He thought of the innocent way Galatea saw Aphrodite.
There was a big possibility that even if Galatea had good intentions, she still may have found herself in trouble. If not, why had she not contacted him to let him know she was safe? Even if she was angry with him, even if she hated him, he couldn't picture the sweet, thoughtful woman he knew just leaving him hanging with no idea as to her whereabouts.
He thanked the woman who owned the bodega and made his way to the nearest law enforcement office.
The station was only ten blocks away, so he decided a walk would clear his head. It was a beautiful spring day, and he wished desperately that he could share it with his beloved Galatea.
When he arrived at the station, he was greeted by one of the many Greaca officers. These creatures resembled enormous turtles. They were the size of three men and were covered in scales like a lizard. "I'm here to report a missing person."
"Have a seat. Someone will be with you shortly." The Greaca’s tail swung up from behind and slapped the floor making Ian jump.
“Thank you,” he said and slid onto a nearby bench.
He sat there for what seemed like ages fiddling with his fingers. He read every possible sign on the wall and memorized the various wanted notices that flashed across the screen at the top of the wall.
Finally, someone came and took him back to the desk of one of the Greacas.
"So you've got a missing person eh?" the creature asked way too cheerfully.
Ian sat in the chair next to the desk. "I do. My girlfriend. She's been gone over three days now, and I'm afraid she's gotten herself in some sort of trouble."
"Oh yeah. What makes you say that?" The Greaca’s voice was gruff.
"Well, she's… She's new in town, and she doesn't know her way around very well. She's kind of innocent, you know? I'm just afraid she fell in with a bad sort of people and maybe something has happened to her."
He wasn't about to try to explain how she had magically come to life only a matter of weeks ago. That would make him sound like a lunatic, and he would be much less likely to get the support of law enforcement if he told him something like that.
"You say she's naïve?"
"Yes. My neighbor has a bodega down the street, and I was able to look at her cameras to see Galatea, that's my girlfriend, getting into a car with someone in the middle of the night three nights ago. But I couldn’t tell whose car it was. It was dark, and the camera from there was unable to show the license plate. I was just wondering if there was any way you could please check some other cameras. Determine whose license plate it is and find out where they took her?"
The Greaca crossed his arms over his chest and leaned in. "You telling me your girl got in the car with another guy, left in the middle of the night, and you want me to tell you who it is?"
Ian nodded.
"I gotta tell you, this sounds like she ran out on you. We’re not in the business of handling domestic disagreements here."
"I realize that, sir, and I know it sounds crazy, but I really believe she could be in some kind of trouble. We didn't have a fight, nothing like that. I mean, if she left me for some other guy that's fine, but she doesn't know anyone else in the city, and I’m really worried something has happened to her. Why wouldn't she call me or contact me and tell me she was okay? Just let me know she left me. It's not like her. Can you please check into it?"
The Greaca’s black eyes shone, and Ian couldn’t tell if there was sympathy in them or if they always looked that way.
"Alright. Give me your address and I'll see what I can do, but don't keep your hopes up. Between me and you, I think you better start considering she did a number on you."
"Thank you, officer. This is the most I could hope for, and I really appreciate your help."
Ian and the Greaca stood up, and the creature proffered his hand.
Not wanting to do anything to screw up his chances of getting an assist from law enforcement, Ian took a deep breath and shook the creature’s hand. His grip was firm but slimy, and he waited until he was outside and halfway down the block to wipe his hand on his pants.
Big fat raindrops started to fall, but Ian barely noticed them.
His heart was broken, and all he wanted to do was forget.
11
Over the next few days, Ian tried to hold it together in case Galatea came back.
He didn't want her to return to find him intoxicated, with his finances, hell, his whole life in disarray.
If he could find her and convince her to come back, or if she found her way back home on her own, he needed to make some changes.
So he threw out all the booze and had his business manager Patrick contact all of his clients and give them an update on his work. He was about a month behind, but he got back to work and every time the thought of Galatea entered his mind, he told himself he needed to do the work for her.
If she came back, he wanted to be able to support her. Letting his business go by the wayside had been a mistake.
But every night he craved the bottle. He wished like hell he could drown his sorrows.
In bed before he fell asleep, his body ached for her, but he did his best to keep his mind right. After a week of not sleeping, he allowed himself one sleeping pill each night.
It still took till the wee hours to take effect, but he knew if he didn't get some rest there was no way he would be able to get his commissions completed.
It was about a week later when he received communication from the Greaca.
"Hello?" Ian didn't recognize the number, but he answered anyway in hopes that it would have something to do with Galatea.
"Is this Ian?"
The voice on the other end was gruff, and he recognized it immediately.
"Yes, this is Ian."
"Hi Ian, we found the driver of the car that picked up your friend, Miss Galatea…"
"That's great. What did you find out? Did you talk to him?"
