Chapter 18 : Midlife crisis

After Persephone and the satyr walked into the restaurant, followed by some others who arrived in a jeep a few moments after them, Hades got out of his car and walked slowly towards Tekos' motorcycle.

"Tch, so she likes men with motorcycles?" he mumbled to himself as he pulled out his house key and pressed it against the bike, "I can own a motorcycle if wanted to." Hades held the key firmly in place thinking of a word to key into Tekos' bike.

Who did that satyr think he was having Persephone on a bike with him like that? How dare he make her hold him and lean against him.. Hades gnashed his teeth together as he glared at the motorcycle… and the way he was hovering over her a few moments ago and touching her hair, what was that all about? Was he her boyfriend or something?!

"Sir?…"

Hades looked up and found the satyr staring at him with concerned eyes, "umm you've been glaring at my bike for a while now, is something wrong?"

Hades quickly pocketed his keys and cleared his throat, "no nothing is wrong son, I'm just a motorcycle enthusiast and I find your machine very intriguing… what is it a Honda?"

Tekos walked towards his bike and wiped some dust off it with a proud smile, "yeah.. the rebel 500. Saved up for a whole year for her, she's my prized possession."

"Well she's beautiful," Hades responded while glancing through the restaurant windows to where Persephone was sitting.

"Thank you, it's rare to see older folk into motorcycles so I'm a little surprised."

Hades turned to the satyr and furrowed his brows at him, "excuse me?"

"Not to sound offensive sir," Tekos spoke nervously, "but you are lord Hades right? King of the underworld? I'm assuming you're a little over a thousand years old?"

"Well how old are you?!" Hades spat back feeling very offended by Tekos' words for some reason. Since when did his age bother him so much?

"I umm… I'm twenty one sir.." Tekos responded nervously.

Damn it, no wonder Persephone liked this satyr. He was young, he was handsome, he owned a bike and from the looks of it, he was a regular visitor at the gym. This satyr was every teenage girl's dream.

"Well good for you," Hades replied, his tone was a little less enthusiastic than before, he actually sounded a little sad. "Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you, I will now go into the restaurant and pick up my order. Have a good day."

Tekos watched the man walk past him and into the restaurant, for someone people were supposed to fear, he seemed very poised and elegant.

The crimson eyed god walked to the counter feeling a bit dispirited, what was he even doing? He was about to key a twenty one year old's bike over a seventeen year old girl. Had the luck of companionship finally pushed him over the edge, he was supposed to be looking for women his age not obsessing over a college student. Just like the satyr had said, he was old, that would never change.

"Order sixty six, sticky wings with a salad side and diet cola?!"

Hades turned to the cashier..

"That would be me," he spoke in unison with someone else who was standing beside him. He turned to his side and gulped when he saw Persephone who had also reached for the pack and touched his hand in the process. There was that static electricity again.

Both of them quickly pulled back and looked away.

"Sorry, did you make an order of sticky wings as well?" Hades asked the goddess.

"Yeah I did," Persephone responded nervously.

"I see, well I'm sure you didn't ask for the salad, most people don't like the salad."

"Actually I like the salad very much," Persephone responded, "the cottage cheese and the olives compliment everything perfectly."

Hades stared at the woman surprised, she liked the cottage cheese and olives? He didn't know anyone but himself who liked that combination. He cleared his throat and pulled out his order slip, "but I'm most certain you didn't ask for a diet cola to go with your meal, a lot of people-"

"I'm actually not a huge fan of sodas, and they don't have any fruit juices here," Persephone replied, "so a diet soda was the next best thing."

At this point Hades was a little spooked, he too was no fan of sodas and got diet cola as the next best thing. What was this young lady trying to do?

"Umm do you two need a minute?" The cashier asked Persephone and Hades who were just standing there staring at each other, "you are kind of holding up the line."

Persephone pulled out her order slip and handed it to the cashier, "my order number is sixty six."

"Alright enjoy your meal ma'am."

Persephone grabbed the pack and gave Hades a smile, "it was nice seeing you again Hades.. sorry, umm… it was nice seeing you again sir. Have a good day."

Hades watched the girl walk passed him back to her table, he was about to call out to her but then saw Tekos take her food pack and smile giddily at her. Gods what was he doing?!

"Well that was awkward," the cashier mumbled.

The god slammed his receipt on the counter and gave the cashier a dismissive glare, "please do check if my order is ready, I have a very busy schedule."

*

Persephone sat down across from Tekos and glanced at Hades as he got his food and walked out of the restaurant. Why did she feel so excited yet so sad about seeing him? Maybe she should just forget about her ridiculous crush on him and focus on school, he obviously saw her as nothing more than a naive child.

"Hey, that's Hades from the party right?" Tekos asked the goddess.

"Yeah.."

"I met him outside, I forgot to thank him for keeping an eye on you at the party," Tekos added on. "I'm sorry about leaving you alone at the party by the way. I should make it up to you somehow." Tekos looked at Persephone who seemed to be zoned out and reached for her hand, "hey, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine.." Persephone looked down at her hand and noticed Tekos was holding it.

They both pulled away hurriedly and blushed. Ares caught site of them and growled, so he was right all along, there was something going on between Persephone and Tekos, and he had to put an end to it.

"I'm sorry," Tekos muttered while nervously scratching the back of his head. "It's a reflex I swear."

"No it's alright, I was a little lost in thought there," she looked up at the satyr and smiled, "you were saying something right? I didn't quite get that."

"Oh yeah, I was saying I want to make it up to you for how things turned out at the party… maybe if you're free this weekend, we could go do something. Anything you like."

Persephone smiled and nodded, "I'd like that." She really liked Tekos, he had become a very good friend and had helped her out of awkward situations twice now. Besides, she really needed a distraction from all her thoughts about the king of the underworld.

Meanwhile outside the restaurant in the parking lot, Hades was watching Tekos and Persephone talking and laughing. The moment Tekos had touched Persephone's hand, the god knew he had to get out of there before he did something completely irrational and embarrass himself in front of a bunch of college students.

He put his car into gear and drove out of the parking lot as fast as he could. What was happening to him? Ever since Persephone came into his life he was a mess, is this what people referred to as a midlife crisis?