It's all Cupid's fault (The Holidaze Book 2)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25
“We should really get to work,” Mia said as she forced herself away from the glorious world of Cupid’s hug.
“We can, now that you’re aware of your Godly Status,” Cupid nodded.
“I definitely am that,” she returned his earlier grin with a broad one of her own and it left Cupid gobsmacked.
“You’re quite charming when you’re not yelling at me like you did when I struggled to deliver the right man to your side.
“I am the Goddess of Love. I have to be as charming as what you are, don’t I?” she arched her brows at him.
“I guess so. Let me show you the file room properly and how we match the humans without the Match-a-Matic.”
Cupid gestured towards the cottage that sat wreathed in its usual cacophony of flowers. As he watched her walk in front of him, he couldn’t help the dreamy smile that appeared on his face.
The love that had brought this place to life bloomed even greater in his heart. When Mia had smiled at him it had brightened the world around him. He had meant what he said about her charm. She left him smitten with one small twitch of her lips. Those lips that he would love the chance to kiss again.
A sigh escaped him as his eyes never left her. She was here now and perhaps he would have a chance to charm her as much as she charmed him.
“Are you coming?” Mia turned and crooked a finger at him.
In that moment, Cupid believed he had never seen a more alluring sight. The memory of the humans who had fought over him dwindled in his mind.
All of the negativity he had carried began to crumple under the sheer power of the Goddess of Love. In such a short period of time she had captured all of his attention and left him besotted in a way he’d never experienced before. She enraptured him and it didn’t bother him in the slightest to feel this way.
“Of course, I am,” Cupid answered her in a bit of a daze.
Mia, who hadn’t entered the cottage waited for him with an amused expression, “what are you daydreaming about?” she asked.
He thought about telling her, but he didn’t want to scare her away. He’d have to coax her closer to him before he could admit his love for her.
“I’m daydreaming only about you,” Cupid said as he swept her a bow.
Mia’s eyebrows raised and her lips quirked with deeper amusement, “I’m so sure you are,” her words dripped sarcasm.
“What if that was the truth?”
“Or you’re trying that charming thing on me. Here’s a word of wisdom for you, it used to work on me as a human, but with my Godly Status not so much,” she reached out and patted his cheek. “Charming Cupid can’t charm me anymore,” she teased.
Cupid looked stumped and Mia grinned. She did, in fact, still find him quite charming but the difference was what she found charming.
When she was human, any move he made would bowl her over with his charm. Now it was the little, more subtler things, like the changes in his expression. When he looked beyond pleased to see her or showed pride at her achievements, it warmed her heart. These were the things that she found charming about him. His boldness and then his smaller vulnerabilities that he showed left her falling for him a little bit more every time she saw them.
Cupid’s face filled with a disappointment that Mia never expected. That buoyed her confidence and made her feel bad for him in equal measure.
“Don’t let it get you down, Cupid, the humans will still fall for your charms,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve always wanted,” he drawled. “Let’s get to work,” he repeated her earlier words.
“Then show me how it’s done.”
As he stepped into the cottage, Mia put her arm through his and let him lead her. Cupid said nothing, but a kick of pleasure hit him in the chest at her willingness to touch him. She never would’ve been that keen before.
“Wow, this place is just a bit over the top with its love theme, isn’t it?” Mia asked as she stared wide eyed at the room before her.
The cottage was one big open planned room. It glowed with a pinkish tinge while hearts and flowers of all shapes and sizes fell around her in a dazzling display. In one corner was the filing system, unlike the old building where it had existed in a different room, it had just plonked itself down and hadn’t moved.
Once Mia saw past the cascading flowers and hearts, she realised that the only thing in the cottage was the filing system. There wasn’t a desk, let alone any chairs. She had never seen a room so devoid of anything as this one. There wasn’t even any dust in the corners.
“How exactly do you go about getting anything done if you can’t sit down? Where do you sleep?” she waved a hand at the sparse room.
“I’m sure I mentioned earlier that Gods don’t sleep,” Cupid said with a shrug.
“You also said that you like to sleep because it makes you less grumpy. I certainly needed to sleep last night,” Mia protested.
“Because you’re still used to your human ways. As a God, you can make anything by simply focusing on the item and it will appear before you,” Cupid told her.
“Then why haven’t you done anything with this place? Even your dreary building at least had furniture. This is bare bones and nothing more.”
Cupid shifted his feet in an adorable shy little shuffle and ducked his head, “it didn’t seem right to decorate without you,” he whispered.
With her new super hearing, thanks to her Goddess status, Mia heard every word. It warmed her heart that he wanted to wait for her to decorate this place. She felt closer to him every time he showed these titbits of caring.
“All I have to do is think about what I want in the room, and it will appear?” she asked.
“Yes, there’s a few good perks to being a God and this is one of them. You’re now a God and not a human, so if you imagine anything clearly enough it will manifest itself,” Cupid replied.
“In that case, I think its time to try it.”
Mia focused on how she wanted the room to look. She blinked her eyes and in an instant, the room filled with everything she had imagined.
