GODDESSES INC

6

Light scattered through the Baccarat crystal chandelier, prisms dancing on the walls. Each bright color-infused speck faded before paling into nothingness.

Like my future.

Mnem squeezed shut her eyes. Willed the tears to retreat. Tears did no good anyway. Mnem needed a plan for the rest of her life. She counted on her nine daughters to help her find one. They would come up with a good plan. Probably several. After all, if the muses couldn't, who could?

The almost tears receded, and Mnem opened her eyes again. She took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the colorful prisms gracing the hotel suite. An expensive five-star suite. Senator Miguel Flores never settled for second best. It was one reason she liked him. That, and his unflagging energy in the bedroom.

Mnem touched his arm.

Miguel's eyes flew open. "I have a press conference."

"Right this minute?"

Miguel always had somewhere to go. A presser, an interview, a meeting, a fundraiser. The man was busy.

He rolled over, checked his phone. "In an hour."

"What's the topic this time?" Mnem ran a finger along the muscled curve of his bicep.

"Do you really want to know?" Miguel rolled back over and tapped the tip of Mnem's nose.

"Not really." Mnem sighed. Too loudly. It slipped out accidently, her despair leaking out in ways she wasn't prepared for.

Miguel propped up on an elbow. "What? I didn't give you enough orgasms?"

Mnem smiled. "You did a fine job, Senator Flores. No complaints."

Miguel's thick dark brows pinched tight. "Not the response I hoped for."

"If it wasn't great, I wouldn't be here." She tugged on one of his errant dark curls, curls he worked hard to slick back straight and obedient.

"Then why the novella sigh?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, or I wouldn't have asked." Miguel brought her close for a kiss. "Give me the short version." He rolled off the bed. "I can't go to the presser smelling like your pussy." He walked into the bathroom.

"Oh, but I have to walk around the rest of the day with your seed stuck to my thighs?" She followed him in.

"My seed? I like the sound of that." He turned on the hot water. "Tell me what's wrong."

Everything. My life is over. I'm living on borrowed time. I've been dismissed, defunded, defrocked, and disgraced. I've been thrown off the immortality cliff. Tossed in a mortal ocean with no life preserver.

Mnem swallowed the lump of misery that had taken residence in her throat. The thick ache stuck like glue to her heart. "I'm broke."

Miguel, his dark ringlets glistening with water droplets, poked his head around the marble-tiled corner. "What? How? I thought you were the heiress of an olive oil fortune."

"Who told you that?"

"Remember when we met, and you propositioned me on the yacht?"

"You stared at me and walked away."

"Right. Do you think I'm going to stick this senatorial body part into just any gorgeous woman? I had to find out who you were." Miguel lathered his hair.

"And?" Mnem crossed her arms.

"And Edward told me you were a trust fund baby."

"Oh." It was her standard explanation for not having a job. "Well, it's gone. Along with my accountant."

"That's horrible. I'll get my people on it. Call in a few favors. We'll find the bastard and bring him to justice." Miguel stepped out of the shower.

"Her." Mnem handed him a towel.

"All I need is a name." Miguel shook his head, scattering water.

"She's long gone. And...and I don't want to get you involved."

"Why not?"

"Because." Mnem watched him towel off his body, appreciated the fine mortal specimen before her. She had countless mortal lovers, and they were all fun for a while. But she always moved on. Never became attached. What was the point? They aged and died. And she, goddess of memory, history and knowledge, was eternal. "Because we're not..."

"Not what?" Miguel combed away his curls, slicked them back with gel.

"You're a lot of fun but..."

Miguel strode from the bathroom when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and gave Mnem a give-me-a-minute finger. "I'm not late. What? No, I missed that message. Had an off-the-books appointment. Be there in a minute." He tossed the phone on the bed. "Evidently, there's a pre-presser call-in radio spot." He pulled up his Armani trousers. "We will continue this conversation later. I want to know what I'm not. Drinks tonight?" He grabbed his shirt.

"Already booked." My daughters are visiting. They'll tell me what to do. Mnem buttoned his shirt.

"I hope you don't consider me a two-week stand." Miguel stood before the mirror to knot his tie.

Mnem tapped her chin. "Haven't decided yet."

Miguel shrugged on his suit jacket. "How do I look?"

"Yummy."

"I was hoping for distinguished and earnest." Miguel opened the door to the hallway. "I'll take a raincheck on your offer. And I want you to seriously consider taking me up on my offer to help you. Justice needs to be mete out."

Mnem blew a kiss and watched as the spring-loaded hotel door closed. Justice had already been meted out. Mnem knew that. She was the one who had leached off the divine domain.