Kill for Love

Chapter 12 - Threatened

“Hi, good morning! How are you today?” the receptionist greeted Ares the moment he walked into the restaurant.

“I’m good and you?” Ares immediately responded. 

“Great! Any reservations?”

“Yes, it should be under Cytherea Swan.”

The receptionist scanned the list and then smiled. “This way, please.” the receptionist extended her right arm to show Ares the way. He followed the receptionist until they reached a door. The receptionist opened it for him.

“Thanks,” Ares muttered. 

The moment he enters the room, he can already hear Cytherea’s voice doing an intro for her vlog. His brows furrowed when he heard her mention Gaus’ name. 

‘He’s here?’ he thought to himself. 

His jaw clenched. Just hearing Gaus’ name makes his blood boil in anger. But what irritates him the most is when he saw Athena and Gaus secretly exchange glances. It looks like they are plotting something, and it involves Cytherea. He knew that Gaus was attracted to her. It doesn’t need to be a genius to figure that out.  It irritates him to the core whenever he sees Gaus’ eyes glisten as he stares at Cytherea. 

He noticed Athena’s attitude changed since he broke up with her. And even if he tried to ignore the thought, he is, in fact, nervous. He is afraid that Athena will flip and decides to tell Cytherea the truth. He never thought that she could be crazy by giving hints to Cytherea. Good thing that his fiancé is too trusting and didn’t even wary.

He walked with heavy steps towards the bamboo cottage. He’s trying so hard to control the negative emotions that are building inside him. He breathed loudly through the nose when he reached the entrance.

Cytherea’s face lit up even more when she saw Ares at the entrance. She signaled Athena to pause the camera. She stood up and excused herself to the two. 

“Babe!” She ran towards him and hugged him. She gave him a peck on the lips too. 

Ares immediately loosen up. A kiss from Cytherea is all that it takes to calm him down. 

Ares returned her hug. “Sorry, I just arrived, but I already got your lenses.” He handed her the bag, which she immediately accepted. “Am I late?”

“Nah, you’re fine, Babe. We have just started, but we haven’t eaten yet.” Cytherea grabbed his right hand and pulled him towards the seat she was sitting in earlier. “Here,” She tapped on the vacant chair beside her. “Sit here, Babe.”

“Does he really have to be beside you?”  Ares points his finger to Gaus. “He can sit beside Athena.” Ares couldn’t help but comment. It affects him so much that Gaus is sitting beside her. Even if Gaus is not doing anything, he cannot trust any guy, most especially him. 

“Babe!” Cytherea looked at Gaus apologetically and then turned to Ares. “Don’t be like that. I told him to sit beside me. Now, be a good boy, sit, and behave.”

Athena couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. She laughs at her heart’s content. She finds it really funny that Ares is in obvious agony because of Gaus’ presence. 

“I’m sorry,” Athena continues to laugh. Her eyes are watery because of laughter. She finds it satisfying to see Ares' jealous face. 

'At least now you've experienced the jealousy that I felt every time I see you with my best friend,' she angrily thought.

"I don't think something is funny, Athena," Ares told her in a serious tone. The other two are also confused at Athena's act.

"I'm sorry." Athena tries to suppress her laughs but still fails to do so. She didn't even sound apologetic. "My, God! That was a good laugh," she added.

"Bestie, are you okay?" Cytherea asked worriedly. Athena has been acting strangely, and she understands why. Athena is in a difficult situation, and even though she’s smiling, she knows she’s hurting deep inside. The pain in her eyes couldn’t deny that.

"Yes, Bestie. I just want to loosen everyone up, trying to break the heavy atmosphere." She smiled sweetly at her. She wanted to tell Cytherea so bad why she was laughing, but she couldn’t do it.  This is the other price she must pay for stabbing her best friend at the back. There will be things that she has to keep for herself, even if it’s already suffocating. She took a deep breath. She felt a sting of guiltiness again. 

