by Debbie Behan
She tilted her head, interested in the insight he gave into his nephew’s character. It sparked her curiosity. ‘As you said, he won’t be here long, and I’m more anxious to get out of this bedroom and have a change of scenery, than worried about what he thinks of me. Anyway, if I were that worried about being seen naked, I’d never be able to look you in the face.’ She tossed her waist length curls over her shoulder, and her eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘You men are like magnets when a girl gets naked. He must be related as that was perfect timing, as usual.’
A big smile spread across Jett’s face. ‘Okay, maybe we men are slightly tuned into the less clothed species of females, but we do it deliberately; you see your humiliation reinforces you are the weaker of the sexes.’
‘Then, being of such a delicate species, it leaves me helpless to take care of myself and is my new excuse for being a terrible cook.’
‘Ah, the visitor has been a worthy one then.’
‘Yes.’
He smiled. ‘You’re feeling much better aren’t you?’
‘And hungry, so what’s the plan?’
‘I have told my help I am cooking for you today. Therefore, the plan, my lazy little kitchen witch, is to park your butt on the bench while I play chef and you torment me as you used to. I’ve missed your sarcastic wit.’
‘You have company so if you give me grief I’ll get your stickybeak visitor that owes me one, to sort you out, because I still can’t.
‘It would not surprise me you’d side with the new guy that I bet drooled over you, bruises and all.’
‘Well, I doubt that. I’m almost positive he will never try to spring one of your floozies again. He took one look at me and practically ran out the door.’ She giggled. ‘I think I can officially say I turned the poor guy off.’
‘Good. Stuff him. You’re mine.’ He laughed, transporting her down to the kitchen.
It was some time later they both carried the meals out into the dining room where Caitlin formally met the guest who sat, legs sprawled out at the end of the table, reading the paper.
‘About time,’ he scoffed sounding arrogant and quite rude. ‘What, did you go make the damned breakfast yourself?’
Jett sucked in a breath and kept his calm. ‘Well for your info, yes. Glow Girl here only likes my cooking.’
He eyed her, not even a little embarrassed he had barged in on her. He had the opinion Caitlin was a call girl while the wife was away and didn’t even bother to introduce himself or inquire who she was.
Cait put his meal in front of him, feeling as if maybe she should drop it in the selfish pig’s lap, but changed her mind when Jett gave her a sideways glance.
‘Glow!’ He smirked, reading her thoughts.
After a few bites, the guest spoke, his voice uninterested. ‘So why Glow? What does that stand for, Glowworm? He smiled at his own humour.
‘It’s Glow Girl to you. Only Jett gets to shorten it.’ She felt it time to wipe the sneer from his face. ‘Strangers have to earn that privilege. And you, sir, have proved you are anything but a gentleman so far. Maybe in your circle, you are popular and funny, but I find you anything but.’ She proceeded to season her food. She had said her piece and was content to ignore him for the rest of the visit.
The visitor’s head jolted up, fork in mid-air. ‘Jett?’
‘I’m with her. While under an alias, for that short span of time we are able to put aside who we are. Glow isn’t interested if you are a Ruler or that I am a god. When I’m introduced as Hades, a wide berth is given to the feared God of the Underworld. But you know what, I’m a man first, and I get no special favours from this one. No looks of heroism or terror at my touch. She also is of high standing herself and yet expects no pandering. You should be so lucky if you are given an alias and called her friend.’
Caitlin was unprepared for Jett’s response or his.
The guest stared at her and put his fork down. He glanced at Jett. ‘You might just have me there, Uncle.’ Studying Caitlin again he relaxed his shoulders. ‘Maybe I did get the wrong impression of who you were, young lady, but by the sounds of it, I never will know. So, as a social experiment because this idea intrigues me, can we start again? Although I am at a disadvantage as I have no alias.’ He turned his attention to Jett. ‘Did you tell her who I am?’
‘Although I have said you are my nephew, Glow is not interested. To her, you are the guest.’ Jett grinned at him, pleased he was coming around.
