Aphrodite 'Rose' Evermore

Aphrodite barked, her voice low and dripping with anger. "I'm giving you five seconds to move out of my way or else I'm dragging you to my meeting and have you explain how you are responsible for me being late."

~

Deziree slung the dress over her arm, then began sifting through the neighbouring rack as if she was trying to act all casual like.

“Radio?” Deziree repeated, rather surprised but well practised in hiding it. The only time she listened to the radio was when it was playing in an Uber driver’s car. That would explain her ignorance. “I’m twenty, not ninety.” Ah, and there she was, back to being tactless. She gave herself a mental kick for it. The woman was intriguing, though for what reason Deziree couldn’t really say. “Maybe you should switch to podcasts. Or youtube. Then maybe I would have heard of you.” Was she digging her own grave? Probably. “What’s your name, oh, mysterious radio host?”

Aphrodite found herself barking a laugh. The girl was quite a character but Aphrodite didn’t mind. She could handle brutally honest, and the girl didn’t seem to intent to hurt her feelings. “Yeah I have been considering doing podcasts, but youtube seems a fun idea. I might add it to the board, meetings are so much fun.” She rolled her eyes. “Yet it’s necessary to keep the people satisfied.” 

~

Nani half-laughed, half breathed a sigh of relief. Turns out she hadn’t forgotten Aphrodite’s name, because there was absolutely nothing plain and simple about it. It sounded straight out of a mushy love story. “Damn, that’s a hell of a name,” she replied, glad that at least the only impoliteness had been in not introducing themselves in the first place. “I thought I’d forgotten it, but there’s no chance I’d forget that.”

A slight grimace crossed Nani’s lips at the mention of the day they had met. It wasn’t terrible, but it certainly could have been better. “For the most part,” she shrugged. “Although the, uh… drug induced hangover might tell you otherwise. I take it you were just peachy after? I hope?”

“My mother was a hippie, as I’ve said before. But then again with all with what happened that day people certainly forgot about things.” Like how they made out in the bathrooms, or hang from the Ferris wheel. “It’s a name hard to forget I know.” 

“I guess smuggling in my own drink ended up being my best idea so far,” Aphrodite said with a hum. “At least I didn’t get that type of hangover, i did get a hangover, however.”

~

Admittedly, Deziree was not expecting the woman to take the dresses from her, and frowned slightly as she did so. (Not to, like, brag or anything but Deziree knew her fashion, and had chosen an easy win. The green dress, in her eyes, was the right answer, and had Aphrodite chosen the other she would have changed her tune very quickly.) “I think you might be right,” Dezi replied, taking back the green dress. She turned so that she was facing a nearby mirror to hold the dress back up for another look. “Green dress it is.”

“Haven’t seen you around town before,” Deziree remarked off-hand. That was the whole reason for her curiosity. “Are you visiting or something?”

Aphrodite wasn’t the queen of fashion, but she wasn’t completely ignorant of it either. She picked green based on color match theories, something she read about in a magazine. Basically, the color made her eyes pop out more. She shrugged as she said she might have been right if she wasn’t one to care. Fashion wasn’t her thing. 

“Been here for a while doll, you might haven’t seen me in Andromeda but I’m sure you must have heard me from time to time. That is if you listen to the radio.” She shook her head once more. “No, I live here.”

Lottie was almost polar opposite when it came to Aphrodite because where Aphrodite didn’t see second chances and didn’t believe in love, Lottie did, she thought love was the most important thing in the world and if there was one thing she was going to strive for and get out of life it was love itself, but in saying that she did know how to have a bit of fun and right now with Aphrodite she was hoping that this would head down that path because in all honesty she needed it.

