Dionysus (Greek God Romance Book 1) (7 page)

“Come again?”

“How do you think men got the idea to sleep around and spawn all these babies, ‘continuing their legacy.’” He put the last bit in quotes. Rebecca could see he had little love for his father. Dionysus reflected on this and glowered slightly. He changed the subject. “There was a time when people thought they couldn’t reach us. We did live on Mount Olympus.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah, very secluded and great for getting your bearings back.”

 “Needed rest?”

“What child doesn’t?”

Rebecca loved his crassness. She opened her mouth to say something that could lead into a flirtatious development then. . .
who knows?
But he cut her off prematurely, before the words ever formed.

“We’re here.”

DAYS WITHOUT A TIME LOSS INCIDENT

Rebecca’s mouth formed a gaping hole, one wide enough to yell an exaggerated
Goal!!!

In front of her was a colossal building immeasurable to her but known to be around seventy feet high, she stood there rooted, much like a telephone pole or a street lamp. A great many things ran through her mind, the most prominent being,
how did I miss this?

It was true. Heph’s Shop of Wonders was virtually impossible to miss. The top of the building could be seen when driving into Olympus; however, as of yet, no mortal has noticed—the golden sign and the following peculiarities always took precedence. As for how she could’ve missed it on her stroll with Dionysus, she was too focused on him, kept her eyes on him.

Dionysus walked up to her, seeing an opportunity to put his hand on her shoulder. “A wonder, isn’t it?”

Unfortunately, this action too was ignored by Rebecca, and subsequently, her gaping mouth. She stuttered a stream of
wows
that sounded more like
wo-ah-oh.

Dionysus laughed and gripped her shoulder. She shrugged it off and walked closer, continuing her bewildered stare.

Heph’s Shop of Wonders was a massive improvement compared to his original shop on Mount Olympus. Heph, himself, had drawn up the plans for his original shop. He looked to make it accommodating for his workers, unfortunately Zeus hijacked the renovation, rendering Heph’s old shop nearly unusable. Zeus often took over projects on Mount Olympus out of sheer ego. He always lacked the knowledge to properly complete these projects and ruined them for his fellow gods and goddesses.

The word hubris was invented by the Olympians in order to describe Zeus’ unique brand of arrogance, vanity and audacity.

Heph had anticipated them eventually moving off of Mount Olympus. The term “anticipated” should be used lightly for he asked every Olympian their thoughts on the matter. Agreeing that a move was an eventuality and consulting with the Fates, he preemptively started his plans on a new shop with the help of Hestia. This turned out to be a stroke of genius because by the time Zeus entered one of his states of hubris, Heph and Hestia had already broken ground on constructing the new shop.

And that was how Heph’s Shop of Wonders, or originally named, Hephaestus’ Shop of Wonders came to be.

Heph’s Shop of Wonders was meant to operate like a world-class manufacturing facility. The outside was made of concrete and painted a cherry red—Hestia’s obvious color palate at play. It had massive dock doors from floor to ceiling that were on the east and west side of the building.

Rebecca stood near one, seeing the comings-and-goings of a few Cyclops manning forklifts the size of an American home. One came close with a rock that glimmered like Apollo and forced her to shield her eyes with her arm, another
wo-ah-oh
could be heard coming from her mouth.

Dionysus stood behind, letting her drink in the site after she had dismissed his small advance. He had envisioned Rebecca looking over her shoulder when he placed his arm there and giving a tender smile in return. He, then concluded, that he had watched too many romantic comedies with Apollo. Apollo’s coined phrase to those unique fantasies was, “Does no one know poetry, anymore?”

Rebecca saw another carrying a molten rock with streaks of lava running down the sides. It made little lava pools in the black cement wherever it touched.

She said, “Is that?”

Dionysus could not hear her but gathered she had said something and not just for her own sake. “Have you looked up?”

Rebecca’s head snapped back. “Huh?”

“Have you looked up?” Dionysus pointed with his finger and she followed it.

And there it was. . . a volcano.

“Wh—at the fu—ck?”

He chuckled. “I’ll say.”

The volcano was of the upmost pride to Heph and Hestia and was created by them. It works and appears just like any other active volcano. In his original shop when molding legendary weapons and armor, he had his Cyclops dig a hole into a magma vein and created a pulley system that a Cyclops would have to man for twenty-four hours in order to get enough lava for the next day. They each took turns on this twenty-four hour shift that they all hated; they even made pools and traded their days whether to nurse a hangover or have a date. And they each complained to Hephaestus incessantly about it, whether about a trade that went awry or the labor intensive work. And so, the volcano was the first thing he had conceived of for his new shop.

With Hestia’s help, they created lava shoots and tunnels that ran under Olympus and were drawn by the volcano. The pressure never rose enough for it to explode, and there were several service entrances that the Cyclops and other shop workers would use to draw the lava they needed for the day.

She stood there, another bout of awe gripping her. “Is it active?”

“It is. Don’t fret. It’ll never explode.”

She turned back and mouthed the words back. “Never explode?”

“They take enough to keep the pressure down. Ready to go inside?”

She laughed hysterically, after a few minutes, she said, “What are we going to find in there?”

Dionysus grinned and spread his arms. “
Wonders!”
He then grabbed her hand and whisked her towards the entrance.

The main entrance door was located on the north side of Heph’s Shop of Wonders. They approached the line where a few Cyclops grinned, one shouted, “Hey, Rebecca!”—and a few others bowed.

