Chapter 3: Part 2

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." ― Siddhartha Gautama

Athena stumbled as she ran into a man with a cup of steaming hot coffee in her hand. Thank God, the coffee splashed over the cup and onto her hand but none on the stranger.

"Oops!" Athena regained her footing. "I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't notice you,"

Athena lifted her eyes. She stared at the most striking, olive-skinned Greek male she had ever seen in her life. Beneath raven-black hair and brows, his eyes dark as midnight. He wore an expensive black suit with a red tie. She assumed he had to be on his way to an important meeting. This guy didn't walk into a room; he swept into it! The man oozed a Greek god.

Athena sucked in her breath, and he narrowed his eyes to look at her. His eyes were full of distrust and disdain.

"Disappointed that your little plan didn't work, darling?" He spoke in a tone of authority. He probably thinks he is the King of the world.

Athena blinked, confused. "Excuse me?"

"The idea of yours is so cliche. Splashing coffee in the first meeting is so stereotypical." Arrogance oozed out of his words.

Athena put her thumb to her ear and her pinky to her lips to demonstrate the hand signal she was talking on the phone. "Hello 1930, you have left your gender stereotype in 2021 who thinks women are beneath him. Come pick him up before he gets beaten up in a bloody pulp."

He crossed his arms and stared at her challengingly, a confident grin on his face. "I dare you to try."

She took a deep breath and calmed her raging temper. She looked straight into the stranger's eyes and spoke as softly as she could muster, "With all due respect, Sir, you don't know me. I didn't bump into you on purpose. It was an accident. So take a moment before you judge me."

"A staged accident! I meet women like you every day. So drop the act, lady." He bit the words off with a strong emphasis.

"Why would I stage an accident for a man like you? Get off your high horse. You are not even handsome, dude." For a few moments, he said nothing. His entire body radiated heat; she feared he would melt like a candle.

"Trying to take the high road because I caught you in the act? Nice try."

"Listen up, Mister, you are barking up the wrong tree. I do not understand who you are and have no interest in impressing you. Get lost."

Every head in the little cafe turned and watched their banter with curiosity. The restaurant manager came running to the man to show Athena 'the stranger' is a man of authority. But they both were lost in their world.

"Watch your tongue. I will destroy you with a flick of the wrist."

Athena moved closer and lifted her chin so she could peer up into his face. "Destroy me? Who do you think you are? Humor me, how would you do that? Do you know my name or where I live or what do I do for a living?"

He laughed sardonically, "Your clothes, your handbag, even your face. Nothing showy, no labels; it's a cry for desperation. It shows your class. The CCTV in the coffee shop, the barista… my team can find you in no time."

The stranger's gaze on Athena was intense as if he was staring into the depths of her soul. His eyes roved over her as if he were trying to figure out the mystery.

Athena swallowed the lump clogging her throat and pressed her shaking fingers against her belly as she squirmed.

"Is this a practical joke? Did someone send you over?" He straightened to his full height and looked down on her.

"What joke? Sir, you are taking this too far. I bumped into you by mistake, and I apologized. What else are you expecting me to do? Just let me go."

He leans forward and whispers, "This is the point where you give me your name."

She leans forward and whispers back, "This is the point where you take the hint that I'm not interested and back the hell off."

She takes a step to move around him, clearly planning to walk away, but he is not about to let that happen. He stepped forward.

The stranger crossed his arms and stared at her intently. Something didn't add up to him. He was more intrigued than ever by her sharp tongue. "Who are you? You look suspicious."

She stiffened, her whole body tensing up. "What are you? A psychopath? You're one of those men who can't tolerate it when a lady isn't interested in him. When you encounter paths with someone indifferent, your ego is so swollen from the hot gas that everyone blows up your butt when you cross paths with them. So you have to go around making absurd assertions like 'I will destroy you,' to keep your fragile yet tremendously overinflated ego from imploding due to a lack of attention."

The man was bewildered. He hasn't encountered a challenge in a long time.

"Bullshit. Watch that mouth of yours." His voice was like the clap of thunder.

"Do you even own this suit? Or are you some creep who hops from one coffee shop to another wearing a rented expensive suit to pick up women?"