“I actually love it, it definitely gives me like those Spanish home vibes” smiling as she acknowledged the pat that the brunette gave to her allowing her to sit in the seat beside her, adjusting her dress and crossing her legs - her very long, slim and smooth legs - as Tiana was mentioned in the conversation that they were sharing; “Oh she runs a restaurant in town; ‘Tiana’s Place’. I must admit that the girl over the years has worked very hard to get that place where it is today”

And Lottie well and truly believed that, if anything she wished that she could help Tiana more then she could because that girl did not know when to catch a break but she also knew where to draw the line; “Oh with you by my side it’s definitely going to be a wonderful night-… I think you are just amazingly beautiful and exquisite” lifting her now filled flute of champagne to her lips as she spoke; “Well apart from being a manager with Tiana, I do a little bit of social media on the side, you know being one of those ‘Influencers’ type thing. Nothing too special, just giving the people what they want”

Aphrodite fell out of love the first time someone slept with her for a bet. She realized there were a lot of Zeus people in this world. For her Love was like a rose, nice to stare at but bound to whiter if she’d touch it. Perhaps deep down she still yearned for it, but simply didn’t believe it was something she deserved. It was a foreign concept to her, and it would take a lot of convincing to get her to believe in it. For that reason she didn’t sleep with a person twice.

“it was designed with spain in the back of my head.” She admitted. “I like the warmth.” She had done a bit of traveling in the past, like Rhosas in Spain and London. “That might explain why I’m unfamiliar. I’m more a cook at home kind of girl- well it’s either that or ordering Pizza.”

Aphrodite smiled at the compliment, it wasn’t often she got some sweettalking. Mostly people already had kissed her when she opened the door. Talking however was pleasant, so a genuine “thank you” followed off her lips. To distract herself she took a sip of the champagne, having its exquisate tase roll on her tongue and she hummed pleased. 

“That’s interesting. I’m a host on a radio show called ‘Lust and Love’. Basically I use my degree in psychology to help people with relationship issues.”

“I’ll be honest, I really don’t understand the whole Whiskey thing. It burns. Why would you want that?” Nani replied with a laugh. She wasn’t a drinker in the slightest, owing to never having the time and the worry that she might end up relying on a drink to get her through the day. She appreciated a wine or a cocktail on occasion, but the limit, if she wasn’t driving, was two.

“I have a bit of a sweet tooth for drinks, yeah. I can’t handle that bitter stuff.”

“It dulls the pain?” Aphrodite said with a shrug, Brandy whiskey they existed for those days, the days were she was sobbing her eyes out. The weak moments. “I drink wine more often.” Which was the I’m getting laid gift most of the time, champagne was a 50/50 chance drink.

“If you like sweet I recommend the grasshopper.”

Lottie didn’t know what to expect when the other was going to open the door, but that was the fun of having curiosity, it was about experiencing it, delving into it and experimenting with it which was what Lottie was doing right now with most aspects of her life, she didn’t put a label on anything and she kept everything just as open as herself, or at least she tried to, so she stepped over the threshold and smiled and waited to the side so that she wasn’t impolite when entering someone else’s home.

“You have a lovely home” her English accent that she got from visiting her mother across the pond shining through as she followed Aphrodite through her home hanging onto every word that was spoken to her; “I could say the same for yourself, I feel like we both have that effortless but still chic and well put together look going on for us” she would be lying if she said she didn’t at least check her out, letting her eyes take in just about everything from her curves to the way she moved when she walked.

“Thank you for inviting me here tonight, I have been in and out of Polaris for a while, mainly helping Tiana with her business but I don’t think I’ve run into you before” waiting for an invitation to sit somewhere because once again she didn’t want to be rude or give the impression that she just went to other people’s homes and just made it her own, though she did shrug off the light pink blazer she had on draping it across the nearest stool and placing the bottle of Champagne on the bench; “For you-… it’s a favourite of mine”

For Aphrodite, this was almost a routine. Getting the other to want you, until the point they don’t mind if it is only for a single time. Because Aphrodite didn’t believe in second chances, nor did she believe in love. This was a one time only thing, she couldn’t blame people wanting more from her. But the excitement died the moment she slept with them - and look at her, who wouldn’t. Only gay guys and straight girls didn’t want to sleep with her. Those often were the ones that lingered into her life the longest - you see even when it came to friendship Aphrodite had the personality that got tiring after a while. She didn’t mind, she lived her life lonely.