She looked at them and gave them the best smile that she could foster.

“Shouldn’t we continue the vlog?” she said, changing the topic. “The food is getting cold, you know?”

Cytherea held Ares’ right hand. “Babe, please…” she begged. She doesn’t know why Ares is acting this way. She had done a lot of vlogs before with a man, and Ares was okay with it. This is the first time that she sees Ares acting so indifferently. 

Ares heaved a deep sigh before sitting beside Cytherea. She turned to Gaus. “I’m so sorry about this,” she apologetically said. 

“No need to apologize,” Gaus replied with a half-smile. “Shall we start?” he added.

Athena started to roll the cameras again. Everything went smoothly according to how Cytherea planned the vlog to be, and Ares was also well-behaved. However, throughout the video, he was just quiet. He was only speaking when asked.

Cytherea is starting to get irritated. Ares was supposed to be helping Athena in videotaping, but he just sat beside her the whole time. She tried so hard not to be affected and to be able to finish the vlog without any additional problem.

“Thank you so much for watching! I’ll see you again in my next video! Love you, guys!” Cytherea smiled and waved her hands at the camera.

“Cut!” Athena jokingly exclaimed as soon as she turned off the camera.

Cytherea and Gaus laughed.

“Thank you for allowing me to feature your restaurant, Gaus. We enjoyed the food. Well, you can actually tell.” Cytherea looked at the almost empty dishes on the table. The foods were superb, and they really enjoyed the menu.

“That’s so true. I love everything. I want to meet your chef. Is he single?” Athena jokingly asked. 

Cytherea laughed at Athena’s craziness. Somehow her mood lit up a little bit. 

“Of course! I can call him right now if you want to,” he playfully responded. 

“As long as he is single, I’m in--”

“Aren’t we done already? Can we take the bill now so we can go?” Ares cuts off Athena. His eyebrows furrowed while looking at the three who were obviously having fun. He didn't like the fact that the two women were enjoying Gaus’ company.

Cytherea’s jaw dropped. Ares was rude and she didn’t want to tolerate it. She held Ares’ right hand without looking at him and squeezed it, sending him a warning to stop being impudent. Her gaze remained on Gaus and gave him a rueful smile. 

Gaus consolingly smiles at her. He knows that Cytherea is already having a hard time putting a leash on her boyfriend. The truth is, he’s getting agitated with Ares too. If it wasn’t for Cytherea, he had already punched Ares in the face.

“No need to pay. Everything is in the house.” Gaus looked at Ares, who was intently looking at him and then turned to Cytherea. “Thank you for featuring our restaurant, Cy. I can call you by that name, right?” he sweetly asked, which earned a scoff from Ares. 

Cytherea squeezed Ares' right hand again to give him another warning. “Of course! I know that Cytherea is kinda’ mouthful.  I should be the one who should say thank you. It’s a pleasure having you on my vlog.”

Gaus looked at Ares again and just like earlier his eyes sharpened while looking at him. He smirked. “I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Athena.” He extended his right hand to her for a handshake. 

Athena stood up and gladly shook his hand. “Same here. I hope there will be a time that we can all hang out.”

“Sounds like a plan. Actually, why don't you all attend? The hotel will have an annual party which will be held three days from now. It is open to all hotel guests. It's going to be in the ballroom of this hotel which is located on the third floor."

"We'll be there," Cytherea answered. She stood up and let go of Ares' hands so she could also shake his hands.

"Okay. I will see you all in the three days at the ballroom," Gaus started to walk towards the door when he suddenly stopped, "and oh! Before I forgot, it's going to be a semi-formal party."

"Noted," Athena excitedly said. It's been a while since the last party she attended. That's why she's very excited to take part in the party. 

Gaus waved his right hand before leaving the room completely. Cytherea waved her hands too in response. She was all smiling while waiting for Gaus to exit, but her expression suddenly changed when he left.