“It was a big job. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, how about you?”
“I’m just going to take a shower. I have some paperwork I need to fill out, so I doubt you want to stick around for that,” I say.
“Oh, right. I need to do my daily quota, anyway,” she replies, and I nod. “Should I meet you at the hospital tonight?”
“I think it’s going to take me all night to get up to date with my paperwork.”
“Right. Yeah. Okay,” she says, shuffling from one foot to another, almost like she can’t wait to get out of here.
“We’ll set something up soon,” I suggest.
I want her to leave, while she still has the good feelings of last night fresh in her mind. Not this view of me, the pathetic reaper who can’t contain her emotions. She’s already timid enough when it comes to this relationship. The last thing I want to do is have her realize that I don’t have my shit together.
I step toward her, tilting her chin and placing a kiss against her lips. Her wings twitch behind her before we separate.
“Go meet your quota. I can get in touch with you through Love.”
“Okay. Um, see you later, then,” she says.
She noticeably doesn’t say goodbye to Hades, and I feel this awful pit in my stomach as she leaves my apartment.
No, we had great sex. I told her I wanted more, and I still do. I just need time to decompress and filter through my emotions. Once this foul mood subsides, we can go right back to where we were in this budding relationship.
We can get together another day. She gets it. She has work to do anyway.
Hades jumps on the bed, his claws sticking out as he licks them and his paw. There’s a glint in his eye as he looks at me, but I shake it off and go to shower.
Moping and rotting in my bed while I do paperwork is probably something I shouldn’t be excelling at. But here I am, coffee cake crumbles on my chest, a splash of orange juice on my shirt, and folders scattered everywhere.
What would it be like if Juliet stayed? Would she be disgusted or perturbed by the scene in front of her?
Probably, it’s not a cute fucking sight. Even Hades is on the balcony, staring at something instead of paying me any attention.
I can’t get the thought of that soul out of my head. I feel like a fucking failure.
There aren’t many souls that I’ve reaped who have decided on that path, and it’s something I’m really proud of. I’m a good grim reaper, that’s a fact. I know I’m great at my job, so when something like this happens, all I want to do is have a pity party so that I can move on in a few days.
Making mistakes isn’t something I’m fond of, and beyond me not being able to convince that girl to go to a true after life, I wonder if maybe I fucked up with Juliet too.
When she’s had her moments of insecurity, I didn’t judge her. Why should I think she wouldn’t treat me the same? Am I so used to being alone that I don’t know how to share the different parts of my life? Even the dark ones that I hate, they’re still a part of me.
I groan, brushing off the coffee cake and lying in bed, when my door flies open.
“Mors Madison Montgomery, you done fucked up,” Love says, pointing at me.
“I don’t have a middle or last name,” I say, not shifting up from the bed.
“Well, I just gave you one. Get your sulking ass up.”
“What did I do?”
“Let’s see… you give a cupid her first real sexual experience and then come home and act like a detached, disinterested butthole.”
“I didn’t.”
“Uh, yeah. You did. Not to mention Juliet thinks this all has to do with luck and nothing to do with how she is as a person. Today has gone to absolute shit, and I need your help to fix it.”
