A woman walked up to us, greeting us in Greek and clapping her hands together.
“Hello. We’re here to find a couple of gowns,” I said.
She grinned and clapped her hands again. “Wonderful. Are you from America?”
Sara gazed around the shop. Her eyes were as wide as beach balls. “We are.” Even her voice sounded mesmerized.
“Splendid. Welcome, welcome! Let me show you to our dress section. Do you have any ideas in mind? Neckline? Color? Length?” She motioned to us with her finger and walked to the back. Her heels clicked against the wooden floor.
“Long length. It’s for a masquerade ball,” Sara answered.
The saleswoman’s eyes brightened, and she smiled at us over her shoulder. “How fun!”
This woman was in full sales mode.
“Here is our selection. As you can see, we’ve got plenty for you to choose from. The dresses are sorted by color and vary in style from there. If you don’t see your size, just ask, and we can check in the back for you. Please don’t hesitate to come to me with any questions.” She gave a warm smile. “Dressing room is in the back corner. And mirrors are in the center.” After giving a firm nod, she walked away, approaching newly entered customers.
Sara made a beeline for the purple dresses, her favorite color. White and yellow were mine, but they only managed to drown out my already pale skin. By the time I settled on the green and blue racks, Sara had three dresses draped over her arm. I had no clue what I wanted and grabbed two at random. Sara dragged me to another stand. She feverishly pushed hangers aside until she landed on one, which made her gasp. She held the dress up, biting down on her lower lip, smiling.
It. Was. Gorgeous. A cranberry-colored dress with a strapless bodice transitioning into a full, flowy skirt. I had no clue what the pattern was on the front or what fabric the skirt was made of, but it was perfection. “I’m not sure I’m worthy of wearing this.”
She tossed it over my arm. “Stop it. It’s going to look killer with that chocolate hair of yours.”
We tried on all dresses, and Sara ended up going with the first dress she’d picked out. Her gut instinct dress. Dark purple, halter top style, form-fitting, and a small amount of flair at the bottom. My favorite part was the array of sparkles covering the entire length of it. I insisted on trying the two random dresses I’d picked out first. The green one made my boobs bulge out of the top, and the blue one didn’t fit past my hips.
When I walked out in the cranberry dress, I had my hands slapped over my eyes. I hoped it looked as good as it did on the hanger. “How does it look?”
“Oh my God, Steph. You’re—a vision. Take your damn hands off your face.”
I peeled my fingers away, one by one. The reflection in the mirror couldn’t have been me. I didn’t recognize myself. An electric tingle traveled down my spine. The bodice hugged my curves, and the skirt portion made me want to twirl, but I held back. Sara stepped up behind me, gazing at the mirror over my shoulder.
“What did I tell you?” She asked with a grin.
“Care to explain what I’m wearing?”
She pointed at the bodice. “The pattern is called filigree, and the skirt is of tulle.”
Screw it. I twirled and twirled once more for good measure, the skirt flowing around me like a lazy cloud. “You were right. This is perfect.”
“You’re welcome. Now let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve got some last-minute quizzing to do before trivia tonight. The first-place prize is two free spa admissions. Full body massage included.”
Everyone gathered in the massive atrium with a large screen and projector at the front. In the middle was a stage with a podium. Everyone sat in pairs. Predictably, Keith and Guy were there, and they’d zeroed in on us like two hounds with a fox. Sara and I did Greek mythology drills for the better part of two hours before arriving. We felt prepared and ready to win our free trip to the spa.
“King of the Gods,” Guy said to Keith.
Keith was bent forward, his elbows on his knees, chin resting in his hands. “Zeus.”
“Goddess of Love.”
“Aphrodite.”
“God of the Forge.”
“Hephaestus.”
Guy flopped a pile of flashcards on the table. “We got this!”
Keith sat up, and they did some form of a practiced handshake.
“I certainly hope you don’t think simply knowing the names of all the gods and what they’re in control of is going to make you win,” Sara said, her legs crossed, the top one bouncing.
Keith made a pfft sound. “Of course not. We were running drills.”
My lips puckered together, holding back a laugh. We had this in the bag. Hades appeared from the darkness in the corner of the atrium. He stayed away from everyone, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against a nearby wall.
I elbowed Sara in the arm. “Wonder why he’s not joining in. You’d think he’d be great at this game being named after the god of the Underworld and all.”
“Maybe he’s supervising us mere mortals answering questions about his family,” she replied with a sidelong grin.
Hades stood motionless, his eyes catching the light like a cat.
“Well, this should be a lovely time, don’t you agree?” Michelle asked. She and Rupert walked up to our table dressed like they’d come from an elegant dinner. At least Rupert had pants on this time.
“Fan of mythology?” I asked as they sat down at our table.
Rupert leaned back in his chair and draped his arm over Michelle’s chair before crossing his legs. “Not particularly, but with that grand prize, I figured we might as well bloody try, right?” He gave a light smack to Keith’s shoulder.
In. The. Bag.
“Everyone, we are currently passing out buzzers for each pair. We will begin the game in a few minutes,” a resort worker announced.
A woman in a white polo rested a red plastic buzzer on the table between us. Sara couldn’t help but reach forward and slap her hand on it. It made an obnoxious boing sound. Other sounds resonated around us: classic buzzers, cuckoo clocks, and whistles.
“Is everyone ready?” The announcer on stage asked, scanning the crowd.
I threw my fists into the air, letting out as loud of a “woo” as I could. Sara followed suit, and we were successfully the loudest duo in the bunch. Flight of Icarus by Iron Maiden blasted through the speakers.
“Interesting choice, eh?” Guy said, bumping his shoulder into Keith’s.
Once the music died and the crowd was sufficiently pumped up, the announcer held his hands up for silence.
“We will ask a series of questions regarding Greek mythology. These questions may include the gods or heroes, so be prepared for both. I will read the questions, and they will appear on the screen behind me. Ring your buzzer when you’re ready to answer. Wrong answers will give you a negative point, so be sure not to buzz in prematurely.”
“First question: What was the home of the Greek gods?”
I went for the buzzer, but Keith and Guy’s went off first.
“Olympus!” Guy yelled, and they did their stupid hour-long handshake again.
Sara shrugged. “We thought we’d give you guys that one.”