Chapter 7
Bastet
There was something about the way Ptah looked at me that was impossible to ignore. It had always been this way. I had lived for thousands of years, first as a mortal, then immortal, and finally as a goddess, and not one other person had made me react in a fraction of the way he did.
And I was going to make him pay for it.
I moved my leg as I leaned forward to pick up my glass of wine, knowing that the slit in my skirt would fall away and bear it to him, going up dangerously high. As intended, his gaze moved higher and he swallowed hard, just like I intended.
"How's Ra?" I asked.
"You want to talk about Ra?" he asked.
I shrugged. "The two of you used to be close, didn't you?"
He cleared his throat. "Reasonably. He's running a solar company now."
"Oh?"
"It's called SolRa."
I covered my mouth and laughed. "And you called me obvious."
"He isn't hiding from anyone," Ptah pointed out.
I shrugged and reached for a couple of grapes. "I was successful at it until Sekhmet encouraged me to go to speed dating," I responded.
"That's fair. Well, Ra is running his business and starting dating an elf. She's an entertainment lawyer."
"An interesting choice for him," I responded. "I hope they're happy."
"They are. If you're coming back into our world, maybe you'll get to see them for yourself," he said, watching me carefully for my answer.
I considered it for a moment. I wasn't a hugely social person, but there was something nice about being able to reconnect with people I had history with.
Ptah included.
"I'll think about it," I responded. "So, what made you go to speed dating?" I asked.
He cleared his throat. "I go to Jinx events to catch up with people. I've seen people I haven't seen in years by going."
I raised an eyebrow. "You go for the friends?"
He chuckled a little uncomfortably. "I know it doesn't sound believable, but it's true. I didn't actually realise that it was a speed dating event until I was there. I forgot what day it was."
"Do they do other events?"
He stared at me for a moment. "You really don't know?"
I shook my head. "I've heard of Jinx, but I was mostly avoiding it. Too many people I knew there." I ate a couple more grapes.
"Aine put it together. I'm not sure if you remember her?"
I laughed. "I have a seat on the Council of Love Gods," I reminded him. "I know who Aine is. I wonder if that's why the meeting was called not that long ago."
"I imagine so. If what everyone is saying is to be believed, she's got a good number of gods on board.
I think Anansa brought her cruises under the Jinx brand, then there's Venus with her speed dating, Qetesh with her lock and key parties, and Cupid is working in the matchmaking department.
I even heard that Aphrodite is organising events for them. "
"That's a surprise, she was never a team player."
"Rumour has it that she's mellowed out over the years."
"Unexpected." I took a sip of my wine. "So, you went to events to socialise?"
"Yes. I know you don't have a reason to believe me..."
"We've been broken up for thousands of years, Ptah. You're allowed to have dated other people." Even though it was true, saying it still left a horrible feeling within me. I didn't want it to be true, even if I knew it had to be.
"I've tried over the years," he responded. "But no one was ever able to compare to you."
My heart skipped a beat. There was a small part of me that whispered that I shouldn't believe him. That I was wrong for trusting that to be true.
But I knew it was. Because it was the way that I felt about him.
"What about you?" he asked. "Have you...dated much?"
"And what if I had?"
"I don't really know," he admitted. "I'd try not to be jealous."
I laughed. "I stopped dating several hundred years ago, though that wasn't what they were calling it at the time. Keeping up with the human terms for everything is exhausting sometimes."
"It really is." He let out a sigh and looked out towards the lake.
The reflection of the setting sun rippled over the water, making it even more stunning.
"It's beautiful here," I said.
"It is."
"And the perfect place for a date." I moved my hand so that I grazed his fingers with mine.
Even that small touch was enough to ignite something in me.
Ptah had always made me feel desirable when we were together.
Like I was the only other person in the room.
It was easy to see that we were slipping back into those same kind of feelings, and I couldn't say that I was sorry for it.