Infatuated with a God

Chapter One Hundred

Kaya

Time moves faster when you wish it would slow down. Before I knew it, it was the night of the party and Nat was braiding my hair back. No one brought it up again, and everything seemed to go back to normalcy in the meantime. Out of an abundance of caution we didn't change anything about the way we treated each other in public, although more eyes seemed to be on us whenever we walked into a room together. Granted, I know people wanted to say something, and whispers tended to stop when we entered a room. But for now, it made do. Although I feared Tony may have taken my offer for the imminent lecture far too seriously. However, the knowledge that tomorrow morning he would leave hung over me. It lurked in the background so no matter how hard I tried to ignore the fact he was leaving, it was always there.

"You look stunning, Kaya." Wanda smiled at me as she walked past into the room, heading for the jewellery. Her off-the-shoulder corseted maroon dress curved to her body, with two slits flashing some skin in the process. I didn't doubt that the press would be over her tonight, as much as that would bother her it would definitely be worth it. Natasha too, her black cocktail dress fit her beautifully, though she always did know how to dress for these things.

"Done!" Nat exclaimed, pulling the chair out slightly so I could stand and go to the mirror. I had to admit, Nat was skilled in so many areas but this was perfect.

My hair was split into many braids, most of which connected to a larger braid. Some hung down, including the braid Loki had bound with seiðr. Thor had provided us with some beautiful hair jewellery from Asgard. Various styles of golden cuffs and rune beads were integrated throughout, including various wire wrapped cuffs with emeralds hanging down. It looked just as Thor imagined, which was the basis for the drawing I provided Nat. I wanted to include one piece around the braid Loki had made, however the seiðr used made it difficult for Nat to work with it. Still, it almost worked better, perhaps it was the seiðr but I felt almost drawn to it more this way. I bit my lip as I looked over the rest of me. I'd chosen a dark green satin spaghetti-strapped backless cowl neck dress that clung to my body. A split up the left side ended at my mid-thigh. It was a beautiful dress but hid nothing. It worked and yet I was still worried. I took a deep breath, remembering that anything in his colour worked for him. It was silly to worry so much over something like this.

"He'll love it, Kaya." Wanda smiled up at me, fixing her ruby earring as she spoke. Nat smiled at me too and I laughed briefly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to–"

"Just because as your co-workers we have to be cautious, doesn't mean that as your friends we don't support you Kaya. You can mention his existence, you know? Although it's been hilarious seeing you dance around each other awkwardly the past two days."

I smiled at Nat, grateful for her in that moment, even if it was the last night. Part of me did wish all of this could have happened earlier, so they'd have more time to get used to the idea of it. Perhaps things would have turned out differently.

"Are you okay though Kaya? I mean with tomorrow and all." Wanda asked, glancing slightly towards Nat.

"No." I smiled at her, knowing if I didn't have a smile on my face it would be twice as hard to talk about it. "Of course I'm not. But I'll have time to be sad about it later. We have tonight."

"I know we were hard on you the other day, Kaya. But please know all of the team will be here for you. And if you are up for it we can always get out those terrible disguise wigs Fury gave us and go to that club you always snuck out to." The smile became more real at her words, and I laughed at the thought of us being there together. For a brief moment I finally had plans after he left. Everything had always led up to him leaving, and yet I'd failed to consider what I should do after it.