The guest turned back to Caitlin. ‘I guess I’ve started off on the wrong foot so this should be interesting. If I promise to kerb my curiosity as to why you are here alone with my uncle when his wife is not here, what alias would you give to me? And be nice as I am giving you my word and that doesn’t come easy.’
She already knew this about him just by observing him. He looked a hard nut to crack, and just a name was not going to make him a different person. But for the social experiment, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
She had taken a long time to answer while summing him up and he started to get impatient. His foot began to tap. She grinned, and he stilled. He didn’t understand why but suddenly this was important to him. He wanted to be a part of whatever it was going on here, and she was the key. Annoyed she weakened him with her grin but amazingly happy she was giving him what he wanted, his entire demeanour tensed and waited.
‘I have summed you up without knowing a thing about you and have an alias if you don’t mind my opinion of you so far.’ She leant forward with hands clasped on the table in front of her, making the guest feel she spoke to him and him alone.
‘When I saw you this morning, I thought you were a decent and polite gentleman, and that has not changed, as yet. Yes, your words have been abrupt, but I assume it is a way to hide your embarrassment and the awkwardness of seeing me naked. However, your eyes tell me more, and the images of how I got my bruises are where knives can cross, and enemies be formed. To move forward, I must clear this up. They were inflicted during a mission I was on and definitely not from a hot frolic with your uncle.’ She saw his eyes dart and face redden. ‘I do hope this has resolved any poor first impressions you had of me. That being said…’ She smiled, and it was at that moment he saw how she got her name.
He tried to concentrate on what she was saying but her skin, in fact, her entire clothed body, started to shine. He found it remarkable. ‘I see where you got the name Glow Girl. Pretty impressive.’ He was in awe of her angelic features while doing… well, whatever it was she was doing. To say it didn’t affect him would be lying. He was mesmerised and could barely breathe.
‘Wow, my first compliment. Now it is my turn, to be frank with you. I find your most impressive quality visually is your swanky hairstyle. I have seen dreadlocks before but not as long and well-kept. Tied back they remind me of strands of rope, robust and stylish, which leads me to believe the wearer must have these qualities too. So, with your consent, of course, I would like to call you Aurek.’
‘Hey, did she just swear at me?’ He had been spellbound by her voice but hearing the name had snapped him out of it and made him unsure of what she just said.
Caitlin grinned. ‘I said, Aurek. It means longhaired and as for me swearing, good Lord, not in the first hour at least.’ She chuckled and sat back in the chair.
Jett pushed his empty plate away. ‘Just wait until she does start. Because if you ever think up garbage like that about her again, Potty Mouth is what you’ll nickname her.’
Aurek glanced up at his uncle, still getting the hang of what these names did. He felt no different. ‘So you’re Jett?’
‘No guessing how I ended up with that name.’ He ran his hair through his pitch-black head of hair. ‘Zeus is Calyx, but this you knew. However, she did change Poseidon’s to Razor because she says he needed one and the only other change was to Rhea and Cronus; she calls them, Honey and T
ed Bear.’
‘Well, I can guess why, the hairy sod.’
‘Runs in the family.’ Jett pulled some hair that stuck out from Aurek’s shirt top and made him flinch.
‘Ouch!’ Aurek rubbed his chest vigorously and gave a slight grin. ‘Well, I guess if everyone else is happy to be someone else around her, I certainly don’t want to be left out. But was expecting bells and whistles to go off, it sounded so mysterious.’
‘You will get it, give it time to sink in, and it might just save a friendship down the track.’ Jett reached over and poured a second cup of coffee from the pot.
Aurek watched while in thought. ‘So Glow Girl,’ he said, and as he turned to her, his tone was less aggressive. ‘Where do you come from?’ He looked down and stuck his last forkful of food in his mouth.
‘Everywhere, nowhere.’
His brows and lips pulled tight. ‘So what do you suggest we talk about then if we can’t ask questions?’
