-Charles-

''There is something wrong with Athena. I don't know why she wants to keep it all to herself but I think I'm getting through to her. Now all I have to do is sabotage that date. Goddess knows how Theo will react to this. Man, how do you tell your best friend that his mate is going on a date with another man?'' I think out aloud as I walk into my apartment.

''Whatever the case I need to call Theo anyway. It's about time he comes here. I can't allow this thing with Leo to go on for too long. And if there is anyone who can end it, it's him.''

I take my phone and dial the last called number. Surprisingly he doesn't pick. ''Hmm.... that's weird, Theo always answers my call.''

I walk towards the large windows and look out at the city bustling in the night when I see a black Audi roll into the empty parking space. ''Well, well, well, what do we have here.'' I see Leo Grey coming out from the car in his all black suit.

''You're not gonna know what hit you Grey. That's my alpha and I will do everything in my power to ruin this date.''

I take my tools and open the latch. Thanking the goddess for my agility and wolf reflexes, I very smoothly slide down the building. I pull my hood up and slash the tires. I look back and admire my work, ''this is great, should set them back at least by 20 minutes.''

I peep into the car and see a reservation card for the restaurant he is taking her to. ''Yes. Even the moon goddess is with me on this!''

I hail a cab and give the driver the location of the 5-star restaurant he is taking her to. I'm almost there when my phone rings, ''Theo! Man, where the hell were you?''

''I was in a meeting with the other Alpha's. What do you have for me?''

''Not now man, I'm in a cab. We will talk later but you need to come up here as soon as possible,'' I tell him.

''Why, is something wrong? is Athena okay, is she hurt in any way?'' he asks worriedly.

''She is a bit too fine Theo. Just....just come man.''

''Fine, I'm flying out on Sunday,'' he replies. ''Okay cool, I'll see you then,'' and with that I cut the call.

Once I'm at the restaurant, I find myself a table in the secluded corner. Thank god the restaurant was not full and I managed to get a table for myself. Turns out the bastard rented out the rooftop for privacy and all the tables have been cleared save for the one under the gazebo.

''I must give it to Leo, the guy sure went all out for this date. My man needs to up his game if he wants his woman back. Damn!''

I notice a few people giving me looks and looking at my attire, or lack thereof. ''Oh well, deal with it,'' I say harshly to an older couple and walk to my corner table.

I waited for a few minutes and sure enough Athena and Leo walk in. ''Now this should be fun.''

-Athena-

''You don't have to apologize every minute Leo, it's fine. We don't want small things like these to ruin our night,'' I tell him for the umpteenth time as we get to the restaurant.

''I know Athena but I wanted this to be perfect and someone managed to puncture my tires before the date even started. I'm really, really......'' he starts but I cut him off.

''If you apologize one more time Leo, I shit you not, I'm walking away from here and you will have more than a couple of tires to be sorry about,'' I threaten him.

''Okay, okay.... I won't. We are about to walk in and I don't want either of us to be in a mood,'' he says and I smile at him. ''Yes, let's just enjoy tonight.''

''Shall we?'' he extends his right arm to me and I latch on it. ''We shall.''

We walk up to the reception and a waiter guides us to the rooftop. My mouth is left hanging as soon as we walk out. ''Leo, this is wow...this is amazing,'' I say as I marvel the setting under the gazebo.

''Ehh.... I tried,'' he shrugs his shoulders, ''You like?''

''Yes...yes I do. Thank you,'' I reply and we walk to the gazebo. He pulls out the chair for me and walks around the table to take his seat.

''So, here we are,'' I say after an uncomfortable silence. ''Yup, here we are.''

The waiter then walks up to us and takes down our drink orders. ''Hey, so I've been meaning to ask you, have you heard from Amunet, has she tried to you know......,'' he tries to whisper but I beat him to it.

''.... Kill me again. No, she hasn't. I'm even surprised. I thought she would have reacted by now,'' I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly.

''You don't seem bothered by this Athena. If I were you I'd be careful. Amunet is not one to be messed with,'' Leo advises.

I wanted to give him a befitting reply but it might come off as rude, so I decided to shut my trap and nod in agreement instead, ''I'll sleep with one eye open from now on,'' I add.

''Now that is something I'd like to see,'' he says. ''It was metaphoric Leo,'' I shake my head at him.

''I know Athena. I'm just trying to make light of the situation.''

We continue chatting and making jokes as the waiter serves our drinks and the starters. ''These crab cakes are amazing,'' I say with my mouthful, forgetting that I'm in a 5-star restaurant.

''You look cute with your mouth puffed that way,'' Leo says and I notice him staring at me intently. I swallow my bite and look at him, ''what?''

''Nothing,'' he shakes his head, ''you're just really beautiful.''

''Thanks, I guess,'' I reply and tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. ''Ahemm...so what are we having for dinner?''

''let's ask the waiters' recommendation on it,'' he says and signals our server to come over.

''Sir, Ma'am. How is your evening so far? Hope you're enjoying your night?''

''Yes, thank you very much,'' I reply and he nods. ''So, are you ready to order?''

''Yes, yes we are,'' Leo says and the waiter places 2 menus in front of us. I skim my eyes over it and decide to go for the boneless chicken in garlic butter sauce and rosemary. In Nancy's words, I was 'playing safe.'

''What do you recommend?'' Leo asks him. ''Well sir, tonight's special is the branzino, would you like to order it?''

Leo looks at me, asking for my opinion, ''Umm, branzino is a fish isn't it?'' I ask the waiter.

