Finding Cupid

Chapter 4

ALICE:

My head pounded like nothing I had ever felt before and every bone, every muscle, every cell in my body was shockingly achy. My throat was hoarse from yelling at Eros and my stomach was still queasy. But despite all this, I knew I couldn't stay in bed for the next week, no matter what Eros said. I had too cook dinner for my father's birthday the next day, and I had to make sure that my sister was okay being home alone, especially with her frequent anxiety attacks. I reached into my side pocket for my phone only to find that someone had changed me into a men's t-shirt.

"Eros," I groaned, clutching my head between my hands and trying to hold it together. It felt as though it might split apart completely at any moment. A sudden movement in my peripheral vision had me turning my head, which was not a good idea as I immediately winced and gripped my head tighter. Eros shifted in his chair, his eyes only half open, and I resisted the urge to start screaming at him again, knowing it would only make me feel worse. I settled for a quiet but deadly glare and he cowered slightly under my withering gaze. "Damn it, Eros, my head hurts."

He finally gathered the will to fully open his eyes and meet mine, handing me two small blue pills and a glass of water. I eyed them suspiciously, remembering the last time I drank something her gave me.

"Aleve for your head," he muttered, his voice still groggy from sleep. I nodded, taking them quickly and praying to whatever supreme being there was (and certainly not the one in front of me) that it would make my headache stop. "Stop looking at me like I'm going to strike you dead any second. I told you it was an accident. And, look, I'll make it up to you. I'll bring in a T.V. for you and I'll practically be your servant while you're on bedrest--"

"Bedrest?" I screeched, instantly regretting my decision and squeezing my eyes shut as a wave of pain washed over me. Christ, what did he do to me? Eros nodded his head in response, getting up to sit on the edge of my bed. He put his hand on my forehead and murmured about the temperature. "It is my father's birthday tomorrow! I don't have the time to be on bedrest! I have to make lasagna and the dessert, which I'm still not sure what to make, and I have to get the house cleaned for him and my step-mother, and--"

"Alice, you can't leave this bed until at least three days from now. Your body is still recovering from the shock of the cure, especially with all this, as you said, 'Percy Jackson' stuff, and I'm sorry that you are a bit shocked right now, but you need to rest. You can call your father and ask him to reschedule tomorrow, when your head is better." His voice was irritably calm, and I had the strongest urge to hit him, but I restrained myself, mostly because the thought of moving made my stomach churn in a rather unpleasant way.

"I cannot just reschedule my father's birthday party! Look, this is very important to my family, so I am going to cook some kickass food by tomorrow and then you are going to take me back home and leave me the hell alone. I don't even care if I have these feelings for you, I'm not some stupid girl, I have enough self control to leave you alone." His lack of faith in made me ridiculously angry. I was not just some naive damsel in distress, I was a twenty-three year old woman. I deserved respect and trust and also to be left alone by this pretentious jerk.

"Just shut up for a little and let me think okay because really, I'm kinda done with you right now. I am a God not a normal man. And you cannot refer to me as such." His cockiness really got me angry and I threw the covers off me and stood up from the bed, too enraged to even be able to think about all my physical ailments at that moment.

"I'm SO done with you! You're such a cocky, self-sufficient, mean asshole, and I generally don't curse, so you've driven me to that! And honestly I really don't have the time or the patience to even want to deal with you. Screw you, Eros. Really," I yelled, trying to make my dramatic exit from the room. Unfortunately, I tripped over the blankets that I had thrown onto the ground. From my vantage point on the ground, I could hear the snort of Eros' laughter at my stumble. I groaned and forced myself to stand up angrily and stomp out of the room. I could see Iris holding in her smile as I walked into the kitchen, whcih I found by pure luck, and sat down at a counter, dropping my head into my hands and wincing at the light. Iris came around the counter and rubbed her hand soothingly on my back. "I feel like I have the worst hangover of my life."