Aphrodite's Daughter

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

            When I woke up, I felt very cold. I tried to scoot closer to Andreas, but soon found that I was alone in my bed. I shot up and search my room. Still Andreas was not to be found. Throwing of the sheets, I ran to the bathroom to see if he was taking a shower, but when I reached the door I could hear no noise coming from the other side. I walked back over to the side of the bed and felt the bed where he had slept. It was cold, meaning he had left a long time ago. I checking the clock beside my bed, maybe he let me sleep in.

            My heart dropped when I noticed the time. It was six-thirty in the morning. Sighing, I sulked to my closet. Today I decided to dress more appropriately for training. I choose a tight fitting dark green t shirt and a pair of camouflage colored shorts. I braided my hair in two French braids down my back and but on a pair of tennis shoes.

            It was five minutes to seven when I stepped out of my room. Penelope was also just coming out of her room and she smiled brightly at me. My smile didn’t reach my eyes and she frowned.

            “What’s wrong Izzy.” Her voice was full of concern as she looped her arms through mine.

            “Oh a lot of things, apparently, it’s been decided that Andreas won’t be on my team when we infiltrate Olympus. Also I’m pretty sure the other gods hate me, especially Athena.”  Talking about it only seemed to depress me further. How was I supposed to be able to focus on freeing Cronos when I would be worried sick about Andreas?

            “Isabella, the gods don’t hate you. If anything you simply remind them of the children they lost to Zeus’ madness. A lot of the gods loved their half-blooded children. As far as Athena is concerned, she’s just jealous because she and Andreas had a thing a couple thousand years ago and now he is in love with you.” She said it so casual, but my mouth fell open. Andreas and her? For some reason that angered me, not only did I have to compete with Amara, but now I had to worry about a jealous goddess of war.

            I was seething by the time we reached the dining hall. To my surprise, I saw Andreas sitting at the table and Athena was sitting next to him. She laughed at something he said and stroked his arm suggestively. My rage reached a boiling point and I was seeing red. First he neglects to tell me that a woman we are living with use to have a thing for him, a goddess no less, and now here she was blatantly flirting with him and he was doing nothing to stop it. Penelope backed away sensing my rage. Quickly she walked over to Andreas and whispered something in his ear.

            His head snapped towards me. On the outside, I appeared calm but I knew he could see the anger burning in my eyes. Andreas shrugged out of Athena’s touch and stood quickly walking towards me. Knowing that if he confronted me no I would make a scene, I ducked into the curtained off dining area reserved for the gods.

            Poseidon was the only one sitting at the table. He held a New York Times newspaper and was drinking a cup of coffee. It was such a normal thing to do, that a small giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it. He looked over his paper and saw me standing in the doorway.

            “What?” He tilted his head like a confused puppy.

            “Nothing. It’s just weird to see you looking so normal. I always expect gods to be so different from humans. When something normal happens, it always catches me off guard.” I blushed at my confession.

“Well would you like to join me dear Isabella or would you rather continue to stare at me?” The way he said it sounded very suggestive and my blush deepened in color. I was about to decline his offers, but then I heard Andreas calling my name, threatening to come in and get me if I didn’t come out in ten seconds. I panicked, but then an idea struck.