Chapter 6
CUPID
I headed back into the matchmaking offices, determined to finish the last of my reports before I went home for the night. Perhaps I spent too much time here, but it was hard not to when I'd spent so much of my life matchmaking.
I stopped in my tracks when I noticed Eloise still sitting at her desk, her dark hair braided down her back except for a few loose strands that were curling around her face.
She jumped to her feet. "I'm so sorry..."
"For what?" I asked.
She frowned, seeming to consider the question. "I don't really know. Still being here?"
"Working late isn't really something to be sorry for," I responded. "Are you hungry?"
"Hungry?"
"Yes. Have you eaten? It's late, and I know the canteen is closed."
"Oh, erm, yes. I was going to grab something on the way home. My report is just taking longer than I expected it to." She gestured to her computer.
"I was about to order something if you want to join me," I said without thinking.
Eloise cleared her throat. "Are you sure that will be okay?"
"It's just food," I promised, even though there was a part of me that didn't want that. "We could talk about what you've been working on for the Hades account and make it a business dinner officially, if that makes you more comfortable."
To my surprise, she nodded. "All right."
"I was going to get Indian, does that work for you?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Indian?"
"Even Roman gods get fed up with pizza," I joked. "I actually never liked it that much."
"Unexpected."
"Perhaps. Do you know what you want?"
"Chicken Bhuna and a Peshwari naan, if that's okay."
"Good choices. I'll go order. Why don't you get your notes together and then we can talk about them once the food arrives?" I suggested.
"Yes. Good. Erm, thank you."
"Any time." I smiled at her before heading into my office and letting out a sigh. What was I thinking in making this some kind of business dinner? I wanted to get to know her better, especially with the matchmaking system claiming that we'd be a good match, but I was hardly going to manage that when there were boxes of Indian food between us and talk was focused on a god with an attitude problem.
I sat at my computer and ordered the food. It didn't matter what or how I'd gotten into this situation, I wasn't going to go back on my word, especially when it still meant getting to spend more time with Eloise. Despite knowing I was supposed to be focusing on my job, I couldn't help my mind from wandering and my attention kept going to the door in anticipation of when Eloise would appear there.
Eventually, my phone lit up, indicating that the food had arrived. I buzzed them into the building and went out to collect it. I gave the delivery guy a tip and made my way back into the office.
"Food is here," I said to Eloise.
"Okay. Do we need anything?"
I shook my head. "The Indian sends everything."
"That's fancier than any Indian takeaway I've ever had," she said.
"It's from the Indian down the street."
Her eyes widened. "That's so expensive."
I shrugged. "It's on Jinx. Shall we?" I gestured to my office.
She nodded and got to her feet, following me back inside. I set the box of food down on my desk and started unloading it while she swiped a couple of things on her tablet, reminding me that we were supposed to be discussing the situation with Hades and not just having a relaxed meal.
"Do you have any potential matches for Hades?" I asked as I set her food down in front of her.
She nodded. "Three potential dates, but I'm worried about them all. Have they delivered takeaway on real plates?"
"They don't really do takeaway," I admitted. "They mostly do it as a favour to Aine."
"She must be a good customer." She looked down at her plate.
"She's a wealthy and powerful goddess with lots of people to send on dates," I responded. "That's pretty much all there is to it."
"Ah."
I sat down and lifted the lid from my plate, letting the delicious scent rise from it. Eloise seemed to realise that it was time for her to eat too, and she opened her own.
"It smells good," she said.
"It is good," I promised. "So, Hades?"
She sighed. "I don't really know how to describe it."
"A gut feeling?" I asked.
"Yes, something like that." She ate some of her food, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I don't know, none of them seem quite right. I have their profiles, if you want to look?"
"Perhaps after we've eaten," I suggested. "What about the date setup he's asking for?"
"I guess I'm confused about how we can set that up without knowing who he's matching with," she admitted. "I'd hate knowing that the date didn't have anything to do with me."
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Well, it's just that a date should be about both parties, right? Maybe you like skydiving, and that's the date Jinx has arranged for you. But I hate skydiving. That would make it a terrible date for me, even if it's great for you." She cleared her throat. "Hypothetically," she mumbled, looking down at her plate, but not fast enough to hide the flush on her cheeks.
