Fall Into Me

..XX..

"You wanted to see me?" Mona stuck her head into the lounge, where Aphrodite was settled on an armchair, long legs stretched out in front of her on a footstool. Looking over, she gestured towards a nearby seat.

"I would have preferred to do this outside, however," Aphrodite gestured down at herself, "my injuries flare up badly on boats."

"So why'd you come and not someone else?" Mona asked as she sat in a chair within Aphrodite's eye-line.

"No one else could be trusted."

"Can you be trusted?" Mona asked, feeling oddly defensive. "How do we know you're not working for the bad people?"

"Because I have little to no interest in whatever feud is going on," Aphrodite replied, "it's all very childish if you ask me. You don't have to believe me, you don't have to tell me anything. However, your wife is desperate to get off this yacht. The only way to speed that along is by working with me."

"I never said I wouldn't. Just wanted to know why I should."

"Which is a fair question," Aphrodite pulled out a golden cigarette case, different from her last one and waved it in the general direction of the glass doors behind her. "Be a darling and open a door, would you?"

Without questioning, Mona got up and did so, returning to her seat just as Aphrodite lit up a green stick. Mona stared at her in confusion, watching the tip of the thing catch and start smoking. It was in a holder, which Aphrodite put between her lips, watching the end of it as she puffed out a plume of smoke. Once the tip was glowing, she put the lighter away, pulling deeper draws of smoke.

"Better," she murmured. Seconds after that, the unmistakeable scent of cannabis hit Mona.

"You're smoking weed?" She blurted out.

"Yes. Would you like a hit?" Aphrodite offered the cigar to her whilst saying, "I wouldn't have much, if I were you. This is quite a potent strain."

"Uh, no, thank you. What do you smoke weed for?"

"Am I not allowed to?" Aphrodite asked in a challenge, taking another deep draw, the cigar tip glowing as she did, smoke peeling off it and out of her nose as she released it slowly.

"Course you are. I just don't know anyone who does," Mona stumbled over her words, becoming nervous as Aphrodite's ice blue eyes watched her carefully. This was not a woman she wanted to irritate, she realised, clearing her throat and looking elsewhere.

"I use it for pain management. As I said, boats flare up my injuries."

"What are your injuries?"

"Curious little thing, aren't you?" Aphrodite said in amusement, studying the way Mona squirmed under her gaze with a smirk. "A story for another day. Tell me, what do you remember of the last month?"

"Not a lot," Mona admitted, pulling her legs up to sit criss-cross, still refusing to make eye contact with Aphrodite. "Woke up in a castle, didn't recognise anyone or anything, was put into a car and then dumped on a yacht."

"How miserable this must be for you, then."

"It's not too bad. I'd argue Minerva has it worse than I do. I don't remember what was done to me, but she remembers what happened to her, and she was really hurt."

"Don't change the subject. I'm here to talk about you, not your wife."

"But I don't remember shit all, so...," Mona shrugged, finally meeting Aphrodite's gaze. The way she looked at Mona burned, set her heart beating faster and made her palms clammy. There was a quiet confidence to her, the air of a woman who knew more than you did and was biding her time to tell you.