“Thank you, I just recently moved to Andromeda. It’s far larger than the apartment I and my mother shared.” She explained. It had a few Spanish touches, she adored the culture. “Well, I went with something that easily goes off.” She said, her voice close to a song. She patted on the seat next to her, urging her to sit next to her instead. 

“Tiana, the name rings a bell.” She couldn’t quite place it, however. “What kind of business does she have?” Simple curiosity, a way of showing she was engaged with the conversation. “Seems like my guest has great taste, though I drink about anything when it comes to alcohol.”

She stood up to walk to a cabin to get both of them some glasses, opened the bottle, and filled the glasses. “Here’s to a wonderful night.” She winked before handing her the glass. “So what else do you like to do than quoting movie scenes and dancing?”

Lottie was a person who didn’t have a bad thing under her belt, she had stayed relatively clean - as she could of course - and tried to stay out of harms way and that was just how she liked it because the last thing she needed was to go through life with a criminal conviction under her belt. “I mean doesn’t everyone? I’ve yet to meet a person who actually likes spiders” the thought of a eight legged arachnid making her skin crawl as she tried not to think about them right now.

“But yes I feel like it could be that, that and there aren’t a lot of famous publications out there with the name Charlotte so that’s all they could use against me” once again letting her eyes wander to the floor as she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ears, cheeks heating up at the compliment the other had given her; “Thank you, you aren’t bad on the eyes either” Lottie didn’t label her sexuality or limit her attractions to people, she liked who she liked and right now she definitely liked the sights of Aphrodite; “It would be a pleasure. Would you like for me to meet at yours tonight? Just so I have time to freshen up?”

Aphrodite didn’t have anything against spiders. If anything she puts them on her hand and releases them outside. Though if there are many of them she did have the tendency to just kill them. Circle of life and all that jazz. “I actually don’t mind them so I guess me?” She pointed at herself. “I’m talking more about the little ones, don’t really know if I’d respond well on having a tarantula on my skin.” She simply shrugged it off.

“I suppose you are right, though I know this book called brave charlotte it’s about a sheep.” She chuckled. Aphrodite noticed that CHarlotte looked down quite often, it made her want to put a finger on her shin and guide those back to her eyes. Yet, she knows this was a game of push and pull. And it was dangerous to pull too much at once. She smiled at the compliment, she wasn’t one that would deny her ego being rubbed. At least she took it as a cue to take things a step further, at least if Charlotte would let her. “That sounds fine by me, what about seven. It gives me some time to finish my boring paperwork.”

It wasn’t that Lottie thought any less of bars but more so she didn’t have any reason to go into one, if she wanted alcohol she could always buy something on the way home, that and being at Tiana’s place allowed her to have a drink whenever she wanted so really she didn’t really see a point but she wouldn’t object if say someone wanted to take her in there to have a good time, she might be way over dressed and stick out like a sore thumb but she wouldn’t decline.

“That’s so cool, I have no idea what I have named after but that book - Charlotte’s Web - still haunts me to this day” laughing lightly at this conversation they were having, it was unique, it didn’t happen often and she was enjoying it as she enjoyed the others responses; “I think my confidence got left at the door today, sometimes - when I’m feeling like a million dollars - I wear it like a shield, but other days just have me feeling less then perfect” which was definitely normal especially for women in this day an age.

It reminded her of the time of the event, where she had smuggled vodka into her bag. Which was her luck since it caused her not to get drugged. Her bag was like a fun package, it had all the things she needed. Ranging from liquor to condoms to snacks. She did have her regular places however, maybe she should explore the town a bit better, but with work and not having many friends she really got glued to some places and didn’t really expand.  “Got a fear of spiders perhaps?” She asked curiously, Aphrodite wasn’t really scared of anything. Perhaps blood a little. The reason why she didn’t like horror very much. She could still watch it but it would twist her stomach and made her feel nauseous.

“That’s a pity, you are a beautiful woman.” Aphrodite pointed out rather casual, the same tone one would speak when discussing the weather. That didn’t make it less genuine, the blonde was a beauty. “Wine was invented for those days which makes me think I got a nice bottle gifted to me a while ago if you are interested we can share.”