soft spot

Chapter one: bad news

silena

Today was probably the worst day of Silena's life that would soon turn out to be one of the best. Silena worked in her father's chocolate shop by helping him make the chocolate and clean up, she loved it. Afterall, her father sold the best chocolate in the world(in her opinion) so there was always a bunch of customers she could talk to. The chocolates were filled with strawberry sauce that was made from the ripest, juiciest strawberries that her father could find and the milk chocolate on the outside had white and dark chocolate drizzled over the tip with a sprinkle of crushed up nuts. In Silena's opinion they weren't just delicious but also gorgeous like a piece of art, perfect aesthetically inside and out. But above all, Silena loved spending time with her dad, he was the kindest, most generous person anyone could ever meet and she took after him in many ways. They both had the same kind-hearted nature, same black hair, same rosy cheeks paired with those small freckles on their noses that came out at summer and the same smile that lit up a room, the only difference was their eyes, her dad had soft, kind brown eyes whereas she had blue eyes that shone like diamonds. When she was younger and asked why her eyes were a different colour, her dad used to tell her that they were from her mother who had died when she was little, and her dad used to tell her as a bedtime story that her mother was Aphrodite and that's where she got her looks from. Of course, Silena never believed it, afterall how could her mother be a goddess?

As Silena was serving customers that day, she heard a deafening crash, causing her to turn quickly to see what the commotion was about. A large crowd had already begun forming near the counter while Silena started pushing past people and gasped, blinking back tears once she saw it. Her dad was on the floor with his hand on his chest and all the colour drained from his face while a glass plate ready to serve was smashed next to him with all the chocolates squashed on the floor in a pink, chocolate, gooey mess. Immediatly, she knelt down beside him, tears rolling down her face as she shouted, "HELP! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!" the rest of the crowd stared down at the scene sympathetically as some of them began getting out their phones to ring 911.

An ambulance arrived within a minute, as paramedics rushed out, placing her father on a stretcher and carrying him into the ambulance. She felt her heart pounding in her chest so much that she thought it might burst out of her chest any second now while terrible, terrifying thoughts swirled around in her head like a whirlpool, causing everything around her to look blurry and disorientating as she felt her hands shaking and dizzyness taking over.

The next few hours at the hospital were probably the worst of her life, she'd never felt this kind of anxiety before, the kind that seemed to swallow you whole, strangling you until you were gasping for air, and the worst part was not knowing, not knowing what would happen to her poor dad who had only ever been kind to people and worked in his little chocolate shop, his own little corner of the world. Nervously, she tapped her foot against the chair in the waiting room, her fingers moving intricately and quickly through one strand of her hair, plaiting it over and over again. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a girl who looked a few years older then her, who was flipping through a fashion magazine and glancing at her occasionly. The girl looked very beautiful, she had dirty blonde hair that was cut into soft layers and she had captivating green eyes that twinkled like emeralds. Silena also noticed the Chanel handbag she had and had it been under different circumstances silena would've gone up to her and complimented her bag, however all that was preoccupying her mind right now was her poor father.

Two doctors walked out of the room her father had been in with their heads hung low and a look of regret and sadness on their faces as silena's heart sank. She felt as though her heart was breaking in two once she saw their expressions, she knew this wouldn't be good news. "Are you Mr Jacques Beauregard's daughter?" The taller doctor asked while she meakly nodded her head, although it felt heavy on her shoulders like an unbearable weight, "I'm deeply regretful to inform you but your father has sadly passed..." She didn't hear what else they said as her mind automatically zoned out after they told her dad was...that he was... dead. Her dad was gone and there was nothing she could do about it. No amount of perfecting could fix this.

Note: word count: 834, also this is before Silena learns that she's a demigod and goes to camp half blood