Navigating Hermes (Book Two)

Chapter Twenty

Can you believe we're on the twentieth chapter? I can't believe I've been posting one chapter a week for twenty-one weeks straight and only missed my upload day ONCE. Please vote to show me some appreciation because I like to balance too many things at a time. I LOVED the theories shared on the last chapter, so keep them coming if you change your mind, have any new theories or additions to old theories. I love it when you share your thoughts in general, even if they're completely random. When things are revealed I will dedicate the chapter to the person who had the best/closest guess on what's going on / who is involved. I'll leave you to read the chapter now. I love you all and I'll see you next week when I'll be uploading the next chapter from my new house! - Amy

TW: If you are sensitive to content where an individual is pressured into sex, you might want to skip the end. You'll know to stop when you reach  the dialogue"Not so fast".

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     It had truly been the loneliest week of Julie's life, at least from what she could remember. Her performance at work wasn't at the same level it had been for the previous few months. Julie found herself frequently zoning out in meetings, scrambling to find an answer after not hearing the question in the first place. It was to the point where her mother had sent her home, believing her to be sick. Little did she know that Julie would only feel worse while alone, doing nothing but staying in bed all day, crying herself dry.

     While her reason for being home the latter half of the week wasn't ideal, the timing was good. Marcus, who had seemingly been doing better, had broken his short sobriety streak. When Julie came home from work early, she went straight to his house to talk to him, but found him passed out in a drunken mess instead.

     Despite everyone's advice, Marcus had gone looking for answers and was met with something entirely different. It had sent him on a downward spiral that Julie didn't notice for far too long. When he cancelled on their weekly lunches she didn't think twice about it, glad that she didn't have to face her brother while not feeling her best.

     Julie desperately wanted Hamish to cut his vacation short so he could be with her. She knew that if she asked him and mentioned what was happening that Hamish would come running back in an instant, but the last thing she wanted was to inconvenience him. She worried that her disaster of a life and mention of seeing Hermes might lead to her losing the most recent important person in her life.

     At the same time, Julie didn't want to think about her current relationship. She'd never been hurt by Hermes before her feelings had become involved and wondered if it would be silly to fully commit herself to Hamish in a way she'd never done before. She also knew that was silly and unrealistic. Hamish is a good man who actually cares about me, she thought, pushing the thought of Hermes away. And a human one at that.

     On Saturday morning, Julie woke up to Danika lightly shaking her arm. "Hey," she said with a croaky voice. She coughed to clear her throat and laughed. "Sorry, my voice is like that in the morning. I'm sure you remember." It wasn't entirely a lie, but Julie knew it was mainly due to crying herself to sleep yet again the night before.

     "What happened, Julie?" Danika asked, not able to hide her concern.

     Julie pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Hermes didn't tell you?"

     Danika frowned and shook her head. "No. He texted Apollo saying he was going to disappear for a little while. He also told me to check my text history with you and that's when I called. I haven't seen him since and no one has either."

     Julie tried her best to act normal when Danika called her a few hours after her fight with Hermes. She told her that she didn't feel like talking about it and needed a bit of time to process what happened. Danika had made her promise to call at any point in the week and that she would be there at the end of the school week to talk. As usual, Danika was right on time.