The one at the head of the line said with a sly grin, “After you.”

Rebecca turned back to Dionysus. “Are they always this polite?”

“They are always cordial. But polite. . . must be you.”

“Does anybody like gods?”

Dionysus made a pained face. “We don’t even like ourselves. . . Let’s go.”

He ushered Rebecca through the forty-foot double doors. They entered a small hallway that kept everyone in a single file line. There was a check-in clerk at the end that looked suspiciously like Hestia, to Rebecca. She had found her name out by looking through the book Apollo had given her, searching for the “red-headed skank” that was to be her landlord.

She blurted out, “Hestia?”

Dionysus put a hand on her and whispered, “One of her followers, never mistake a god or goddess for one of them.” She lifted her eyebrows and he continued, “Uh, it’s touchy. They feel it is like belittling them.”

“They?”

He smiled and a soft look entered his eyes. “I’ve never been such a fool.”

She chuckled and touched his shoulder. “Good to know.” That small interaction brought Rebecca back to the world from her awe and shock moment. She liked him. And had there been more drinks involved, she would’ve spread her legs willingly. And maybe that was a good thing, she thought.
No drinks. No dulling out the spoils of war before lifting an arm. He, more than anybody before, would have to prove himself.
She was falling for him, a step at a time.

Hestia’s follower said, “Visitors?”

“Yes.”

“This way.”

They followed her to a station. “Full tour?”

He nodded again.

She grabbed thick gloves made of a substance Rebecca could only guess at.

Everything the workers in Heph’s Shop of Wonders donned, from the apron to the boots, is made of an obsidian material that Heph fashioned to be resistant to extreme heats.

Rebecca asked, “What’s with all this?”

Dionysus said, “Heph liked to work dirty, but he did lose some followers that way. Hestia has more time on her hands here and offered to bring the shop to code and ensure a safe environment.”

“I see.”

“He has his own workspace that he keeps separated from all this.”

She gestured around. “Let me guess, he
hates
all of this.”

Dionysus laughed heartedly. “I’m
sure
he does.”

Rebecca guffawed. “Typical.”

Hestia’s follower pointed to the right. “Bathrooms are that way to change then you will proceed with me on to the floor.”

Dionysus said, “I think we’ll be fine.”

She shook her head. “I, or someone else, will have to be present during your tour.”

Dionysus lifted his eyebrows. “Really?”

She pointed to a sign:

DAYS WITHOUT A TIME LOSS ACCIDENT
 

 
2575

“And?”

“The last time we let a god roam free—a mortal died.”

Dionysus conceded, “Fine. Fine. Make sure Heph is available at the end.”

“Heph?”

“Yes.”

She grabbed the aprons, masks, boots, pants, and shirts from them. “You may go into his shop at your leisure,” she said, pointing to the back.

 Rebecca noticed her tone changed, her attitude as well. The follower’s actions had become stiff instead of fluid.

Rebecca asked, “What about the tour?”

“If you wish to explore the manufacturing facility, you must wear the appropriate GMPs. If you wish to enter Heph’s personal shop, you may proceed at your own risk.”

“At my own risk?”

“There are no rules, regulations or necessary GMP attire to go into Heph’s shop.”

“I thought all of this
was
Heph’s Shop of Wonders.”

She frowned. “Without Hestia’s deft hand, this would not exist today.”

Dionysus mocked, “
Deft?”

She nodded, it seemed to Rebecca as if her hair became redder, more ravenous. “Absolutely. Without our mistress, this place would’ve failed.”

“Huh?”

“After the incident, the days without a loss time accident board reminds us of how imperative and necessary it is to have Hestia running Heph’s Shop of Wonders.”

Rebecca looked at Dionysus. “When’s the last time you were here?”

Dionysus scratched his head. “Now that I think about it. I haven’t been here since it opened.”

“Do you visit anyone?”

Dionysus’ grin turned toothy. “They visit me.”

Rebecca snorted. “We’ll take the tour another time. So back there?”

Hestia’s follower pointed to the back again and nodded. “Through that door then down the hallway to the left at the end is another door, that’s
his
place.” The last part was said with such disdain that Rebecca took a step back.

Dionysus took the opportunity to place his hand on her shoulder once again and pique his head around to the follower. “Thanks.”

Hestia’s follower turned on her heel and left.

“What the hell?”

“Things have changed. . . as they always do.”

“Well said.”

“Let’s go. We may need to avoid asking any questions about it.”

“Why’s that?”

“Pride.”

The door in the back opened to a completely different environment. The main area was bustling with Cyclops and centaurs changing and being directed accordingly by Hestia’s followers, where as, this area was a vacant hallway. There was a heat here she could feel instead of the cold, staleness of a manufacturing facility. She could see the tracks of some feet with a little bit of dirt left on the linoleum floor rather than the clear, obscenely clean, red floor of the main area.

They passed by a break area where it was not dirty but it wasn’t
entirely
clean with a box of doughnuts on the counter and a few crumbs strung about. She imagined the lunch area that was connected to the facility portion was as sterile as a hospital.

They arrived at the end of the hallway, Dionysus stopped and knocked on the door. He stood to the side, and Rebecca glimpsed a dingy door with a rusted doorknob.

Rebecca said, “Try the door.”

“Huh?”

“Try it.”

Dionysus turned the knob and the door opened. “How did you know?”

She shrugged. “Who locks a door like that?”