''Yes ma'am. It is usually cooked whole; a very tasty delicacy might I add. Should I put it down?''

''No, no thanks. I'll stick to the boneless chicken with the lyonnaise potatoes,'' I tell him. Leo decides to order a shrimp scampi and the waiter leaves.

''You seemed visibly freaked at the mention of branzino. Why is that?''

''Ohh you noticed it. It's pretty simple actually, I hate fish. I don't like the smell; I don't like the scales. I just don't like it, simple.''

''ohh okay wow, you know I was this close to actually ordering it,'' he says and I shrug.

'' Thank the goddess I didn't, or you would have walked out wouldn't you?''

''Well not exactly walked out, I mean that would be rude. But I'd be disgusted yes. I know it's a delicacy and people all over the world enjoy it, I have nothing against fish. I just don't like it.''

''Yeah.... yeah...I totally get it,'' he says and sips his wine. We continue making small talk and I was having a lot of fun. Talking to Leo came easy to me and I felt comfortable too. It really didn't feel like it was our first date.

''Would you like to dance?'' he asks out of the blue. ''I'm sorry what?'' I blurt out and gulp my wine down.

''Would you like to dance?'' he asks again. ''Oh Leo, but there is no music,'' I say.

''Who said there is no music?'' he says in an amused tone and points towards a piano located on the far end of the area. ''Uh huhh and who is going to play it?''

''I've got that covered too,'' he says and signals one of the wait staff who makes a quick call and a few seconds later a man walks out and sits at the piano. ''Wow, you've prepared for everything, haven't you?'' I smirk at him.

''Indeed I have, '' he smirks back. ''So, shall we?''

I place my hand in his and he leads me to the middle. A soft melody starts playing and we start swaying to it. ''This is nice, '' I say as I place my head on his shoulder and hear his chest vibrate as he mutters a soft hmm.

We continue dancing for a while until I spot the waiter coming our way with a second bottle of wine and glasses. Wow I can't believe we finished a whole bottle before the main course.

I spot someone who looks out of place in his hoodie. I strain my neck to get a clear view of the face but the stained glass windows aren't of much help. As the waiter nears us the man in the hoodie gets up and walks towards him.

In that moment Leo turns me and we've now traded places, with my back facing the incoming waiter. ''Watch out!'' Leo shouts and I turn just in time to see the hooded man trip the waiter, who loses his balance and spills the contents of his tray.

The glasses and bottle crash to the ground. The wine spilling all over Leo's pants and my legs. ''Sir are you okay?'' I rush to help the fallen waiter.

''Athena careful, there is glass everywhere,'' Leo warns but I ignore him and help the waiter up. A shard of glass is lodged in his left palm and he is now whimpering in pain. ''I'm sorry ma'am, I'm really really sorry, I didn't mean to do this. Please don't get me fired sir,'' he says to Leo who approaches us.

''No one is getting fired, it's okay. Mistakes happen. Now let's get you some medical attendance,'' Leo tells him. ''Athena will you be okay?''

''Yeah, I'm good. Just make sure that he is okay, he is losing a lot of blood.''

''So sorry ma'am. I'll send someone to help you clean up,'' the waiter says before Leo takes him.

I take in a deep breath and pinch the bridge of my nose, ''it can't get any worse than this can it?'' I shout out to no one and as if in response I hear thunder rumbling in a distance. ''Of course it can!''

Soon a waitress comes out with a hot towel and hands it to me. I clean some of the wine off my legs and notice some stains on my dress too. I hand the towel to her and she apologizes to me before leaving.

Leo joins me at the table a while later. ''Is he okay?''

''yup, he is getting the attention he needs. Look Athena, I'm sorry about what happened...'' he starts.

''Leo stop it; this was not your fault. It was a mishap. Don't apologize for something that is not even in your hands,'' I tell him.

''but Athena......'' he says and I cut him off, ''No buts Leo. Let's just forget all this happened and eat our dinner, look it's here anyway.''

''Okay if you say so,'' he replies morosely. I get up from my seat and walk to his. ''Look at me,'' I tell him and he looks up to me. I bend down and place a soft kiss on his lips. He is shocked at first but gives in and kisses me back.

I pull away before it gets intense and he frowns in displeasure. ''better?'' I ask with a smile. ''Very,'' he replies and winks at me. I sit back on my chair as the waiter serves the food.

''Enjoy your dinner,'' he says and lifts the lids off our plates. My eyes widen in shock. ''I'm sorry but I did not order this,'' I say as I point at the whole fish on my plate.

''I'm sorry ma'am but that is what your order reads,'' the waiter says. I look at him and realize this is a different waiter, since ours is currently bleeding through the hands.

''This is outrageous! I'd like to speak to your manager,'' Leo says in anger. ''The lady did not order this, she had clearly stated she wants the boneless chicken. Your manager, now!''

''Leo, calm down. Look...ummm.... Justin,'' I say looking at his name tag. Can you please take this away and come with what I had ordered?''

''I'm sorry ma'am but this is what you had ordered, you cannot change it but we can write down a new order for you, however it will take an hour or more. As you can see the restaurant's quite full now,'' he points to the open doors.

''You know what, I'm done. You all can go to hell. Athena, Let's go somewhere else,'' Leo says and attempts to grab my hand.

''Leo wait, we can sort this out, let's be calm, okay?'' but he doesn't hear me and is already out the doors.

I run after him but not before telling the waiter off, ''just so you know, we are not paying for any of these. We were really inconvenienced tonight,'' I say and follow Leo out.

***

Well that definitely didn't  go well. 

What do you guys think of this chapter?

-Jessica.S