Page 26 of Flowers Near Me

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

FORMER ALLEGIANCE

PERSEPHONE

C licking her pen, Persephone half-listened to the Marketing Director.

“Upbeat, happy, convenient,” he droned. “Producers may test your confidence with rumors about tech issues, so speak decisively…”

Persephone tuned out, already knowing the script: assert the importance of testing. Across the table, Hades caught her eye and winked. She smirked.

Charon appeared at the frosted glass door. “Lunch is here.”

Persephone’s stomach growled as she shut her notebook, following the group out. Hades held the door, leaning in as she passed. “Bored already, little goddess?” he whispered, his voice dangerously low.

She arched a brow. “You’re not?”

He chuckled, but his eyes held a hint of something darker as he turned to Charon, who handed him a folder.

“Here’s the report you requested. Hecate is ready to meet in five minutes,” Charon said. “Persephone, Hermes is here to see you in the lobby.”

Hades and Persephone parted ways and she headed off to meet her former assistant in the ground-floor lobby. Rumblings from her empty stomach demanded that she grab her meal first, but she hadn’t seen Hermes since the meeting in Zeus’ office. Hermes was always speedy. It’d be quick, she was sure.

The elevator doors opened to the busy lobby, and Hermes, dressed in an off-white sweater and gray slacks, waved with a grin. “Persephone! I’ve missed you.”

She hugged him, catching the familiar scent of his rosemary hair oil. “I’ve missed you too. How’s life working for Zeus?”

Hermes pretended to adjust an invisible tie. “Living the dream.” He led her to a quieter hallway.

Persephone laughed. “Any backlash from DB?” The acronym felt foreign on her tongue.

Hermes shrugged. “Your mom was fine with it. Zeus’ orders.”

Strange. Demeter didn’t let go of people easily, but Persephone pushed the thought aside.

Hermes’ smile faltered, eyes darting over her shoulder. “Your mom misses you, but… that’s not why I’m here.”

Persephone’s curiosity spiked. “Then why?” His anxious fidgeting set her on edge.

“I need a favor,” he said, lowering his voice. “It has to stay between us. Not even Eurydice or Hades can know.”

Her eyes widened. “Is it illegal?”

He hesitated. “Maybe… sort of. It depends.”

“Spill,” she demanded, heart pounding with equal parts worry and intrigue.

“There’s someone on Eurydice’s dev team that I’ve been seeing.” Not what she expected him to say. His darting gaze caused a tremble in her gut.

“Oh? What’s their name?” she asked.

“Sophia. You may have already met her.”

She had. As the new Chief Product Officer, she’d introduced herself to all of Eurydice’s team.

Hermes continued, “We’ve seen each other a few times. It’s been great, but she’s been different since I saw something on her phone.”

Persephone leaned closer to Hermes. “What did you see?” Knowing him, he’d snooped.

“I couldn’t read all of it, but I saw my name. Remember that guy, Thaddeus, I was seeing two years ago?”

How could she forget? That ex of Hermes had broken things off with him—very loudly—at a product launch party. Hermes wasn’t entirely innocent, but things were said that now haunted Hermes.

“Is she seeing him ?” Persephone asked.

“I hope not, but I don’t know. It was his name I saw on her phone and when she saw me looking, she was quick to hide it.”

“I mean… can you blame her? Maybe she was seeing him and now she wants a clean break and doesn’t want to bring you into their parting drama? It might not be as nefarious as you think.” At least Persephone hoped that was true.

Hermes shook his head. “When I asked her about it, she said don’t worry. I tried to pry, but she kept dodging my questions.”

“Sounds like she doesn’t want to tell you. You have to let it go until she changes her mind.”

Sighing, Hermes tilted his head back. “It’s so stupid, but I really care for her and need to know what it said.”

Her brow furrowed. If Persephone was in his spot, she’d feel the same way. Tortured over what an ex said about her to a new lover. It sounded maddening. Thankfully she’d never been with anyone long enough for their parting to be anything but amicable. Usually, she’d lost interest, and they’d hated how busy she was with work.

“You want me to try to read her texts?”

Hermes nodded.

“Fates. That’s asking a lot. I’m not sure I could even pull that off if I wanted to.” Deep within her, she felt the stirring of her magic. Could she try to use her powers to help him? It was too risky and her ability was questionable at best. What if she caused a scene making errant poppies sprout around the cubicles. She embraced the humming in her veins but only enough to calm herself.

His mouth fell into a flat line as his eyes settled on hers. “Of course you could. You’re the spokesperson for the app she’s working on. Ask her to take a photo with you to post on social media then say you left your phone behind. Snap the photo and tell her you’ll put your contact info in, then check the message.”

What a rascal! He’d clearly thought through this scheme already. “ Hermes, that’s too many lies and some sleight of hand.”

“ Please , Persephone.” Was Hermes making puppy eyes at her?

