Kill for Love

Chapter 22 - The Annual Party 3

"Now, we will start one of our games which is called 'Find Your Lover,'" the emcee announced. 

Ares hasn't come back yet. Cytherea became uneasy and kept on looking in the direction where Ares left. 

Athena noticed it, so she asked Cytherea, "Are you okay, Bestie?" She held her right hand and squeezed it.

"Yes, Bestie. I'm fine. It's just that I'm getting nervous for no reason at all, and I wonder why it took so long for Ares to come back," she said worriedly.

"Nah, don't worry too much. Maybe he's just taking his time. Besides, a new game is coming up. We should join." 

"We have a blue and pink box here. If you noticed earlier, we have collected the part of the invitation that contains your name and we put it in one of these boxes. For the women, we put their names in the pink box, and of course, for men, in the blue box. So, this is how the game will work. We will be going to choose one lucky girl and five men. For the selection, we will have another draw. I will tell you the mechanics once we have our players. Oh! I’m getting excited. This game will be great for those who don’t have any love life. This will be the time you’ll find one; who knows?” the emcee giggled. She looked so excited about how the game will turn out to be.

“Okay, we will be going to choose our five lucky men. For these lucky guys, please come to the stage as I called your name. First, Carlos Matthias!”

A guy stood up. There were loud claps and whistles as the guy walked his way to the stage. 

“Wow. that guy is surely popular,” Athena commented. She leaned on the chair and crossed her arms across her chest while looking intently at the guy. “He is not even that attractive, but he had that certain vibe that makes the women do a second look. Other than that, nada.”

“Athena! That’s not nice.” Cytherea reprimanded her. She knew that Athena could be tactless sometimes. 

Gaus and Lemnos chuckled. Even with the loud claps, they were able to hear what Athena said.

“He is the general manager of the HR department,” Gaus stated. 

“Ah, no wonder. I wonder how this game will turn out. And what if you, Bestie, will be the lucky girl. Ares will go berserk for sure," Athena chuckled. She shook her head. Just imagining what will happen gives her a headache. 

"Ares is not that bad. He was just protective of me, “Cytherea explained.

“Protective my ass, you meant possessive. No other man can even go near you without him having a fit. Say, for example, Gaus here.” She pointed at Gaus.

All three of them were stunned at Athena’s vulgarity. Cytherea just facepalmed herself. Her face turned red. It's a good thing that the ballroom has dim light and it was noticeable. She apologetically looked at Gaus and Lemnos. “I’m so sorry. She can really be tactless.” Che secretly pinched Athena’s waist to warn her, but Athena just laughed.

“That’s interesting,” Lemnos commented. He leaned closer to the table and put his right elbow on the table to support his chin with his hand. “What about Gaus?” he added.

“Oh, please don’t mind, Athena. I didn’t know water and juice could make her drunk.” Cytherea forced a smile. She was getting embarrassed by what Athena was saying.

“Oh, speaking of, I need wine.” Athena raised her right hand so that she could get the waiter’s attention. Not too long, the waiter went towards their table.

“How can I help you, Ma’am?” the waiter asked. 

“Can I get a red wine, please?” Athena answered right away. 

"Sure thing. How about you, Ma’am, and Sirs? We also have beers, brandy, cocktails, rums, and other different alcohol."

"Oh, can I have tequila sunrise instead?" Athena excitedly asked. She needed a confidence booster tonight for her plan and alcohol is what she thinks could help her.

"I'll have red wine, please," Cytherea requested.

"Scotch on the rocks, please," Gaus said.

The waiter looked at Lemnos like he was waiting for him.

"No, I'm good, but if you can bring me bottled water, that would be great." Lemnos smiled.

"Not a problem. Please excuse me and I'll get it for you all."

The waiter already left when Athena asked Lemnos, "You don't drink, Lemnos?" 

"Yep. I don't," he simply answered. His position hasn't changed.

"Gaus Philip Raynott!"

All of them looked at the stage. Gaus was stunned when he got called. They almost forgot about the game.

"Oh, my! Our gorgeous CEO is included in the game. I'm so sorry, Sir, but you have to participate."

People were getting crazy clapping their hands as their CEO was called. Their whistles were louder compared to the first one.

Gaus chuckled. "Please excuse me," he said while standing up. “I thought I'm exempted, but I guess not." 

"This is getting exciting, most especially that Gaus is also playing. Find your lover, huh?" Athena commented. She was biting her lips.

"The third one is Jessie Mccay!" 

"Wow, this third guy must be popular too. The crowd is getting crazy as well," Athena commented again.

After a few minutes, the waiter arrived with their requested drinks and served them. Athena took her drink and sipped on its straw.

"Yeah, that guy is the Head of the Marketing Department," Lemnos answered.

"He's cute," Athena said. "Good thing they looked like they're still in their thirties."

"That, I don't know." Lemnos chuckled.

Cytherea was quietly listening to them. She was still looking in the direction she last saw Ares because he is still not back.

"Our fourth lucky guy is… Lemnos Usoro!"

The two women looked at Lemnos. Lemnos shook his head and stood up.

"Well, this is interesting," he muttered. "Please excuse me."

"Go, Lemnos!" Athena cheered as Lemnos walked towards the stage.

"The fifth lucky guy! It's no other than Ares Pendleton!"

The crowd cheered once again.

"I didn't know that Ares is popular here too," Athena said, smirking.

After a few minutes, they saw Ares climbing on the stage.

Cytherea took a deep breath. She felt relief that he saw Ares on the stage.

"See? I told you Ares is okay. You're just paranoid. You're starting to act Ares now. My god, Bestie!"

"Well, I can't help it, you know? And besides, you're not even drunk, but you act like one. You're turning so chatty," Cytherea said.

Athena just shrugged and laughed at her.

"Now, our lucky girl," the emcee announced. She took the pink box and opened it. She rummaged the inside of the box. After a while, she took a black card. "Cytherea Swan!"

"Oh, wow! Just how lucky you are, Bestie! I think I can pass as a psychic now."