"We did. And I'm afraid that the address he dropped her off was the palace of the goddess, Aphrodite."
"Aphrodite?" Ian asked, and even as he uttered her name, the pieces of the puzzle began to come together in his mind.
"So you can see that there is no evidence of foul play. I'm sorry about your girlfriend, but I'm afraid she left willingly. It is not the business of law enforcement to interfere with anything that goes on at the palace. My suggestion to you is to forget about her. If she turns up then she turns up. If not, could be it’s time to move on with your life."
Ian clutched the phone in his hand and reluctantly pressed the disconnect button.
So there would be no help for him.
Aphrodite's palace was guarded tighter than a bug’s ass.
As much as he hated to admit it, the Greaca was right. If she wanted to come home, she would.
It was obvious she had gone to Aphrodite's of her own free will, but why hadn't she called him or contacted him? Told him she was going?
Something didn't feel right.
An uneasy feeling in his gut told him he could no longer sit around and just accept her disappearance.
But there was one person he knew who could help them.
The person who knew Aphrodite better than anyone else in the world.
He picked up his device and contacted the number.
12
The only good thing about her job working with the camera was that she was not required to see the person on the other side.
Galatea was expected to do whatever that person requested, and often those requests made her less than comfortable. But at least she didn't have to see the person or, she shuddered, creature on the other end.
She pressed the wrong button on her device, and the creatures on the other side of the screen gave her nightmares for weeks.
Not long after that, she attended one of the exercise classes provided to the girls and after asking around, she found out from a new friend that you weren’t required to see the client.
That
had been a game changer for her.
Her “work” was humiliating, but at least now she could skip the nightmares.
She liked to pretend that the person on the other end of the line was Ian.
She missed him so much.
Every day she wished she’d never left his side.
She had gone looking for more in the world and, unfortunately, she found it.
If only she’d stayed with Ian. He would have kept her safe.
He would have given her more freedom eventually.
She should have been more patient with him.
And oh how she regretted her decision to trust Aphrodite.
The goddess of beauty, with her wealth and feigned kindness, had tricked her.
Now she understood why people said the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
That was exactly what she had learned about being human—one always wanted what one could not have.
"Take off your bra." The words flew across her screen.
With a gulp, Galatea took her fingers and unfastened the garment behind her back.
Slowly, sensuously, she let one strap slide down her shoulder then the other before dropping the garment on the bed next to her with a flourish.
She learned what moves brought in bigger tips and did her best to make the most of it. The more money she brought in for Aphrodite's operation, the more perks she got—more exercise time, better clothes, a bigger selection of entertainment during her off time. There was a rumor going around among the girls that the more money you brought in, the better your chances were that you could buy your freedom one day.
Galatea had no idea if there was any truth to this, but hope was something in high demand and she would take every bit of it she could get.
"Now take your fingers and trail them inside those panties. I want to see you play with yourself until those panties are soaking wet."
She was just about to comply with that request when her door burst open.
“Galatea!”
She turned to find Ian standing there, breathing heavily.
He was with another man, one of Aphrodite’s guards.
Confused, she covered her breasts. “What are you doing here?”
He rushed over to her, but before he reached her he saw the screen out of the corner of his eye, and it stopped him in his tracks, fists clenched. “Turn that off!”
“No,” the guard said. “If she does, it will alert them. She needs to type something to stall.”
“What is going on?” Galatea asked, pressing a button to pause her feed that was being broadcast to whoever was sending her those dirty commands.
“This is Sven,” Ian waved to the guard. “He’s a friend, and he’s going to help us get you out of here. That is, if you want to leave.”
She jumped off the bed and threw her arms around Ian. “You’ve come to rescue me! When you never came, I gave up hope.”
He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. “How would I have known you were here, my love?”
She tilted her head back so she could see his face. “I asked them to let you know.”
“I never heard anything from you. I had no idea where you disappeared to.”
“Then how…?”
Sven interrupted them. “Ma’am, you need to send a message stalling your client. Tell him you apologize, but that you need to use the restroom. Assure him that you will be right back. Then throw on some clothes and let me get you out of here before someone gets suspicious. He can explain later.”
“Alright. Thank you.” Galatea spoke the message into her comlet which would then transcribe it for her client.
She ran to her closet where she threw on her favorite sweater, a pair of jeans, and slipped on the shoes she’d worn when she arrived.
“Take that off,” Sven pointed to her comlet.
Galatea began to remove it.“It can be used to track you.” The guard began ushering them out of the room.
At first Galatea followed, but just before leaving her opulent room she stopped and confronted Ian. “Tell me—why should I go with you?”
In her heart she wanted to. She’d follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked her, but she needed him to tell her what his reasons were.