Her words killed his smirk faster than she could have killed a bug. She was honest, but it seemed as if she was inviting her demise via the stranger sooner than she would have liked. "Are you calling me a man-whore?" His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.

All the surroundings faded away. Everything else that had to do with reality vanished, faded. They stared at each other intently.

"When you judge me, then I'm bound to judge you, Sir."

"Do you even know who I'm?"

"Being famous doesn't make you King. Cover shit in gold; it's super shiny shit."

They stood their toe to toe and nose to nose, glaring at each other. "Could've dressed better if you planned to run into me today, or this is your best?" He gave her a smirk.

If Athena were a cartoon character, he could see steam erupting from both her ears and nose. Her face turned into a dark shade of red in anger. "You powder-faced elitists, looking down your red noses at people beneath you. Being famous is fake and fickle. Humility is perennial and priceless."

The grin wipes from his face like someone took an eraser to it. "Tone down your tone, will you?"

"Tone down your arrogance, will you?"

Athena tapped her watch lifted her brows. "Time's up, Mr. Hades." She mocks.

"Do you think you can get away verbally abusing me? What are you, a janitor?"

Her patience had utterly vanished. "Not everyone measures their success by what they do for a living. Even if I'm a janitor, I'm proud of being one."

"I'm the most successful man in California. Everyone respects me. Don't pretend you don't know me."

"Sweetheart, my mother taught me to respect everyone. But you are on thin ice, Sir. You need a tissue to wipe the shit coming out of your mouth."

"You are delusional,"

"And you're reaching," She snaps back.

"I know women like you, and I see women like you every day."

"So you said. One of life's great puzzles, why women dig an asshole like you." She smirked, "Don't look so confused; your face has asshole written all over your face."

"And you imagine yourself as Cinderella." His tone dripped so much sarcasm he needed a towel.

"I think a person should have a beautiful heart, a beautiful personality. At least, that is my criteria for judging who is the better person. I don't care if you are rich. And if I'm being honest, you think everyone is out to get you and your money. It's a condition called Paranoia. Consult a therapist before you go insane. Or maybe because you know your personality is so ugly and the only way people will stay by your side is for your money."

Athena wondered why a man like him would waste his time, energy, and augment, proving a point to a stranger. Why is he expecting her to accept that she bumped into him on purpose? Why can't he take her apology and move on? What is the whole point of the argument other than spiking her blood pressure?

"Did you always want to grow up to be a gold-digging psycho, or was that your backup plan when you saw your face in the mirror? So you are tricking a rich man into affording a plastic surgeon?" The words were hissed in Athena's ear like the hiss of a snake, chill as steel, relentless as death. His words were like the venom of a snake.

Her voice was banging out her fury—more like a volcano in eruption, "You dirty pig, you were right. I wanted to spill the coffee but not on your suite."

He had no warning of her coming. Athena got to her feet, flicked her hand, hurled scalding hot coffee on his face. He shrieked and as he threw his hands up to his face. The coffee burnt his face. She watched his face burn.

Whispers began to fill the air all around them. Coffee stained the stranger's clothes. The manager of the restaurant came over to him with an ice pack. A bead of icy sweat drips down between Athena's shoulder blades, and her cheeks are red-hot.

"Next time, when you open your mouth to insult a woman, this coffee burn should remind you to hold your tongue. Pray to God that our paths should never cross because next time, I will burn more than your face." Her tone held an undertone of warning.

Athena tried to move out of his way, but his hands stopped her, keeping her right where she was. She tried to read the emotions in his eyes, but he held himself too firmly under control.

"This isn't over. I will make you pay for this." His tone was menacing and challenging. His unspoken warnings were all too obvious.

"By all means. Bring it on." Athena purrs in a dangerous voice that generally means die. She walked out of the cafe with her head held high and her back in a perfect posture like a queen walking her red carpet. She was aware of all the eyes watching her as she left the cafe, leaving the stranger alone.

Who is he? Why did he provoke her? Was it on purpose or a complete accident? He was dangerous to her safety, to her freedom, to her very sanity. She did nothing wrong, then she has nothing to fear, did she? But then, life is never fair. There is no right or wrong. She needs to accept how the world works.