by Anna Collins
Don’t turn him into Apollo, sweetie. You’re going to fail miserably.
I sighed, and Nick blinked at me blearily.
“What’s wrong, babe?” he asked, his voice hoarse from sleep.
You.
“Nothing,” I said, mentally berating myself for that thought. “Why are you awake this early in the morning?” I asked him. Usually, he was up at noon and then he’d play his consoles.
“I have a client meeting today,” he said, turning his eyes away from mine and scratching the back of his head. I narrowed my eyes. That was his ‘tell’ whenever he was lying.
“Really? Where?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as I tested him.
“Just someplace nearby. You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll be back home before you get here,” he assured me. “You’re going to work today too, right? It’s your second day?”
My eyes widened as he reminded me that I did have work today. I finished my coffee and ran towards the shower to get ready for work, but Nick and his ‘client meeting’ was still at the forefront of my mind.
He went into the shower as soon as I got out and I clicked my tongue at the back of my teeth. I picked up my watch from the counter and realized I barely had enough time to dress up, let alone tell Nick about what happened. I could probably tell him once he came back from his shower, but that would mean risking to be a few minutes late for work. I went back to my room to get dressed, resolving to wait a little bit for Nick to finish. I would deal with Apollo’s ire later. It was important for me to get this out now.
I took the time to carefully choose what to wear for work while I waited for Nick to finish his shower, hoping I had something good in my closet to distract Apollo from getting too mad at my lack of punctuality. I found a black summer dress that could work just fine with a huge brown belt I had hanging around. And maybe doing my makeup a little wouldn’t hurt, too…
I was finishing up my makeup when Nick came into the room wearing nothing but a towel. He walked up to his dresser, and I took a deep breath.
“Nick, there’s something I have to tell you,” I said, already dreading the next part of this conversation.
“Can’t it wait, sweetie? I’m kind of running late already,” he said, not bothering to look at me as he continued to rifle through his sock drawer. My initial apprehension popped and gave way to anger.
“Don’t you think I’m late for work, too? This is important!” I cried, and he sighed and glared at me.
“You’re being a tad dramatic, Callie. Whatever it is you have to say to me, it can wait until later when you get home. Now can you please let me get dressed?” he said before turning his back to me. My mouth fell open as I watched him pointedly ignore me as he got dressed and I huffed, grabbing my purse and slamming our bedroom door.
Unbelievable. I wasted ten minutes waiting up for him for nothing. Apollo was going to rip me a new one for being late, and I didn’t even get to do what I had set out to do in the first place.
I drove like a mad woman trying to shave at least a few minutes off, and I arrived at Portola Valley only six minutes late. Six minutes was better than ten, in my opinion, but since Apollo was a stickler for time, I didn’t know if he would feel the same.
I pulled the hem of my dress down and brushed off some lint before knocking on the door, hoping that Apollo wasn’t mad I was late. I waited a few more seconds before knocking again, but no one answered. I frowned and opened the door instead.
“Apollo? Anybody? I’m coming in,” I called out, looking around before fully entering the room. No one was there.
Had Apollo left the house? I doubted it. Apollo didn’t seem like the type of guy who would leave his door unlocked, and he would’ve called to tell me if there was a change of plans.
“Excuse me, Miss Cohen?” a voice asked from behind me, and I jumped. I turned around to see a senior woman smiling at me. “You are Miss Cohen, I presume?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Uh, yeah. I mean, yes I am,” I said, my voice squeaking a little from surprise.
“You’re late,” she said as if I didn’t already know.
“Yes, I know. I’m really sorry,” I said, lowering my head in shame. “Where is--,”
“Mr. Irons is by the stables, taking care of the horses,” she answered, cutting me off. My eyes widened at the mention of ‘stables.'
“There are horses here?” I asked, and she smiled, nodding her head.
“Of course. Did Mr. Irons not show you when he gave you a tour of the place? The farm is on the left side of the Valley,” she explained.
