Victory - Cato Hadley

chapter three

"Do I look good?" I ask my stylist. She's not a very bright one but she's nice. Currently, she's wearing an all-pink outfit. Pink shoes, pink dress, pink nails, even a pink wig. Kind of too much but what do I know about fashion at this point.
"You look gorgeous" she says, and claps her hands excitedly.
"The cameras are going to be out in a few minutes Athena," says Alora. "I want you on your best behavior. Oh, and laugh a little more"
I give her a sarcastic smile and start focusing on what I'm about to say. Ceasar is going to ask me a few questions, since my victor tour is about to start tomorrow. Twelve districts, in twelve days. Great. Just great.
Suddenly, someone knocks at my door.
"Are you waiting for someone?" my mom asks and I shake my head.
She opens it to reveal a shivering Cato standing there. He has his hands in his pockets and looks a little nervous.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him, and pull him inside.
"I came to speak to you. I didn't know about the interview" he says now standing next to my mom.
"It's okay. I'm going to be right back in a few minutes, then we can speak, alright?" I ask him with a small smile. He returns it and nods.
"Athena ten seconds" Alora says.
"See you" I say with a smile on my face and throw my hair back behind my shoulders. I take a deep breath before stepping outside.

There's a huge camera standing infront of my stairway and then another one in the middle between all the houses. I can hear the crowd going crazy as Ceasar says my name.
"Athena Aquene!" I hear Ceasar shouting. I politely wave at the camera and even blow a kiss at them. I walking infront of the camera in the middle.
"Athena, you look beautiful" he says and let out a small giggle.
"Thank you. Obviously, thank you to my stylist Velvette. She did a great job" I say and make a little bow.
"How are things going in district two?" he asks me. I can just imagine his face by the way he just said that. A wide grin and wide eyes, waiting for my answer.
"Great. I'm a mentor now, so, it's very exciting"
"Can't wait to see you at the games. Right guys?" he shouts and I can hear the crowd going crazy again.
"So, there's one question we are all asking eachother right now? Is there a certain someone in your life? Maybe someone you're going to take to the party at the end of the victory tour?"
"Oh Ceasar. I can't tell you"
"Why not?"
"You will see soon enough" I say and laugh a little.
"Come on, just a small nod if someone's there"
I start thinking. Should I tell them about the really small interest I have in Cato. It's nothing special, but I always have had.
I slowly nod with a wide grin on my face.
"Oh my god guys. Did you see that! Athena Aquene ladies and gentlemen" he says, and I wave at the camera one last time before the cameras turn off.

I start walking back inside the house. I can already feel them looking at me as I walk up the stairs.
"A love interest?" my mom asks with a grin on her face.
"Just for the cameras. They need something to feed on" I say and take off the fur coat I was obligated to wear.
"Okay" my stylist says and smiles a little too.
"Come on" I say to Cato and we walk upstairs into my room. I don't want to talk infront of these voltures. He keeps quite and follows me upstairs. I haven't talked to him since the dinner really. We've only talked when I helped him with training but nothing more. He tried to talk to me a few times but I always just kept walking. I mostly ignored him and tried to talk as less as possible. Eventually there was a moment last night during a training, that hasn't been very appropriate for the situation.

"No, you have to move your hand this way," I say and show him what he has to do different. "If you do it like that, you're going to have a broken wrist in seconds"
"How do you know that? I've never heard of that before" he says breathing heavily. We've been training for a few hours now. We're both exhaustet but eager to keep going.
"Well, that's how Brutus broke mine a two years ago"
"He did?" Cato asks and raises his eyebrows.
"Of course he did. He has never liked me very much" I say.
"Why not?"
"I have no clue. Maybe because he doesn't like my additude. At least that's what Dolion tells me.
"Could be. You do have a slight additude. Enobaria loves it though. You're her favorite"
"Just because I'm a victor now. No other reason. Now keep going" I say and take place across from him on the matt.
"What are you doing?" he asks me.
"Fighting with you"
"No, way" he says.
"Why not? You're afraid right?" I ask him with a smirk froming on my face.
"Never" he says and gets ready for the fight. I smirk a little. He's so easy to provokate.
He starts going at me but I dodge his fist, kicking him into the back.
"That's all you've got?" I ask and his face gets even redder. I can see the corners of his mouth going up a little. We start really going at eachother and at some point he's on top of me pinning me down. He looks me deep into the eyes with a grin on his face.
"You loose" he says.
"I never loose" I say and quickly turn us over, now I'm on top. I pin him down in a position, where he's unable to move. A smirk flashes over my face. I start putting more and more pressure on his throat, until he touches out.
"Finally" I say and chuckle. I haven't let go of him yet though. Our eyes meet and I get lost once again in his ocean blue eyes. He has sweat on his face, and his lip is slightly bleeding. Our breaths are heavy from all the activity. For a short moment, I feel the urge to kiss him.
I shrugg the thought off and quickly get off of him. I start gathering my things together, getting ready to go.
"Is everything okay? I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable" he says walking after me.
"Yes, sure. Everything's okay" I say and walk away, leaving him standing there alone.
"Hey, Athena!" he shouts, and I turn around.
"Is there something going on between you and Dolion?"
A slight smile forms on my face. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to know if you're single"
"Is that so?"
"Don't be so amused Athena. Just tell me"
"No, there's nothing going on" I say with a smirk and walk off.