*Ding Floor 27*
I got off the elevator and looked at the plain white door in front of me. Well, that was going to have to change. I pulled my notepad out of my satchel and began scribbling ideas down. I thought a nice mural of Atlantis along the wall and on the door would be perfect. I unlocked the door and stepped in. The room was blank and massive. I could see white walls all around, and a gigantic bedroom off to the side. All of this space was…well, it was too much.
“Ok, I need an office,” I began writing and speaking, sketching out a floor plan and wandering around. “I want to run the hotel from here if need be. I know that’s the point of everyone having their spaces here, for protection and whatnot,” I muttered to myself as I paced the gigantic room barefoot. I wandered and paced and muttered, the room taking shape in my mind, and I smiled. “Wall here, an invisible door here. I need the office to be completely self-sustaining, my…oh, what do they call it? A panic room.” I walked over to the windows and looked out. The God Complex was impressive.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, yes my dress had pockets, and I pulled it out. The incoming text was from Poseidon: Hope your time at the GC goes well, let me know if you need any help. Also, check out this baby.
The picture was of the largest bed I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t help but blush at the thoughts running through my mind. And yet, I needed it. I replied quickly, asking if he could put an order in for me, and have it delivered to floor 27. I was getting used to this! I got a little wink face back and chuckled. He sent me a number to a design consultant, and I did a quick search. As I said, I was getting used to the phone, and I looked at some of the work that they’d done. I’m not going to lie. I was impressed and decided to give them a call.
“Hello, yes, is this Divine Interiors? My name is Amphitrite, my par- friend Poseidon recommended you. Yes, I’m in the God Complex. Yes, I have some time this afternoon. Yes, I would love for someone to come and look at the space. I’m a bit lost when it comes to designing this space. Excellent, I’ll meet them downstairs. Goodbye.” I hung up the phone and then realized I didn’t know how I was going to pay for what I needed. I could raid one of my caches. I had one nearby.
I left the suite, locked up, and made my way down to the lounge where I could portal out. I saw a few familiar faces but didn’t stop to say hi, I just disappeared and reappeared at the beach. I walked into the surf and changed quickly, my mermaid form taking over from one breath to the next, and I made my way down. The cache wasn’t too far off the coast, but it was well hidden and impossible to get to unless you could shift into another form. When I retrieved the small box from beneath the dying coral, my heart broke. My ocean was dying faster than I could heal her, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I died along with her
I swam back up to the surface, shifted back to human form, and opened the box. Gold drachma shone brilliantly in the sunlight, and I smiled. Poseidon could call his hoards from the depths, but I had to visit my caches in person. I preferred it that way. It gave me a chance to reconnect with the space, remind myself why I chose it, and why I hid stuff away. This particular batch of goodies came from some time I spent in Ancient Greece as a regular human. I lived in Korinth at the time and made a decent wage while there. I was neither proud nor ashamed of my history, it just was. I wanted some time away from the court, and I got it. I shook the memory away as I teleported back to the lounge, tucking the box into my satchel. Yes, a mermaid with a satchel and a bunch of funky stuff in there. I know.
I sat in the lounge and ordered a glass of white wine. Poseidon had pointed me to a Greek wine called Assyrtiko, and I had taken a liking to it. This particular bottle had come from Thera, one of my favourite places above and below the waves, and I sipped it with pleasure.
I was early for the meeting, and I didn’t have anywhere else to be, so I figured I’d wait here and enjoy a glass of wine or two until my contact came. I checked my phone, saw that I had a few hours to waste, and smiled before double-checking the name: Alessa. What a gorgeous name. I pulled out my notebook and began drawing. I wasn’t good at it, but I enjoyed the freedom of it. I sketched ideas for the suite, thoughts in my head, what this woman may look like. I spent so much time writing notes and scribbling down my thoughts that I didn’t even notice the woman appear in front of me. “Ahem,” she coughed softly, and I looked up. One of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen was standing before me. She was strong, but petite, with brown eyes and blond hair. My mouth went slack, and I sat up straight, placing my wine-glass down.
“Do you know where I could find the Lady Amphitrite?” She put the stress on the wrong syllable, but I just smiled.
“You can call me Amph, if you’d like.” I stood up slowly, allowing the woman to step back, and she smiled as I extended my hand. “You must be Alessa?”