Near the files, a two-seater cosy lounge sat behind a huge slab of wood that would make up the desk. Upon there they would work on matching up the many couples of the human world.
A bed, decorated in a racy red covering, had plump pillows and cushions scattered around, which appeared in another corner. That one had Cupid raising his brows.
The rest of the room filled with a huge fireplace with a cosy couch sitting in front of it. Many bookshelves appeared with books covering every shelf. Knowing that she could add anything to the room simply by imagining it brought her interior designer to life.
“This being a Goddess thing might not be too bad. There’s quite a few perks,” Mia said as she continued to arrange the room the way she wanted.
“It does. You know you can add more extravagant things,” Cupid said as he watched her fondly.
“Like what?”
“How about this?”
The place where Mia had built their lounge room now also contained a mini waterfall that cascaded down into a pool where colourful fish swam in the water. Vines began to twirl around the rocks on the bank where delicate flowers released their scent.
Cupid turned to look at the plain glass window that now contained intricate heart shaped designs around the edge of the glass. Instead of curtains, long tendrils of flowers strewn over the now decorated windows.
Mia could only stare gape mouthed as these things appeared, but Cupid hadn’t finished yet. Over by the desk now sat a fancy rack that didn’t make sense to Mia. With a flourish, Cupid removed his bow and arrows to place them in the rack securely. Mia followed suit and smiled at his only sensible addition to the furnishing.
“You can also use the same focusing thing if you’re craving any type of food. Like sleep, we don’t need food, but I always think it makes the day more pleasurable,” Cupid said while ignoring the now exaggerated furnishings he’d added.
“I don’t think I could give up eating, that would be too weird, plus I love eating.”
“In that case.”
Cupid focused briefly until a dining table with plush chairs appeared. On top of the dining table, a profusion of candles sat. With a small breath, Mia lit them and golden, dancing light filled the room.
“Nice touch,” Cupid admitted.
“Thank you,” she clicked her fingers and liked that the cottage appeared more homely while also quirky.
“Now do you think we can start doing our work?” Cupid asked with a grin.
“Yes, I think we can finally work because we have a workplace available,” Mia pointed to what she had fabricated from thin air.
Together Cupid and Mia sat down on the seat in front of the desk. Papers appeared in front of them in a neat pile and Mia jumped back startled.
“Where did they come from?” Mia asked.
“The files behind us. I just organised them in the same way that you decorated this place,” Cupid explained.
“This being a God thing is pretty darn handy,” Mia admitted.
“It has its moments,” Cupid agreed.
“Where do we start?”
“It’s pretty much the same way you chose your dates, except we’ll check compatibility with the Match-a-Matic. After that we go to the human dimension and aim our arrows. We might take a cherub or two along to help with the couple, but that’s about it.”
“That doesn’t sound too hard. Why does it take a God and a Goddess to achieve this easy feat?” Mia had to ask.
“Only a God or a Goddess can actually produce potency in the arrows,” Cupid said as he leaned in closer to go over the papers. “Devinah could never use my arrows, but you can because of your Godly Status.”
“I do hope Devinah’s okay. Those Higher Gods didn’t have a clue what to do with her,” Mia mused.
“It’s out of our hands.”
“She was your partner here for how many years, Cupid? Don’t you think she deserves a moment of your time? I walked in and took over a spot that was hers for a long time.”
“Neither of us has any control over what the Higher Gods do,” Cupid sighed. “But, yes, I do worry that she’s okay.”
“Let’s choose a couple so we can see love start to spread around,” Mia chose to change the subject.
She did find herself growing more enthusiastic. It wasn’t every day that you had a chance to match up couples and see them happy. Now that she found out it was her responsibility, she couldn’t wait to start. It wasn’t much different to organising marriages and she had always excelled at that job.
After a bit of organising, they chose the perfect couple to match together. With Mia now embracing this new world of hers, she could hardly contain her excitement at returning to the human world and helping a couple to find love.
Mia grabbed Cupid’s hand in her exuberance and found that once again he clasped her fingers warmly. Something captivatingly pleasant passed between them. It was just as Mia imagined starry eyed wonder would feel. Mia glanced at Cupid only to find those perfect blue eyes staring dreamily back at her.
“What was that?” Mia whispered.
“I’m not sure,” Cupid replied.
“It felt spectacular,” she admitted with a breathy sigh.
“Want to stay here and explore it a bit more?” Cupid grinned devilishly and Mia struggled to resist his charms this time.
“Maybe I’ll consider it,” she paused and saw his eyes light up. “After we help this couple find love.”
“Do you mean that?” Cupid couldn’t hide his astonished enthusiasm.
“I sure do. Now come on, we’ve got work to do first.”
She tugged at their joined hands, before turning to gather their bows and arrows. He let her lead him into the human world.
Cupid followed her, as she found joy in her new vocation that he’d never expected. This woman was the Goddess of Love in complete control of her world, and he knew that she wielded the same control over him.
His world had irrevocably changed with her introduction. In the beginning, he hadn’t enjoyed it, but now he didn’t regret a moment of time that he’d spent with her.