"I'm not a fan of skydiving, so that wouldn't be our hypothetical first date," I responded carefully, trying to gauge how she responded. I was determined to leave the decision of what to do about our Jinx match in her hands, but that didn't mean I wasn't interested. I'd written the program, I believed that it made good matches, now I just needed to figure out why it thought Eloise and I were a good one, without invading her privacy.
"Did you look at it?" she asked.
"Your profile?" I checked, even though I knew what she was asking.
Eloise nodded and tore off some of her naan nervously.
"A little bit," I admitted. "Until I realised that it included information I shouldn't know unless you wanted to tell me."
"Oh. What was it?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Your preferences," I responded honestly.
"I didn't realise you'd have access to those." She fiddled with her fork. "Would it bother you?"
"Would what bother me?"
"Dating someone who was pan?"
Without meaning to, I laughed. "Sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's more that I'm surprised you didn't look at my preferences."
"I closed down your profile as soon as I saw it was you." From the way she said it, I had to assume there was a bit more to it, but I knew better than to pry.
"I'm bi," I said.
"You don't have to tell me."
"I know," I responded. "It isn't a secret, there are notes on my profile about who I can't be matched with because we're exes."
"I kind of want to know," she admitted. "Mostly because the drama of the gods is fascinating."
I chuckled. "Fair enough. There's Lupercus, he's another Roman god associated with fertility. He'd rather people focused on that part and not the fact that he's the shepherd's prayed to for their flocks rather than anything else."
She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, just thinking about an ancient god trying to cover that up is amusing."
"It is a little," I agreed. "We were on and off for a few hundred years. Normally because that was what he wanted. I finally got fed up with it around the fourth century and moved on."
"Right, the fourth century, because you're casually just that old."
"About two thousand and fifty, give or take," I responded. "But you knew that."
"Kind of? I know you're a god, and that you've been around for a long time, but it's easy to forget that when talking to you." She finished off her bhuna and pushed the plate away.
I shrugged. "That's a good thing. I don't want it to be the only thing anyone can focus on. Anyway, there's also Prende, I don't know if you know her?"
"It doesn't sound familiar," she responded. "I've tried to read up on the gods, but it's hard when there are so many."
"I'd say impossible," I assured her. "I doubt I know all of them. Prende is an Albanian goddess, she spends most of her time in the god realm, so I doubt you'll have met her. We're on decent terms though. I've had a few other exes, but they weren't gods, so not really necessary to put in the system."
"Though I'm assuming there's also a block on you matching any of the Greek gods?"
I laughed and leaned in. "That obvious?"
"I've picked up on some tension," she admitted. "Anyone else?"
"There are a few other people I input when I realise that we clash on something," I said in order to give her a chance to escape the conversation. "And Psyche, though that one's not about me."
"That's the mortal woman Venus is supposed to have used you for revenge on?"
"You know your mythology." It was impressive.
"Reading up on you was the first thing I did when I found out you were going to be my boss. I read up on Aine and Min too. I know the lives of the gods are more complicated than that, but I thought it would give me a good place to start."
"You're not wrong there, our lives are complicated, to say the least," I responded. "Psyche was with Eros for a long time. He was the one who granted her immortality."
"Just like in the story," Eloise said, leaning back in her seat. She seemed to have relaxed a little bit now we'd eaten, which was reassuring.
"Exactly, but it had nothing to do with me. She's on my block list just in case the block on Greek gods fails," I said. "I suppose now the question is whether you need any blocks putting on your profile?"
She laughed. "I don't believe either of my exes will be likely to use our matchmaking service," she responded. "Though perhaps there should be one that stops staff members from being matched together."
"Oh?"
"Well, I'm sure it's against company policy..."
"It isn't," I responded. "There are rules about it, but Aine would be a hypocrite if she forbade her staff from dating."
"She wouldn't be the first CEO to do so," Eloise pointed out.
"True. But she's a love goddess, she wouldn't want to do anything to stop people from finding genuine love," I said.
"Is that why you put yourself on the system?" She met my gaze, and I could see the genuine curiosity in her eyes. And something else that I wasn't sure what to name.
"Who doesn't want to find love? You put yourself in the system too."
She cleared her throat. "Yes. Though I didn't expect..." she trailed off.
"You didn't think it would match us," I responded.
"No."
I waited a moment to see if she was going to say more about the subject, but she remained silent. As much as I wanted to suggest we had dinner outside of the office, I didn't want to push her, not if she wasn't ready to. If there was one thing I'd learned about love in my time as a god, it was that it shouldn't be rushed.