“I understand if you don’t want to be with me. I’m difficult to live with. I can’t offer you the opulent lifestyle you have here, but if you come with me, I will give you your freedom.”
Before she could answer, they heard footsteps thundering down the hall.
“You, go in the bathroom and shut the door,” Sven said to Galatea before turning to Ian. “And you, hide in that closet.”
Just as the bathroom door closed behind her, Galatea heard a deep, angry voice.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
13
"The girl, she’s in the bathroom,” Sven said to the other guard.
"The bathroom?"
"Yeah. The worst timing. She's in the middle of the session and then has to abandon it to go to the restroom. She said something about that crab bisque we had for lunch. Did you have any of that?"
"No. I'm allergic to seafood."
"Well, maybe it is better you are. I don't think it agreed with her stomach."
"Yeah."
"So I'm just gonna stay here until she comes out, and try to smooth things over with the client. Maybe see if it wants to be transferred over to someone else."
"Good idea. So you got this?"
"Yeah. Hey, you want to check out the race later?"
"Sure. Just hit me up after shift."
Galatea exhaled. She prayed the other guard would be gone soon.
She had to get out of there.
Not sure what to do, she waited for several minutes, not saying a word.
The sound of knuckles gently rapping on the door sent a fresh shot of adrenaline through her. "Yes?"
"The coast is clear," Sven hissed. "Come on. We’ve got to get you out of here. Fast, before they catch on to us."
Galatea opened the door, rushed to Ian who was standing in the middle of the room, grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.
"Follow me." Sven cracked her door, looked both ways down the hallway, then darted to the right.
Galatea and Ian were right behind him.
At the end of the hall they took another right, and Sven opened the door to a staircase.
"These are the service stairs. When you get to the bottom, take a left. There will be a door down there. Open it and run. I tried to disarm the alarm on it, but someone may have activated it again. Be careful, and if I were you, I would make myself scarce."
"Oh, I know all about the fury of Aphrodite." Ian looked troubled.
Galatea knew from her experience with the goddess that she could be very manipulative and dangerous, so she was inclined to agree with Ian's assessment.
Sven and Ian shook hands.
"Thank you, my friend," Ian clapped Sven on the shoulder.
"No worries, but you tell Cupid we’re square, all right?"
Ian nodded.
“Now go!”
Ian took her hand and practically pulled her down the stairs. She would have tried to move more quietly, but Ian seemed determined that speed would be the main factor to assure their escape.
By the time they were down the stairs, Galatea was out of breath.
"Almost there," he said, sweat beading on his brow.
Then he pushed open the door, and they burst into the sunlight.
A loud shrieking alarm blared in their eardrums.
It was so loud Galatea had to cover her ears.
"This way!” Ian clutched her hand tightly, and they ran down the road.
On the next street over Ian led her to a vehicle and motioned for her to get inside.
They both got in and closed the hatch around them.
Ian said to the driver, “Go!”
As they took off, Galatea looked around to see if someone was following them.
"Hopefully, they will just think the alarm going off was an accident," he said.
"But when they discover I'm gone, they will probably watch the camera footage and find out that it was you who took me. It may not be safe to go back to your apartment."
“That’s why I’m taking you somewhere else.”
14
Ian had not had time to explain his plan to Galatea, but he had thought of the probability of Aphrodite's rage and made arrangements ahead of time.
It pleased him that Galatea only paused for a second before trusting him and getting into the vehicle. She slid over to make room for him. Soon as he was inside, he closed the door behind him.
"Let’s go. The faster we get out of the city the better," Ian said to their driver, who nodded and turned his focus to the road.
"Where are we going?" Galatea asked.
“There's a place where everything is unplugged. No technology. We can spend a few days there laying low while Aphrodite's goons look for us. They will tear apart the studio and my apartment, but they won't find us there."
Galatea sighed with relief.
She leaned over and placed her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for getting me out of there."
His arm wound around her back and held her close. "You're safe now. That's the important thing."
She tilted her face to look at him. "But I should have never left you."
He smoothed her hair with his palm. "Hush. Just rest. We can talk more when we get to the cabin."
It wasn't long before she was asleep.
He relished the feel of her body next to his. For weeks he’d been afraid he’d never experience it again.
The drive went by more quickly than he anticipated.
Before they knew it, they stopped next to a rustic old cabin in the middle of the woods.
Ian thanked the driver and gave him a note on paper to give to Patrick.
Galatea woke up, and he helped her inside the cabin.
The walls and floors were made of old wood boards, and there wasn’t much in the way of decor. From what Cupid had said, the place was an old hunting lodge, previously used by some of the goddess Diana’s friends. Cupid had played there as a kid and was thankfully correct in his assumption that no one was currently using it.
Her Creator (Myths Retold) Page 5
