Page 39 of Pandora's Pain
I swallowed loudly, fiddling with the hem of my dress.
“My name isn’t Hope,” I admitted, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow but did nothing else as he waited for me to continue.
Why did he have to be so sweet and handsome? It was distracting me to no end.
“My name’s Pandora.”
Zavier blinked a couple of times.
“As in, named after the myth?” His jaw ticked as he looked at me, his anger increasing with each second.
“As in, Iamthe myth Pandora. I…” Could I really do this? Tell him the truth about myself? “I was sent here to recovery my miseries.”
“And what’s this crazy shit got to do with me?” he demanded.
Maybe he wasn’t completely sweet. Maybe lying about your name was where he drew the line of kindness.
“You are a misery,” I whispered, almost hoping he wouldn’t catch the words.
“And a misery is?”
“Someone who…”
“So because you deem us shitty people, we must be the miseries of Pandora?” The anger in his voice was harsh and glaring as he cut me off. When I nodded, it only increased his aggression. “We have too much shit to do this week to play some screwed-up game of Pandora’s box with some deranged groupie.”
He’s mad because I lied.That was understandable. Telling someone you lied about your name was bound to make them angry.
“I’m not a groupie,” I protested easily.
“Then what are you?” Zavier demanded. “The press? A gold digger? Some kind of assassin? Or are you just deranged?” He sneered as he finished talking, his words piercing me like knives. This was worse than any punishment the gods could throw at me.
Five minutes before, I was kissing him. Now, I was confessing. It wasn’t the easiest transition.
“No, I told you. I am Pandora. But I wasn’t going to do it.” I stepped forward and reached out towards him, though Zavier moved back too quickly for me.
“What’s even the point of this lie? Are you here to sabotage me?”
“No, of course not,” I shouted. “I’m exactly who I say I am. I’m Pandora.”
He laughed bitterly. “Yes. Thousands of years old Pandora.”
“Laugh all you want. It’s no actual fun being punished by the gods,” I pointed out.
“You actually believe this, don’t you?” A look of horror passed over his face.
“Why wouldn’t I believe who I am?” Loaded question there. History seemed littered with people who weren’t sure. But I wasn’t one of them, nor did
I ever intend to be.
Zavier opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the chirp of his phone going off.
He held up a hand as if to tell me to stay where I was. Not that I planned on disappearing. Far from it. If I sorted this out, then maybe the guys would keep me. Win-win all around then, and no hiding for me.
It was a crazy hope. I knew that it was. But it calmed me to cling to it.
“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Zavier half-barked. “I haven’t.”
