CHAPTER 354: DOUBLE-MINDED

Athena sighed, unsure why she was feeling this way, this restless, this uncertain, when her date partner was Antonio.

She turned to the side, then to the other side, watching herself in the mirror, watching her body clad in a red fitted gown that stopped on her knee, with a sling-back black heel.

Not hot. She thought. Just modest enough not to put across an information that she wanted sex alongside the date.

A deep inhale. Maybe she had been too fast agreeing to this date?

Maybe she should have taken more days of rest? Use that as an excuse perhaps when he had asked her out?

A deep exhale. But she had only wanted to just stop him from hunting for more information, hence the ready agreement to the date.

Now, Athena was thinking that she had made a wrong call. A knock sounded on the door.

Please be Gianna. She chanted as she walked toward the exit, to let in her visitor.

Unfortunately, it was just Aiden.

Much worse, the fellow had no sense of fashion, not even when his daughter is in the fashion biz, an upcoming model.

"Aiden, good evening..." She turned away, toward the mirror again, trusting he would shut the door after him.

"On a date? The lad really didn’t waste any time, did he?" A chuckle. Shutting of the door. "I will have to sing his praises when next I see him... he really has guts."

Athena frowned, having a feeling that her date for tonight and Aiden’s subject of praise wasn’t the same person.

"Who again are you talking about?"

Aiden paused, eyes narrowed. "Ewan, of course. Who else would have you looking at the mirror a hundred times per minute?"

"Maybe Antonio. He is my boyfriend, remember?"

Athena watched Aiden mouth an Oh, with a slow nod, and no words to accompany the revelation. He rather found his buttocks a seat, and crossed his legs.

"You are not going to say anything? Like you are happy that I’m going out with Antonio, and not Ewan, considering the past we’ve shared?" Athena couldn’t help but seek Aiden’s input.

She couldn’t trust her mind these days. It seemed to have a mind of its own, especially when Ewan was concerned.

She took a seat beside Aiden, her eyes finding the clock. Ten minutes until Antonio arrived. Ten minutes until she’s whisked to some unknown restaurant; Antonio had made it a secret.

She hoped to God that he did not plan some elaborate affair, that would play out in the news. She wasn’t ready for that. She just wanted to have a simple dinner; that’s the most her uncertain nerves could take.

"You are thinking a lot about this dinner, aren’t you?" Aiden’s soft words dragged her from her thoughts. "Do you feel uncertain about it? Not ready?"

Athena nodded meekly.

"Then why did you accept it? You should have stayed out, maybe revisited the proposal a few days later when you have rested enough. You seem addicted to drama, Athena. The highs and the lows."

Athena shook her head immediately. "I’m not. I just wanted to keep him from hunting for information."

"And you don’t think he will ask that in the date tonight?"

"And so what? It’s Antonio we are talking about. He’s been in on a lot of our doings. Maybe, it’s not a bad idea to let him know. Maybe he can pool his resources..."

"Athena..." Aiden placed his hands on her shoulders gently.

"Calm down. You are the one that concluded earlier that telling him might put him in trouble, of which I think it’s a good idea. I think we should let him make his mark in Herbert’s company. Maybe some day, he and Zane can bond over stocks and what nots, instead of curvaceous women."

This emphasis on curvaceous women elicited a laugh from Athena. Sandro was really going to have Ewan’s hide, especially if Aiden went around making remarks like that.

"You are right. I will just have to entertain him with something else." Hopefully not sex, or making out. If the fates would be faithful, she would rather just eat and come home to her kids.

"So, are you happy that I am going out with him? What do you think?"

"I think you should do what makes you happy. If being with Antonio makes you happy, go for it. But if not, I will suggest not wasting either of your time."

A pause. "Just go for who makes you happy. No matter the past binding you. Ewan..."

A pause, where Aiden contemplated his words.

"He has hurt you, I won’t negate that. But connecting the dots made by the truth... he is a good man. Won’t be a bad choice, if that’s what you have been debating for a while..."

A sigh. "He is decent. Even as a mafia head, he was decent. I checked him out, more thoroughly... I think he suspected that I will do it, so he let me access some more information."

A chuckle. "He is interesting. And you know I don’t say that about all men. But Antonio is decent too. He’s been there for you through the dark phases. So, at the end of it, it all lies on your happiness. Which of them make you happy?"

Athena took her lips in. "I don’t know, Aiden. That’s the problem. I am confused."

"About Ewan or about Antonio?"

Athena had no response. She shook her head, and reclined deeper into her seat.

"I think I would let it all play out. Since life has a way of bringing things into a right place, at the right time, I will wait. I am not going anywhere after all, neither is any of them."

Aiden laughed. "Talking like you are God, like you have any control over lives."

Athena laughed with him, her anxiety easing somewhat. "You never can tell."

"So speaking about Ewan, where is he? Last I saw him was yesterday... did Rodney drop him at home immediately? What did I miss?"

Athena saw the smirk on Aiden’s lips and sighed, knowing that the latter was gunning for gossip. And they say women were the most gossips. They haven’t met the men in her life. Even Nathaniel loved a good gossip.

"No, Aiden. He stopped here with me, had to see the kids..."

And she had walked into her grandfather’s study, to see such a sight that, to be honest, had her on shaky legs for this date.

What if her grandmother was right? What if all these games that the fates were playing was to right some wrong? To put together a couple that circumstances had torn apart?

Time will tell. She consoled herself, eying Aiden comically when he tapped her on the arm, his eyes asking for some gist.

"If you are so interested in knowing how things went down yesterday, why didn’t you come home with us? The kids asked about you..."

Aiden smiled. "I had to go home, where I won’t be smothered with the tension between you both. Or haven’t you noticed?"

How could she not have noticed? It was all she could think about these days, when she wasn’t thinking about strategies to stop the Grey disease once and for all.

"By the way, Ewan is not around. Left after seeing the kids. Mentioned he had some stuff to deal with Sandro and Zane... I think related to the case we have at hand."

She spoke, changing the topic—talking about the previous only served to unsettle her the more.

"Oh, I see. He hasn’t shown his face today?"

Athena shook her head, aware of the direction this was heading to.

"That’s strange. Did both you have a fallout? I was of the thought that he would move in here with you guys, considering his cave-man attitude these past few days..."

Athena tsked. "I told him to stop encroaching in my space, that I have a boyfriend, and he just stopped seeing me."

Aiden held in a laugh, knowing Athena might stone him a shoe if he did let it out.

But what exactly did women want? Why did they say one thing and mean another?

"I guess he’s just respecting your decision. It’s part of his appeal; that he respects you."

Athena knew that, loved how he could balance that with his devotion to her and the kids, but...

Her phone rang then.

Antonio.

"I guess your date is here. Well, then, we will continue our discussion when you return..." a loaded pause. "if you return."

Aiden immediately turned to the door in a haste when Athena scowled at him.

"Come back here! You spoilt old man!"

But Aiden was already out of the door.

Athena exhaled audibly, tapped her forehead, looked at the mirror, and sighed.

Gianna would have known what best to wear. Her friend has been busy with the upcoming jewelry auction and convention, and so had only wished her luck in the morning before hurrying away; didn’t even have the time for breakfast.

A knock on the door.

"Mommy, godfather is here..."