Gods of Old, Part1: Veles

There walks a man. A tall, dark, and angry looking man. He walks alone by choice. In days gone by, he was revered by many and feared by all. He misses those days and the blood red armor he used to wear. He misses his shield and most of all, his sword. His hands feel empty without them. He mentally searches the ether between worlds, there they are, just where he left them. In his safe back at home on the Isle of Misery. Looking around in frustration, he searches the crowd of humans, in this over packed shopping mall his sister insisted on meeting in. He could never say no to Vesna. Little did she know, she is his one and only weakness. And the constant beeping of his phone is not helping either. Taking the phone out of his back pocket he sees 10 texts from Vesna: - turn left - 10 paces - turn right - 5 paces - go straight to the Victoria’s Secret store - turn left - go straight - take the stairs - pass the pizza place - go left “Damn, she is trying to make me crazy,” he mutters to himself. “She knows I don’t take orders from anyone.” Sending a text back: - be there in a minute!!! He turns around once more and heads for the stairs. -/-/- Sitting by the railing in Caffee Moca, feeling bored, while her lunch companion and best friend Vesna is on the phone texting with lightning speed, Ilona watches the crowd below. There is a man who stands out, it is like the spotlight is solemnly on him. Taller than most, with jet black hair in fashionable disorder in black, torn jeans and a black t-shirt. He is looking at his phone and she can feel the stress radiate from him in waves. “Just look at that s*x god on two legs. Even the angry look on his gorgeous face does nothing to diminish the s*x appeal.” Vesna looks around and frowns: “what?” “And he is coming up the stairs!” Ilona smiles like she can already taste him. “What are you looking at? Who?” “On the stairs, Vesna! Are you blind? Black hair, black jeans, black t-shirt! Why do I have to point him out? He will notice.” “Oh, him. He is definitely not a s*x god. That is my brother and he is late, like always.” -/-/- Finally reaching his destination, after what feels like hours in this dreaded place of a mall, he looks at his watch and realizes only 10 minutes have gone by. But they feel like wasted time already. He really hates the mall. All of them to be fair. And this time he is just 15 minutes late to the meeting with Vesna. He spots her at the railing, sitting with a gorgeous redhead. The woman is statuesque. Her full figure is just right. Like an hourglass, with her thin waist line accentuated with a wide red belt. She is wearing her white summer dress like a goddess, with confidence and grace. Her long legs are gently embraced by red pumps. -/-/- Ilona watches him as he swiftly evades all contact with people around him. How does he do that, she wonders. She hates being touched by strangers.That is the one thing she wishes to learn, so she continues to openly stare and starts to take mental notes of his graceful movements.The way he walks towards them in a symphony of careful steps, makes her tingle with anticipation. She will have him, oh yes, she will. She just needs to get some info from Vesna first. She has one rule, one only: No married men! She doesn’t see a ring on him, but yet again, that means nothing. “You’re late, Veles!” Vesna frowns at him as he says “Here I am, just a few minutes late. An improvement, don’t you think?” He pulls out a chair and waves to the waitress for coffee. She knows him, as he always orders the same. She will bring his black coffee and croissant when she can. “Why are you late this time? A new excuse would be great,” Vesna responds. “Would you leave my tardiness and rather introduce me to your friend?” he glovers at his sister. “You got lost again! One would think you would have known your way by now. We have been meeting here once a week, for two years. How hard can it be?!” She continues her rant at him, “Oh, this is Ilona. My contact at Cosmopolitan.” The mention of her name finally brings Ilona out of her day dream. I just hope I wasn’t drooling, she thinks to herself. She slowly extends her hand towards him and smiles putting on her best seductive smile with just a hint of her pearly white teeth showing: “Ilona Bagdán. And you are?” “Veles. And very annoyed at my sister for keeping you all to herself for so long.” “Oh. I have known Vesna for two years. She never said anything about a brother. And you were never there for any of her famous parties.” “ Veles,” Vesna says angrily: “You never wanted to come and now you complain. You spend no time at the apartment and your room looks exactly like the first day we moved in. There is nothing personal there!” “ Grrr. I hate Italy, I hate Milano, and you dragged me here! The only half decent thing here is coffee!” He is now angry, annoyed and all worked up, too. And nothing to punch in sight. -/-/- At that exact time, the waitress appears by his side with his coffee and croissant. The smell of fresh coffee alone has the power to soothe his anger. Thanking the waitress, he takes a deep breath and inhales the divine aroma of italian espresso. For the next few minutes, the world is in balance again. “Look at the time!” Vesna interrupts his thoughts. “I have to run. I have an appointment at 3. Ilona, I’ll call you later and Veles, please be at the apartment tonight, I have some ideas I’d like to run by you. And the next party is this Saturday!” She starts to gather her things together and pointedly looks at him. “Since you asked so nicely, I’ll be there. Did I tell you I hate it when you squeeze our coffee in between two appointments?” Vesna throws an “I love you, too!” back at him as she hurries away. -/-/- Ilona looks up from checking her own appointments for today and makes the fatal mistake of meeting his eyes. Eyes so blue and deep, like the clearest lake she has seen on a sunny day some time long ago in the Alps. She feels like falling and flying at the same time. Like her soul took off to the sky and is suddenly set free for the first time. His deep voice brings her back on terra firma:“So, my beautiful hungaryan firebird, any suggestions on how to spend the day?” Ilona looks a bit surprised, with shock in her eyes: “Are you asking me out?” Then she realizes his question was weird, “What do you mean, firebird? Did Vesna set us up? She fills you in on all my secrets and leaves me in the dark?” “ I have no idea what you’re talking about. Set us up? What does that even mean? I’m asking you out because I like you.” All confused, he doesn’t understand the hurt he senses in her voice. “The firebird was relating to your flaming red hair.”  Ilona falls back in her chair, her green eyes are sad, filled with remorse. She takes a few deep breaths and apologises: “Sorry. I’m so sorry. That word, the firebird, is a sore topic. A reminder of a time back at home in Pest. A mistake I made. And if I think about all this, Vesna would have never set me up with anyone. She knows me all too well.” “Can I invite you for some gelato? That always helps to cheer me up, it might help and bring your good mood back. We don’t even have to call it a date.” He smiles at her all hopeful. A slow smile begins to form on her face and her eyes light up. “The best ice cream is in that corner place, across from Vesna’s apartment. Oh, I guess, it’s your apartment, too.”