Promises Made (part 3)...

After dinner Greg dropped Helena off at her apartment. The kiss goodnight by the elevator lasted a little longer than usual and was a little deeper than last time. That combined with the fact that the homeless guy was gone filled Greg with cheer. After Helena was on her way up to her apartment Greg turned to see the doorman, Terry, it was Terry watching him.

"Seems our homeless friend left for the evening?"

"What homeless friend? Do you mean Edward?"

"Edward? You know his name?"

"Edward Newsome. Yes, I know his name."

"Edward Newsome? That guy is Edward Newsome? You're kidding me."

"No. That is the one and only Edward Newsome. So I can most assuredly tell you he is not some homeless guy. Did you need me to call you a cab or did you keep your ride?"

Greg knew he was being dismissed now. Kissed and left at the elevator again. Dismissed by a doorman. Discovering that the crazy homeless guy was actually a multi-millionaire real estate developer. He could feel his good mood evaporating, but then remembered the actual kiss goodnight. It was a great kiss. Full of promise.

The whole date had been a good one. After leaving the bar they walked the few blocks to the restaurant. When they were passing the art gallery Helena had stopped to look at the flyer posted for their next exhibition.

It was a painting of an angel. He was tall and muscular and holding a bow in his hands, his wings folded down at his sides. "I've never seen a painting of an angel with a bow. Don't they normally have harps?"

She had smiled at him, "This is no angel. This is Cupid."

"Cupid? The little fat cherub guy? I guess he grew up."

Her face had clouded a little at that, "The cherub is a romantic fallacy. The painters wanted to depict him as something softer. More playful. So they made him a baby. And gave him a quiver of arrows with heart shaped tips. This, this is much closer to what the son of War should look like."

"The son of War?"

"Yes, Cupid. Son of Venus and Mars. Or Aphrodite and Ares if you prefer, but then you should use Eros instead of Cupid when referring to him. Mixing the Roman and Greek names just gets really confusing."

"I didn't know you were interested in the ancient myths. Tell me more."

"What do you want to know? More about Cupid? Or Venus and Mars? Or Psyche?"

"Psyche? Isn't that your brain?"

She laughed, "No, I mean Psyche the person. Cupid's wife."

"Cupid was married?"

"Yes, he was. It's a very long story and I wouldn't have time to tell you all of it before dinner, but the basics are that he fell in love with a human and he was worried she would be afraid to find out that he was a god so he made her promise to close her eyes every time he came to visit. She was talked in to breaking that promise. During the act of betrayal Cupid was wounded, Psyche and he were separated and she was forced to wander the world and the underworld in search of her lost love. Once he had healed he found her, forgave her and begged Jupiter to make her immortal. Jupiter consents as long as Cupid will give him a little help with the ladies in the future, because Jupiter was like that. Cupid and Psyche were married and from that day forward any union brought together by Cupid was considered sacred and must not be broken. See, even though Cupid forgave Psyche, he never got over the betrayal. A promise made must be kept or the consequences are dire."

"That's the short version?" Greg teased.

Helena laughed, "Yes, it is. We are talking about years of wandering. Other gods were involved along with Psyche's sisters. It was a huge mess."

"And you know all of this off the top of your head?"

"Sure. Family histories are all so interesting. Even ancient families."

"You are amazing." Greg smiled at her.

"Well, thank you. Now let's eat. I'm starving."

Greg smiled to himself in the backseat of the cab remembering how her face lit up while she was telling him the story of Cupid and Psyche. He was going to have to take her to that Angels and Demons exhibit when it opened. He loved that she wasn't just beautiful but smart. And willing to share the information without apology or hesitation. Confidence was very sexy. Everything about her was very sexy. He sighed, it was just so frustrating to wait sometimes.

He picked up his phone and sent a quick text. "U up?"

Now to Google Edward Newsome and find out why he spent his free time sitting on street corners mumbling. Greg wondered if it was some sort of trick to lower property values before swooping in to buy them at bargain prices.

His phone vibrated, "I'm up. Wanna play?"

Greg smiled, frustrations could always be dealt with.