She took my hand in a firm grip and nodded. “I am. I’ve heard good things about you, Amph.” She tested my name, and it sounded wonderful on her tongue. I picked up my satchel and held my arm out to the doorway of the lounge. She made her way out, a little taller than I was, in work boots and functional clothing, and I respected her for it. I looked down at my bare feet and gulped. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for me, but I knew people in the modern age preferred having something on their feet.
“Who have you been speaking to, that’s spoken of me?” I was curious, I wasn’t well-known even within the family. My fame so to speak came from my proximity to Poseidon, not anything I’d done. We stepped into the elevator, and the scent of her perfume caught my attention. Jasmine, but it wasn’t overpowering, it was subtle. I tried not to focus on it and hit 27.
Alessa smiled and looked over, her soft brown eyes disarming me for a moment. “Lord Poseidon, of course. I called him after you got off the phone with my brother. Alex is the one who originally did Lord Poseidon’s suites, so I called to get a little background on you,” she blushed, and so did I. “Was that alright?”
The elevator dinged again, and the doors opened. “Yes, that was smart on your part.” I opened the door and looked around. “It’s a blank slate.”
Alessa stepped in and smiled. “It’s perfect, do you have any ideas in mind?” I nodded and showed her some of the rough sketches I’d done, and the bed picture that Poseidon had ordered me. “Oh, that’s lovely. Are you expecting to have company?” The question caught me off guard, and I shook my head.
“No, I am,” I coughed gently, “technically single for the first time in, oh gods…30,000 thousand years? Something like that. I don’t even know what year it is right now. So no, I am going to enjoy myself, the massive bed, and have all the room to move and sleep where I want.” Alessa started laughing at me, and I blushed again. I didn’t know if I was attracted to her, or if I was so starved for friendship that I didn’t know how to act anymore. I looked sideways at her. “What?”
“Amph!” She wheeled out as she keeled over laughing. I just stared at her. “I’m sorry, you called me here for business, and I’m asking about pleasure.”
“Well,” I huffed softly, “they’ve always mixed in the past for me, I’m going to have to learn to separate the two of them again.” She placed a hand on my arm, and I stilled. “I’m sorry, Alessa. Let’s get back to work.” I needed to focus on something other than her charm.
I heard her gulp before she responded, “Right, so what did you have in mind for your office?”
I guided her over to the side of the suite that I wanted to wall off and indicated roughly how big. “I want it basically to function both as a safe room, and as the hub for the Nymphaeum.” Alessa looked at me, and I smiled. “My hotel, although I guess it’s more of a resort. I want to be able to run it from here, minus the guest interaction obviously. With everything my family has been through the last few months, I want to have somewhere safe, something impenetrable.”
Alessa nodded and smiled. “Alright, I have some ideas, I’ll draw out some sketches and email them to you. Or did you want to meet up again?”
I bit back the immediate answer of meeting up again, and instead, I just smiled for a moment. “Why don’t we meet at your office when you have something?” Alessa beamed back at me, and she gave me her card. “Thank you, I’ll put the information into my phone now, and send you a text, this way you know who to call when you’re ready.” I did just that, including my name, address, phone numbers, fax, whatever that was, email and social media contacts. And then I texted her. Alessa, it’s Amph, now you can get a hold of me. I hit send and watched as she saw it.
“Thank you, Amph. I’ll call or text as soon as I have some designs for you.” I nodded and shook her hand again.
“Take your time, I’m living out of the Nymphaeum at the moment, so I’m not exactly homeless,” I replied. We made our way back down to the ground floor, and we shook hands again.
“Until next time,” she said softly, and I nodded as she walked away.
I watched her until she got into a work truck and left before I replied under my breath, “Until next time, Alessa.” I teleported back home and, with a smile, helped my concierge Matthieu check-in the waiting guests.
The next morning I woke up to massive spam of pictures and a single text message from Alessa. I was inspired. Come by the office today. I smiled, rolled out of bed, and changed quickly into a soft blue sundress. I remembered to put on sandals before teleporting to the office location on my phone.
Natalie Bartley is a Canadian Adult-Fantasy author. Natalie has been writing for most of her teenage and adult life but started publishing those stories in December 2019 with her first book, Love and Pain in Zion. Natalie’s faith as a polytheistic witch leads her to many storylines involving the gods which surround her. She lives with her partner and stepson in Bowmanville, Ontario and is also completing her clergy status with the Correllian Nativist Tradition. They hope to one day open their own Pagan store together.
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