She shrugged. ‘By asking me questions I can answer, like not where but how, not who but what and, not past but present.’
Jett explained and took over the conversation. Aurek had never seen his uncle so in tune with another person, ever. He didn’t like feeling out of it, and that’s exactly how he felt listening to them joke and laugh together. As if the one they referred to as Glow Girl felt his frustration, she suddenly included him. The atmosphere changed and for once, here on Pluto, he was actually enjoying the chat. Yes, dead souls and the Underworld came up as usual, but with jest; the stress of running such an operation he regularly heard in his uncle’s voice was gone. At one stage the topic shifted back to Jett’s immediate family. Aurek’s curiosity was piqued, wanting to know how they handled Glow Girl.
Jett kept out the details of how she came to Pluto but kept it so entertaining his nephew didn’t notice. ‘Like the time she got away with hanging it on Ted Bear when he was going skiing. Told him she couldn’t wait to see what a big old bear looked like on snow skis. Then proceeded to laugh as she gave descriptions of what the big old bear on his arse in the snow would look like. The little minx teased him all through the meal, gave him hell.’
‘Seriously, if that had been one of us, we would have been disciplined right and proper.’ Aurek got into stories of just that, the times he gave cheek and received a swipe from his grandfather’s big sweeping paw. He enjoyed the time with them both so much he stayed for longer than anticipated.
A shiver from Caitlin had Jett on his feet and he moved the three of them into the den and closer to the open fire. While the men indulged in a drink and cigar, Caitlin chose to curl up in Jett’s chair that claimed the best position in the chamber. The heat of the embers lulled her into a light sleep while she listened to the chatter beside her.
‘What’s with you and this one? Does Persephone know she’s here?’ Aurek spoke quietly as he watched her eyes close for the last time.
‘It was a spur of the moment thing.’ He glanced at Caitlin and for her benefit if still awake used Persephone’s alias. ‘Melita is with her mother so no, I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily. The main reason is that Glow and Melita have become good friends. If I had told her how injured Glow really was, that it was touch and go if she lived, she would have cut her time short. That would not have gone down well. You know how her mum looks forward to Melita’s visits.’
‘Why here though? Hasn’t she got a family?’
‘Wolf, her fiancé.’
‘Whose name I guess is not really Wolf.’
‘No, but for security reasons that is what he is otherwise known as.’
‘Fair enough, continue.’ Aurek knew any further digging would do him no good. Hades had always been a closed book, and this situation suited his personality. As for Aurek, he was getting a little impatient with the cloak and dagger dribble and shifted uncomfortably, yet for some reason he didn’t want to leave. This was all too intriguing and not only did he want answers, but the heady scent of his uncle’s guest had him addicted for lack of a better word, and he couldn’t have left if he tried.
‘Wolf fears for her life.’
‘You mean, you fear for her life. You’re in love with her too and use it as an excuse to have her here.’
‘Yes I love her, but I’m not in love, exactly. Glow feels familiar, like family, yet much more. I can’t explain it.’ Jett shrugged.
Aurek watched her. ‘If Glow Girl is to be a part of our family, she is certainly an attractive addition to it. Where does she come from, Earth or up here?’ he asked.
‘That again is a secret which I’m unable to share. As we expect our details to stay private, so does Glow and until ready to share her world with you, I recommend respecting the privacy issue.’ He saw his nephew’s face redden from getting the runaround and breathed out. ‘What I am at liberty to say is she is loyal to a fault. Never question this about her and if she allows you more time with her, and I know she is ready to go home so you may only have moments, try to set aside your questioning of every damned thing you imagine is wrong and give her a chance.’
‘It makes it hard when I come here and find what is possibly splitting you up from your family and the plan set in place for you, Uncle.’
‘Before you say another word, it is not Glow who has made me drag my chain.’
Aurek stretched. ‘So what’s the problem if it’s not her? You haven’t been a part of the war for months, and now the family is cross with you. I want you to tell me what’s going on, you know you are my favourite uncle, and I hate this… this sudden change in you.’
