53. the beginning.
THIRD PERSON
(FORTY TWO YEARS LATER)
IT was one of those days where waking up in the morning was just a little bit harder than usual.
Of course, being stranded in an eternal misery, it was already hard enough for Apollo to wake up in the morning, but today was an extra dose of fresh hell.
Apollo had never been to hell, but he assumed that this was what eternal torment was comprised of.
Today was the first day of his forced vacation, his mother would tell him all the time that he would work himself to death but he never expected that she'd actually force him to take a break.
He ambled out of his king-sized bed with a yawn, raking his fingers through his golden blond hair.
He sighed, glancing at the mirror. He watched as his own stormy eyes looked back at him impassively. Today he would try to enjoy himself. Even if it meant just sitting in a restaurant reading an old poetry book by himself, he would.
He was somewhat enjoying his day of eating cereal and lounging around when he suddenly noticed something he really didn't know how to interpret.
He noticed it when he went for a walk down the clear streets of his favourite country club, and also when he took a detour around the opera house. He even noticed it when he took a pitstop towards the restrooms, and noticed it was still there when he came out.
Finally, he couldn't ignore it anymore. "Who are you and why have you been following me around all day?"
He heard the sound of cursing behind him and whirled around to face a tall woman who looked eerily familiar. She was wearing a black suit, and had winding brown hair that almost reached her shoulders but didn't.
She looked at him with the intensity of the gods, almost expectantly.
"I'm sorry, have we met before?" He asked her. He noticed her demeanor slightly deflate, but not enough so as to change much. If she hadn't looked so familiar to him, he wouldn't have even noticed the change.
"I'm the owner of the hotel and the accompanying country club," she replied in a somewhat orotund tone. "I wanted to ask you if you were finding our services satisfactory." She spoke to him formally, her face remaining impassive as she awaited a response, her doe brown eyes glimmering in the sunlight.
"I was, until the owner started stalking me." He chuckled warmly, though his remark was only met with silence as she blinked at him obliviously.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She finally said after several awkward moments. "Was that a joke?" She asked.
Apollo couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or she genuinely could not read social cues. Either way, he figured, it was a tough crowd.
"The services are beyond satisfactory. Thank you." He said, smiling politely at the strange woman before him. She nodded in response. "Well, I've got to get going. It was nice talking to you..?" He waited for her to fill in her name.
She hesitated at first, but eventually replied. "Artemis."
He nodded towards her. "Artemis. It was nice meeting you, Artemis. Goodbye." He said with an oblivious polite smile on his face she'd never quite seen before.
She watched as he walked away from her, not once turning back. He focused his attention back on the small poetry book he had in his hands all along.
A little book titled, Hymns to Apollo.
YOU ARE READING
TAMING APOLLO | completed
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