Holy hell. The man was seriously loaded to own this much land. But was he seriously taking care of it all by himself?
“Does Apollo have--,” I started to ask, but she cut me off again.
“If you have any questions about the place or anything pertaining to Mr. Irons’ estate, then I think it is best that Mr. Irons answer them himself,” she said. I bit my lip to keep from telling her to quit cutting me off.
It seemed like Apollo’s assistants had a habit of interrupting people mid-sentence. I would be seriously ticked off if I wasn’t so late, but since I was, I would deal with a little rudeness for now.
She led me down to the left part of the grounds overlooking the big barn. I had to whistle at the vastness of the Irons’ farm and wondered what kind of animals there were and how Apollo managed to take care of it all by himself. Surely, despite his claims that he was capable of handling everything, there had to be people helping him out.
We walked past the barn, and when we reached a rectangular strip of houses with one side fenced up, the senior woman bowed her head and walked away.
Okay…now what?
“Apollo? Apollo, are you in here?” I asked. After a couple of minutes, I heard the sound of hooves stomping the ground from the side, and I turned, my eyes widening as I saw Apollo riding atop a large horse and heading towards me.
Apollo’s arms flexed as he held on to the reins, and my mouth watered at the sight of his naked chest glistening with sweat as he rode the biggest, most majestic horse I had ever seen. Its coat was pure black, shiny and unblemished, perfect just like its rider.
Apollo leaned forward, and the horse leaped over the fence, circling the pen until it slowed into a strut. It circled the pen once more before Apollo pulled the reins and made it stop a few feet away from me. He looked down at me from on top of the horse, not making a move to get off. I waited for him to say something, but he just sat there, his eyes sweeping from my head to my toes and then back.
“Look, I’m sorry I’m late, but I had something--,” I started to explain.
“I don’t know if you realized this, Callie, but I have a lot of things to do, so I coordinate my time down to the wire. A minute late is a minute wasted, and I don’t like people who give too many excuses,” he said, cutting me off. I glared at him, my patience finally running out.
“Now I know why your assistants like cutting people off whenever they try to get a word in edgewise! They take after their boss!” I exclaimed, and Apollo’s raised an eyebrow at me. “Look, Mister. I had something important to talk about with my boyfriend that I really didn’t want to put off which was why I got late,” I explained rapidly.
“And that would be?” he asked.
“I was going to tell him about you kissing me!” I cried out. My voice echoed, and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as we waited in silence for the echoes to subside.
He slowly lifted one leg off of the horse and swung himself off, one hand on the rope and one on the back of the saddle. He took a step towards me and lifted my chin with one hand, tilting my head so I could look straight into his smoldering eyes.
“You kissed me back, Calista,” he whispered, his breath brushing my face and making me shiver involuntarily. “So you should be telling him we kissed each other,” he corrected.
He let go of my chin and turned away from me as he picked the rope up again and led his horse towards the sta
bles. I just stood there with my hand on top of my chest, willing my heart to slow its beat.
For a moment there, I thought he was going to kiss me. But while I was relieved that he didn’t, I was ashamed for feeling something other than relief.
I felt disappointed. I was disappointed he didn’t kiss me again.
Chapter Twenty
Callie
I followed Apollo inside, and I couldn’t help but smile as I caught sight of the horses peeking their heads out from their cubicles.
There were four cubicles occupied, and they were of different colors and sizes. There was a big one with russet-colored coat and another with a white coat and a brown spot surrounding its right eye and its mane brown and long. Both of them were occupying the first two cubicles by the entrance. Right next to the spotted white horse, there was a short gray one, and at the end, there was a large yellowish horse with platinum blonde mane.
I watched Apollo lead the horse toward the empty stables to the right, and I followed him, making sure I treaded carefully lest I startled any of the horses.
Apollo unfastened the saddle and shrugged it off of his horse before setting it over to the side. He leaned down to pick up a brush from the bucket and began brushing it over his horse’s coat, the latter neighing softly like it was enjoying its master’s attention. Apollo turned his head to look at me.
