Hours dragged on and the tension in Selene's office became increasingly suffocating. She tried to ignore Lykos, who had claimed the corner of her office as his own personal perch. He sat casually on her sofa, his golden eyes never leaving her as she typed furiously on her laptop, attempting to focus on anything other than his annoying presence.
The silence was unbearable and it was made worse by his unwavering stare. Every time she glanced up, he was watching her with that same infuriating smirk, as though he were enjoying her discomfort.
"Do you ever blink?" she finally snapped, her fingers pausing over the keyboard.
Lykos tilted his head, the smirk widening. "I'm just admiring how hard you're pretending I'm not here. Very impressive, by the way. But if you think ignoring me will make me leave, you're mistaken."
Selene groaned, dragging her hands down her face. This was a nightmare….. a living, breathing, sarcastic nightmare.
Before she could retort, there was a sharp knock on her office door.
Her head whipped toward it, her heart lurching in panic. "Oh no," she whispered, looking back at Lykos with wide eyes. "You have to go. Now."
Lykos crossed his arms, his smirk turning downright devilish. "No."
Her jaw dropped. "No? What do you mean no?"
He shrugged, clearly enjoying himself. "I'm not going anywhere unless you agree to meet me later."
Selene gaped at him, her frustration bubbling over. "Are you serious right now?"
"Deadly serious," he said smoothly, his golden eyes gleaming with mischief.
The knock came again, louder this time.
Selene's pulse quickened as she hissed, "Fine! Fine, I'll meet you. Just go!"
Lykos grinned, satisfied. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Before she could respond, he vanished in a swirl of golden light, it was almost as if he was never there and she had started hallucinating.
Selene barely had time to process his disappearance before the door creaked open, and Ivy stepped inside, her arms laden with books.
"Hey, Selene, you didn't answer the door and I was knocking for ages," Ivy chirped, oblivious to her friend's frazzled state. She paused, narrowing her eyes. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Selene forced a strained smile, "I'm fine. Just… a long morning. I was caught up in work and I probably didn't hear your knocking."
Ivy raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "Uh-huh. Well, I brought you those reference books you asked for." She set them down on the desk and gave Selene a curious look. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem… tense."
Selene laughed nervously, running a hand through her hair. "I'm fine. Really."
But as Ivy started talking about their latest project, Selene couldn't help but glance toward the corner where Lykos had been sitting , half-expecting him to reappear just to taunt her.
She had no idea how she was going to get through this day. Or the meeting she'd just promised him.
Selene spent the next few minutes half-listening to Ivy's chatter, nodding and murmuring agreements at the appropriate moments. Her mind, however, was far away, tangled up in the absurdity of her predicament.
Lykos had disappeared just as easily as he'd arrived, leaving her to wonder if she was losing her grip on reality. Was he going to show up in the middle of her next class? At the grocery store? In her dreams?
"Selene, are you sure you're okay?" Ivy's voice cut through her spiraling thoughts.
"Huh?" Selene blinked, snapping back to the present.
"You seem… distracted," Ivy said, giving her a concerned look. "Did something happen? You've been off all morning."
Selene hesitated. She couldn't exactly tell Ivy that an ancient, cursed god had shown up in her office claiming she was his bride.
"I'm fine," she said quickly, forcing a smile. "Just tired. It's been a hectic weekend."
Ivy tilted her head, unconvinced. "You're not letting work stress you out again, are you? I swear, you're going to burn yourself out one of these days."
Selene managed a sarcastic laugh. "You know me. Always over working myself."
Ivy narrowed her eyes, but she didn't press further. Instead, she launched into a story about her weekend. Selene tried to focus, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Lykos.
What did he want? Well, aside from the whole betrothed bride nonsense. And why couldn't he just leave her alone and marry someone else?
By the time Ivy left, promising to grab lunch with her later in the week, Selene felt even more drained than before. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples, when her phone buzzed on the desk.
The screen lit up with an unknown number, and a part of her already knew who it was.
She hesitated, debating whether to answer, but curiosity won out. "Hello?"
"Hello, my lovely bride," came Lykos's smooth, teasing voice.
Selene groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How did you get this number?"
"I have my ways," he said, clearly amused. "Did you really think you could get rid of me so easily?"
"I was hoping," she muttered. "What do you want, Lykos?"
"We agreed already," he said, "I want to talk. Meet me tonight."
Selene frowned, glancing at the clock. "Why can't we just do this now?"
"Because," he said, a hint of mischief in his voice, "it's much more fun to make you wonder."
Her grip on the phone tightened. "You are infuriating, you know that?"
"Flattered," he replied smoothly. "I'll see you at the café on Fifth Street. Eight o'clock. Don't be late."
Before she could argue, the line went dead.
Selene stared at her phone, her frustration mounting. 'Huh?! Did he just end the call on me??!!!!' she thought.
She didn't have time for this. She had lectures to prepare, papers to grade, and a life to get back to. With a sigh, she set the phone down and resigned herself to the inevitable. Whatever Lykos wanted, she was going to find out this evening.