‘Well, how about I ease your mind that the changes in me are for the best. Let’s go and take a look at what has been keeping me busy.’ He stood and leant over Caitlin. ‘Glow, are you awake?’ He shook her gently.
She sat up with a start. ‘Sorry I must have dozed again. What time is it?’
‘Time you got up and made us some dinner,’ Aurek stirred.
‘Sure!’ She grinned at him. ‘Ask Jett about me and my cooking. Seriously, I can guarantee he’d sooner eat barf than my cooking.’
‘See what I have to put up with.’ He smiled at her. ‘Thought we might wander out and show Aurek our project.’ Jett helped her up and made sure she was steady before letting her go.
‘So again, I have to ask, why this need to spend time with her and not us? I mean the girl sounds as if she can’t do anything. I can’t cook, get blown up at work, hell she’s a walking disaster.’ Aurek stood, boiling that his uncle woke her to join them. It seemed to him Jett couldn’t do anything alone anymore. In his book, this was bad, and his uncle needed saving from this woman. Mmm but she sure smells good… he followed them.
Jett slowed up and walked beside his nephew, leaving Glow to lead the way. ‘Look,’ he said quietly, ‘Glow is unique in so many other ways. She is a straight shooter and has a way of making sense. She uses such simple solutions to problems solve and without her, none of what I’m about to show you would have happened. Her motivation and encouragement have not only made me strive to be a better person, but all this we have achieved together has made my wife and me so much happier. Come and I’ll show you.’
‘If this is the mystery that’s kept you busy from the rest of us, it had better be a damned good one, or I’m calling Grandpa to talk sense into you. We haven’t seen hide or hair of you for months.’
‘It was for a good reason,’ Jett said.
‘Better be.’
‘Coming?’ Glow stopped and waited at the large, boldly-carved, reinforced doors. ‘You just have to see this to believe it.’ She slipped her arm through Aurek’s, surprising him. Her enthusiasm was suddenly infectious.
‘Hey!’ Jett punched his arm. ‘She’s my guest and my friend. Go get your own.’
‘She’s got another arm, so use that one.’ Aurek smirked.
‘Come on guys, this is exciting, share.’ Caitlin
listened to them squabbling over her like members of her team did sometimes, and it made her miss them. With a quick intake of air, she was attentive to the people around her again. ‘Wait until you see how talented an uncle you have.’
A tug on her arm left Caitlin confused when Aurek stopped suddenly and didn’t move. ‘Are you all right there?’ She turned to him.
‘Ah, yes and no. I mean – Wow!’ He shook his head, his eyes like saucers. ‘Did you just apply perfume? The fragrance has me riveted, and it’s beautiful.’
Jett pushed at him to get him moving. ‘Get used to it tiger, until she feels safe around you, her power will control you.’
‘You’re one cool witch.’ He gave her a toothy kind of grin, then his attention was suddenly distracted as he viewed the overhead dome with its artificial lighting and heating that made the entire area look and feel as if it were a bright sunny day. The grand display of thriving plant life set around a waterfall that ran into a lap pool caught even Caitlin’s breath.
‘Oh my goodness Jett, this is so impressive now. You have done so much more since I was here last.’ Caitlin spun on her heels and smiled at him.
‘You got to be kidding me, Uncle Brainwave. This is unbelievable.’ Aurek stood with a stunned mullet expression, his mouth open with admiration. His uncle’s old fashioned incredibly cold and dull castle that he hated to come and visit had, outside, transformed into a beautiful paradise.
Caitlin felt pangs of pride as Aurek praised the entire setup. It took them about an hour to walk to the far end of the enclosure.
‘What about the cabin? Have you done anything to it? I can remember we came up once for a ski after our last hunting trip. It was all so dark, cold and miserable that I thought we were better off where we were and never insisted on coming back here again,’ Aurek commented.
‘Hunting!’ Caitlin picked up on the word. ‘You two go hunting together? Can I come next time?’