She stared at the floor, wracking her brain for something better—or at least less daft—of a plan to suggest to him.

“I’ll bring you in,” Persephone said. “I’ll distract her; you check the phone.”

Hermes nodded, tension easing slightly. “But make sure she can’t see me. I only need a minute.”

With closed eyes, Persephone tried to calm her heart as it rattled around her chest like a squirrel who’d been plucked off a branch and shoved into a purse. “Okay, I’ll do it. When are we doing this?”

“Right now,” Hermes said, nervously running his fingers through his curly hair.

“Charon just brought lunch; she’s probably eating with her team…” Persephone thought for a moment. “I’ll see if the dev team will follow me into the conference room for a few candid photos. I’ll say I want to save them for teasers on my social accounts. Marketing wanted me to start taking a few candid shots anyway.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

They ascended back up to the office floor, her stomach now growling in worry and not hunger. During the short ride up, Hermes updated her on how her former team was doing, but she could feel the buzz of his anticipation.

“Wait over there.” Persephone pointed towards a hot beverage bar where Hermes could watch but remain hidden. From there, he could see her take the group into the conference room, then could scurry off towards the lunch area.

Her heels tapped the concrete floor, loose pants swooshing as she approached the dev team. Eurydice waved, and Persephone forced a smile, trying to ignore the sweat gathering under her arms. She could pull this off, even with her heart pounding like a drum.

“Hey, Eurydice. Could I get a quick photo with you and the dev team in the conference room? It’s booked the rest of the day, but no one’s in there now and the lighting’s fantastic.”

Eurydice dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin before standing up. “We’d be happy to.” Of course she would. After their first quick conversation in the Underworld office, Eurydice had made an effort to win back Persephone’s favor after playing a role in Hades’ trickery.

A few confused faces gawked at Persephone, but they all rose after setting down their food. When Persephone saw Sophia go to reach for her phone, she quickly instructed, “Leave your stuff! It’ll be fast, I promise.”

Sophia nodded and set her phone back down on the table. I can do this.

“Thank you. Follow me.” Persephone waved them along.

Like little ducklings following their wayward mom, the team walked towards the conference room. As they filed in, Persephone said, “Sit around the table and talk about your favorite food.” A few raised eyebrows were sent her way, but they obliged nonetheless.

With a glance over her shoulder, she caught the blur of Hermes headed towards the break room. This was stupid. Hermes had his share of mishaps, but this had to be the most ridiculous one yet.

The developers found seats around the long table, and Persephone guided them to gather in a way where she could get all of them into one shot. Once she finished directing them into position, she balanced her phone using its pop-out stand.

“It’ll keep snapping photos so just keep talking to each other.” What a farce. She was a phony and surely this group would rather be anywhere but in this conference room, pretending to be stock photo models. She waited as long as she could before the awkwardness grew so heavy it’d suffocate them all.

She checked her phone to look at the photos she never intended to use. “Fantastic. Thanks, everyone.” They gave her polite smiles, but Eurydice lingered as her team left the conference room.

“Are you worried about the app?” Eurydice asked, voice shaky. “Everything’s breaking at once.”

Persephone forced a reassuring smile. “It’s normal to have issues before launch. We’ll figure it out.”

Eurydice’s eyes dropped. “It almost feels like sabotage.”

Persephone felt a rise of anxiety, but she kept her expression calm. “Persistence will pay off. Trust me.”

Persephone tried not to shudder. Who could be behind it? One of Hades’ brothers?

My mom?

Shaking herself from her own worry, Persephone added, “Eurydice. The part where you feel like giving up or quitting is when you’re the closest to having your breakthrough. Keep moving forward and trust that you’ll get to the bottom of the issue before the app goes live. It sounds like there are lots of brilliant minds working alongside yours, so I have every confidence it’ll be sorted before you know it.”

Eurydice gave a small smile and nodded. “Thanks. I hope we figure things out fast before the team loses hope.”

“You will.” Persephone squeezed Eurydice’s arm. “Let’s get you back to your lunch.”

With a soft chuckle, Eurydice opened the door, and Persephone followed her through.

“I’ll catch up with you soon,” Persephone called out as she headed towards the hot beverage counter where the unopened box housing her sandwich sat.

Lunch in hand, she scanned the main office space, looking for Hermes. She checked her phone and released her breath when she saw a message from him.

Hermes

All good! THX!

When she looked up from her phone, Persephone’s breath caught in her throat. Hades stood barely a step away, arms crossed, his shadow looming over her like a storm cloud.

“Photoshoot in the conference room?” he asked, suspicion lacing his voice.

“Perfect lighting.” She shrugged, despite her pounding heart, and forced a calm smile. In a desperate attempt to convince him, she tried to push a calming warmth from her chest using her magic. She lifted her sandwich and asked, “Lunch?”

He studied her, then nodded. “Join me in my office.”

Her stomach twisted, but she managed to keep her shoulders relaxed as she walked past him.