“Come here,” he said, and I hurried over to him. He stopped what he was doing and held the brush over to me, making me look between his face and his hand. “Do you want to try?”
“Are you sure he won’t mind? I mean, I’ve never touched a horse before. I might do something wrong,” I said nervously. Apollo smiled at me and took my hand, guiding it over the horse’s head. He slowly placed my hand on top of its snout, and the horse snorted, moving closer to my touch. I smiled widely, bringing my other hand to pet the horse’s mane.
“He’s so beautiful,” I murmured, completely in awe. “What’s his name?”
“Poseidon,” Apollo replied, and I smiled as his horse turned his head towards him, recognizing its name.
“It fits him,” I remarked, remembering the story of how the God of the seas loved horses and could even transform into one. “You’re very good with choosing names,” I said, and he smiled, shaking his hand.
“I wish I could take the credit, but it wasn’t me who named him,” Apollo admitted, and I tilted my head at him.
“Really? Who then?” I asked.
Apollo’s smile slowly disappeared, leaving behind a serious look on his face as he stared at me.
“We should go. We have a lot of things to take care of,” he said, completely bypassing the subject. He walked out of the cubicle and waited for me to get out before locking Poseidon’s door. I didn’t know why his demeanor changed all of a sudden when I asked about Poseidon’s name. I guessed there was some secret there, and I made a mental note to ask him about it again when the right moment came.
I guessed despite being hired to edit his autobiography, there were still things in his life he’d rather edit himself. It kind of hurt a little that he didn’t trust me enough yet, but then again, it had only been a few days since we met each other. Maybe in time, he’d drop some of his defenses and let me in on one of his secrets. Maybe in time, I would get to learn more about him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Apollo
I introduced Callie to a part of my world I rarely let anyone see. I showed her how I spent some of my days working the farm and taking care of the animals. I even went as far as letting her pet the cows and horses and then helping out with feeding the chickens. She was nervous yet willing, and when she got used to it, her face lit up like the Fourth of July. She looked like she was enjoying the experience, and I found myself enjoying my chores for the first time in a while.
I remembered how I had made a mistake of telling her about Poseidon’s name and vowed to be more careful from now on. She had a way of disarming me, of making me drop my guard and tell her whatever she wanted to know, but I didn’t like showing all of my cards on the table. I couldn’t let her in on my most precious secret, at least not yet.
I couldn’t tell her about my son.
I remembered how Ares was three years old when Poseidon was born, and he fell in love with the colt immediately. He had been asking me for a whole day to give the young colt a proper name when he gave me a toothy smile and christened the horse “Poseidon.” At first, I was shocked at how such a little child could come up with such a grown up name, but when he told me he wanted to keep up the tradition, I realized that my kid was smarter than I gave him credit for.
Now that I thought about it…
I turned towards Callie, and she lifted her head up, waiting for me to speak.
“Can you wait here for a moment? I need to make a call,” I told her, and she nodded, taking the chicken feed out of my hands so she could do it. I smiled gratefully and walked out of the coop, making sure to stop a few meters away from earshot. I didn’t want to risk Callie overhearing me.
I took my phone out of my pocket and pressed 1 on my speed dial, waiting for someone to answer. After a few rings, my patience was rewarded.
“Daddy?” my little boy’s voice answered from the other side of the line, making me smile.
“Were you waiting for me to call?” I asked, and I could almost see my son waiting eagerly for his mom to give him the phone so he could talk to me.
“Uh huh! I missed you today, Daddy!” he cried, and I chuckled.
“I missed you too, buddy. I’ll see you very soon, okay? Daddy’s just got a lot of work to do, but I promise we’ll spend loads of time together once Daddy finishes,” I said, placating him.
“I know, Daddy. DapDap told me that you were real busy, so she said I had to keep smiling when I’m with you so you wouldn’t worry,” he said, and I gritted my teeth as he mentioned his mother.
