fear that the reason he’d never brought up their night together was because she had failed to satisfy him.

  “Let me get your back,” Colin said, dragging Amelia from her reverie.

  She turned to her side. Colin squirted suntan lotion into his palms and began rubbing it slowly up and down Amelia’s shoulder blades. She purred as he reached forward and kissed the nape of her neck.

  She smiled as he reached over and touched her hair. He twirled one of her curls around his ring finger. Amelia startled herself by wondering what it would be like to see him wearing a wedding ring.

  “I was thinking about your business. I’m not sure what else we can do.”

  Amelia nodded. She lay back on her blue and white striped towel and looked up at the top of the umbrella. “I know. I’m out of ideas.”

  They’d spent the past few weeks pursuing every rainmaking activity Colin recommended. Every morning as Amelia headed off to Happily Ever After By Amelia, Colin headed off to the economics section of the local library and large chain bookstores, where he read as many business journals and marketing manuals as he could then attempted to apply these ideas to Amelia’s business.

  Despite all of their efforts, Happily Ever After By Amelia failed to attract any new clients. As the May first shop rent increase drew closer, Amelia grew increasingly concerned. Worry and resignation were beginning to make her snappy, which was why Cupid had insisted on this day at the beach.

  “You know, I’m starting to think I’m going to have to ask my father to help me out. Can you imagine, an adult dependent on one of their parents for their livelihood?”

  Colin cocked his head. “I know. You think you’re standing on the two feet and then something happens and you’re…” Colin trailed off.

  “You know,” Amelia said. “I’d give anything to feel, to genuinely believe, that my father could make everything all right again. To think that every problem had a solution.”

  She reached into her aquamarine straw beach bag and withdrew a sun hat with a broad brim. She put the hat on, pulled it down over her forehead, and watched a surfer crouched in the distance waiting for the perfect wave. A crescendo of white foam rose out in the ocean. He mounted his board and rode the swell until another wave rushed in from an angle and knocked him into the water.

  Amelia sighed. She remembered the day she’d learned that there were problems that had no solutions. She had been holding Daniel’s hand in one of those Cedars Sinai rooms where no one met anyone else’s eyes, awaiting the results of his CAT scan, going through the motions of letting an overly polite doctor speaking in hushed tones tell them what they already knew. It was the doctor’s coat she remembered as much as anything about that afternoon – the way it shimmered like the tip of a wave in the sunlight. She’d been tempted to ask him how he’d managed to keep it so glossy white.

  “Are you all right?” Colin patted her hand.

  “Yeah. I was just thinking…everything works out, even if it’s not what you expect.”

  Colin nodded. He stood up and held out his arms. “Come on. It’s a beautiful day for a walk.”

  Amelia smiled. “You’re right.” She tossed her hat onto her chair and took his hand.

  ****

  Venus adjusted the strap on the binoculars hanging over her shell pink silk caftan. She’d taken Aphrodite’s advice and was “taking care of herself” by chartering a yacht in Marina Del Rey. A handsome suntanned captain with broad shoulders and a set of high-powered binoculars perfect for watching the seals playing in the surf had come as part of her package deal.

  “Train your eyes on the horizon,” the captain had insisted as he pressed his large, ever so slightly pudgy fingers against hers and showed her how to adjust the lens.

&n
bsp; Venus had nodded and looked out to sea for the gray animals to appease him, though it was really the men and women strolling along the shore who most held her attention. Professional curiosity about Amelia’s success at matchmaking had led to an obsession with courting rituals.

  Since California seemed to be at the forefront of so many trends, Venus was certain that if she could ascertain what made Amelia’s business succeed and apply it to her other markets she’d never again have to worry about being upstaged by a mere mortal.

  Over the past several weeks she’d devoted herself to reading countless books on dating that Renaldo had picked up at various shops and online, watched too many reality television shows to count, and could go head to head with many a film critic about the various romantic comedies available on DVD.

  Venus smiled and nodded at the captain, whose wide striped shirt emphasized his perfect pectoral muscles, as he pointed over her shoulder at some seals in the distance. He was standing much closer than necessary once again, a fact she found slightly annoying. But Venus knew how to deal with men like this, arrogant creatures so certain that just because she was what the French called a woman of a certain age she was amenable to his clumsy advances.