Location :- Mount Olympus (Aphrodite's Space)

Aphrodite's POV :-

"What are you doing here?" I see Hera coming towards me. She never visits me, without any cause. I wonder what she needs today.

"I know that it may sound..." She stops to take a deep breath. "... different to you but, I wanted to see how you are doing."

"That's very very unnatural and unnecessary. We are God and we can't be unwell, even if we want to."

"But, you just left from that mortal's party after he was brutally rejected by his beloved. And, you haven't even talked to me about the challenge too. I thought I should... see you."

"I don't know what you will think when I tell you about the things that have been going in my head after that incident." I don't, myself, feel that my thoughts are relevant.

"You can tell me. Besides, when did we start to care what others feel about our thoughts." Hera surprises me with her answer. It's true. We never cared what others think...

"I have decided that I will not interfere in that mortal's life anymore. If she doesn't want to experience love. We should not care."

Hera looked way too surprised, to even react.

"But... "

I just look at her. I don't know why but, I want Hera to stay and, maybe, say something that makes me believe what I said was wrong.

"But... What?"

"But... You're..."

"I am what? We are God Hera and we should not form our speech in loops. Speak straight what you feel."

"You're... Aphrodite."

To say that her reply shocked me would be an understatement.

"I know that I am Aphrodite. The ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. But, that doesn't make any difference. Even I don't know if I believe in love or not."

"But this should not be happening. You're..."

"Trust me, I didn't think that there will be a day, where I would say it. But, everybody has to be proved wrong at some point of their lives. Mine has come."

I couldn't decipher what Hera was thinking about. But, what I said was the truth that I realized.

"And there's one more thing that I want to say."

"Please go ahead." Hera speaks slowly.

"I am sorry. I believe, there are some terrible things that I have done, which could have been avoided if it wasn't for my egoistic nature. Forgive me."

Hera didn't speak for few minutes but, when she did, it was my turn to be shocked.

"I think I could say the same. Sorry."

She hugged me. I didn't know what I felt at that moment, but, I know that it felt good to have her here.

Over the centuries, various forms of interpersonal touch have become less common, influenced by changes in cultural values. This lack of touch has many effects on different aspects of our lives, and can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation and insecurity, as happened with me.

Skin is the body’s first and largest organ. It acts as a defence against the outside world, regenerating at an incredible rate. Skin is also brain’s information collector. The soles of our feet, the tips of our fingers, and our lips are all especially designed to collect the smallest details of sensory information and transmit them to the brain. So, touch is the very first sense that everyone acquire, so it makes sense that touch and physical contact is necessary for our well being. Sadly, Gods are touch-deprived.

Sometimes, I wish that I could live like mortals and feel what it feels like to be nearly unrecognizable in the absence of touch.

Hera withdraws from the hug and ask, "Now, will you tell me what happened to you."

"It's difficult to spell it out but, I will try. When I saw that mortal getting rejected, that brutally, I thought I felt the same pain that he did. I remembered how I was treated... "

"You mean when Hephaestus brought you and Ares to mount Olympus?"

"Yeah... I still remember it. While I  and Ares lay together in bed, Hephaestus ensnared us in an unbreakable chain-link net so small as to be invisible and dragged us to Mount Olympus to shame us in front of the other gods for retribution. The other Gods laughed at the sight of us as naked lovers. I don't want to relive that time as it was the worst moment of my life. I agree that I was at fault there. But, that mortal's friend... He had to go through all that, even when he didn't do anything." My heart could feel his pain and sorrow.

"I see. But, see the positive side of it." It was easy for Hera to say that.

"Everyone will say the same thing. But, I know how hard it is."

"I know that it is hard to believe, but, even I feel worse sometimes. But, that doesn't mean that it's the end of the world for me."

I was astonished to hear that. Hera has never cheated so, why will she feel worse.

"Why?"

"It’s funny how things never really turn out the way we think they would. Reality is different from our expectations, and most of the time that doesn't really bother us.

When the unexpected happens, it's usually not an issue. We barely notice the difference between our expectations and reality, and we live our lives as if none of it ever mattered.

But, there are other times -- when our anticipation takes root and grows over months or years of waiting -- when real life pales in comparison to our fantasies. The more eager we grow, the more painful the experience is when it's not what we wanted." Hera speaks slowly.

"That’s the issue with expectations: We usually overshoot them. We expect more than we're likely to get. We aim for perfection, but we discover that reality isn't so different from the lives we've been living. Optimism is a wonderful thing until it blinds you." I point out. But, I really don't know why Hera is saying all this.

"It’s important to be optimistic, but it’s just as important to be realistic. It's necessary that we understand the statistical chances of one thing happening versus another.

The more we accept, the more there is a chance that things won’t go the way that we think they will, the less likely we are to be caught off-guard when that happens.

Unfortunately, I’ve come to learn that sometimes -- no matter how aware you are, things may not work out -- there is no such thing as sufficient mental preparation."

"But, why are you saying such things."

"Not all of your hopes and dreams are going to come true, and when one of them collapses in front of your eyes, it hurts more than you could possibly imagine.

And if that dream is a future with someone you love, your world will be turned upside down. Seeing the person you love fall in love with someone else can destroy you. I know because it almost destroy me. Do you understand now?"

"I think I know what you mean."

Zeus, King of the gods, the Greek god of the sky, the heavens and the earth. He rules from Mount Olympus with his wife Hera. Although he is married to Hera, he was renown for the number of liaisons with other women. He was a real womaniser and there are many myths about the Lovers of Zeus and his powers of transformation which he used to seduce mortal women.

"He had many wives including me, Metis, Themis, Eurynome, Demeter, Mnemosyne, and Leto. As if that was not enough... He had several immortals too. Antiope, Callisto, Danae, Europa, Electra, Leda, Taygete, Niobe, Io, Semele, and Alcmene. It is hard to see them all... Even for a God..." Hera speaks softly.

I think I can understand everything now.

"Breakups are hard, but they aren't the end of the world. No matter who breaks up with whom, it's never a great experience. Recovery can take its time and toll on one's quality of life. One can't go certain places in case they're there, one don't like eating certain things or watching shows that remind of them. But it's not the end of the world."

"You're right. That is why, we should not withdraw our mission."

"One day, it could be tomorrow, next week a month from now or even longer, but one day they'll wake up and not be bothered by it as much. The reason for the breakup hurts but the relationship always teaches us something about ourselves - maybe that we hate selfish lovers or cheating. The breakup might have been the best thing for that mortal at the time. It's all up from here, promise."

"That's so much like you. So, what are we going to do?" Hera's enthusiasm was back and I was happy to see her like that.

"We are going to resume our mission. And I have a perfect scheme for that."

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Number of words : 1506

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Author's Note :

I thought I should put the pictures of all of Zeus's lovers. Just in case, anybody wants to know more about them. So, I am going to write about every single one of them in the next chapter. It will not be an update, just for those who are interested in reading about Zeus's lovers and Hera's sorrow.

Thank you. Please vote and comment if you like the story. You can drop your questions in comments too.

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