“Yes, that’s right. Ares, Daddy needs to go now, but I promise I’ll call you later tonight. Okay, buddy?” I told him.
“Okay, Daddy. Bye! Take good care of Poseidon for me!” he cried, making me chuckle a little.
“Already did bud. Bye now,” I said before hanging up the phone.
I went back to the coop and saw Callie sitting on top of the barrels with the bucket of chicken feed beside her, the chickens in a circle by her feet. She was busy typing away on her little tablet, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, making me want to kiss her. I frowned when the look in her eyes suddenly glazed, and she stopped typing as if she was thinking about something else. I walked until I was standing right beside her, and she didn’t move a muscle. She just sat there, staring at nothing.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked, and she snapped out of her reverie.
“Screw a penny. Give me a dollar,” she muttered, and I chuckled, but pulled out my wallet and gave her a buck. “I was kidding,” she said, eyeing the dollar warily.
“I wasn’t. I’m really curious what you’re thinking about,” I told her, making her sigh.
“I think my boyfriend’s keeping something from me,” she said softly. I tilted my head to the side.
“Like the way you’re keeping something from him?” I said, half-kidding.
“Actually,” she muttered, and my brows furrowed.
“You mean you think he’s cheating on you?” I asked, feeling my eye start to twitch with irritation. She sighed once more and shook her head.
“No! Yes…maybe,” she said before jumping off the barrel she was sitting on, startling the chickens at her feet. “I mean, I think I’m getting paranoid. I got home yesterday, and I swear he was chatting with this girl, but when he saw me he immediately shut his laptop off and told me he was just surfing the net,” she explained.
“Well, that is pretty suspicious. If it were an innocent exchange, he wouldn’t feel the need to hide it,” I told her, placing a finger on my lips as I pondered what she said.
“I know right? And I was about to tell him what
happened between--,” she used her finger to point between the both of us, and I nodded, understanding what she meant. “But he got up early because he said he had a client meeting,” she continued. I smirked and crossed my arms, catching on to her trail of thought.
“And let me guess, you don’t think he’s going to a client meeting at all,” I drawled, and she smiled at me, crinkling her nose in embarrassment. She looked really cute when she did that.
“Was I that obvious?” she asked, and I shook my head.
“No. It was an intelligent assumption to make,” I told her, and she nodded. I looked at her for a few seconds and then checked my watch. I still had time left before my next meeting, and I immediately made up my mind. I looked at her again. “Do you know where he is then?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“No, he didn’t tell me where he was going to meet up with his client. Why do you ask?” she said, and I pulled out my phone and looked for NeoRom’s contact number. I pressed enter and waited for someone to pick up, which he did immediately.
“Hello, Mr. Irons! It’s a pleasure to hear from you! How may I be of assistance?” the man said eagerly.
“Hello, sir. Can you please connect me to someone who may know of the whereabouts of one of your employees? His name is Nick…,” I looked at Callie questioningly.
“Baxter,” she answered, and I relayed the information.
“One moment, sir. I’ll look into it personally,” he promised before putting me on hold. After a couple of minutes, he picked up again. “I’m very sorry to tell you this, Mr. Irons, but Mr. Baxter seems to have taken a day off,” he answered.
“A day off?” I repeated, and I saw Callie freeze, her expression turning stony as she realized the fucker had lied to her. “That’s too bad, then,” I said.
“Is there anything important you wished to tell him, sir?” he asked.
“I haven’t decided yet. Let me call you later and tell you my decision about what to do with him. Goodbye,” I hung up the phone without waiting for a reply and watched as Callie’s face slowly crumbled. I clenched my knuckles around my phone as I felt rage slowly build up from the pit of my stomach. I didn’t appreciate the look on Callie’s face, and I wanted to erase it. “Do you know where he could have gone to meet her?” I asked, not even bothering to pretend anymore. Her boyfriend was never going to meet up with a client, and we had just confirmed it.
