Hair the color of cherry blossoms under a polaroid picture and eyes that put a freshly picked batch of cherries to shame. She was a meadow nymph, a creature of habit and one who loved all things pink and pretty. She walked around with a smile on her face and her heart on her cheeks. Almost literally, she enjoyed painting little hearts on her cheeks with red lipstick, it fit her aesthetic quite well.
Her smile could stop strangers on the street, her clothes could stop photographers. She spent her free time helping the workers in botanical gardens or tending to wounded deer during hunting season. She was a vegan eating, shopping addict, cruelty-free makeup-wearing girl. Often vlogging her days, uploading pictures of her coffee on social media and updating her status constantly. She is the type of girl that did what she wanted when the moment came and suffered the consequences later.
The Consequences came soon enough.
One of her followers asked her to vlog inside a bar and do a review of the different drinks she liked, of course, being the wildflower she was she agreed. She looked up the closest bar and walked right in without regard to who was there, who ran the place or who claimed the bar stool she sat in. She pulled out a travel-sized camera, cupping it gently in her hands and started recording.
"Hey guys, It's Lola. I've made it into the bar. I believe it's called Viper. It's between Ayers Street and Nile Drive. The drinks here look absolutely amazing and I can wait to try it out. I went ahead and ordered two drinks and I'm going to give my review, telling you which one I enjoyed more." She smiled into the camera, holding it just at just the perfect length to see a shadow sauntering closer.
"I'll tell you what I enjoy," a rich voice sang from behind Lola, slow and melodic. It was almost alluring to hear, rough and gentle almost all at once.
"I'd take great pleasure in you getting out of my seat," it sang again.
Lola spun around in her chair only to come face to face with the woman speaking. She was in utter awe, the woman was as beautiful as her voice. Green eyes that could desaturate forests, tan sunkissed skin, full rounded soft lips, brown hair the color of melted chocolate. And much to Lola's surprise, snakes wove their way through the lovely locks of the young woman, one curled around her arm like fine jewelry and the ones left free bounced between her long tresses. The woman, Lola took note in, was a gorgon. A very alluring gorgon.
"I'm sorry," Lola blinked slowly, "I was here first." she spun back around in her seat, facing away from the woman.
The woman gripped the back of Lola's seat and spun her around to face her again, "excuse me?"
Lola narrowed her eyes at the Gorgon woman and motioned to the seat, "I sat here first today. So while this may have been your seat yesterday, or the day before, today it's mine."
The gorgons mouth slightly parted in surprise, "excuse me?" she repeated. She clenched her fist in small balls at her sides, eyes narrowing in on Lola.
Lola pressed her lips into a thin line, "I know you heard me," she protested. Her eyes wandered to the fists of the woman, grabbing them gently she eased her to the seat next to her for no other reason than getting her to calm down and preventing an unnecessary fight.
"Here," she pushed one of the drinks to the Gorgon and shut her camera off, "your name?"
The Gorgon stopped halfway with the glass to her lips and lifted an eyebrow, "what?"
Lola rolled her eyes, "I'm giving you a drink I paid for, the least you can do is give me a name." She sipped her own drink and raised her eyebrows in curiosity, prompting the other woman to speak. The woman knocked the entire drink back and gently set the cup down on the bar in front of them.
"You have no idea do you?" she glanced over her shoulder and peered at Lola with wondering eyes. It was almost passive as she was scanning her for more information to come.
Lola herself shook her head, "no, sorry. Not a clue." she offered a one-shoulder shrug, facing the front of the bar.
"Viera," she said while facing the wall as well while shoving the now empty glass away.
Silence now stretched between the two girls for what seemed like twenty minutes. Lola checked her phone every two minutes and Viera circling her index finger around the rim of the empty glass.
Viera stopped abruptly and stood up from her seat, "well it was lovely meeting you, princess," she roughly pushed the stool back into its place. With a sharp turn, she snapped her fingers to the bartender, only grabbing his attention for a split second and in the next second she left the bar with a dark aura flooding around her ankles.
A clink of a glass startled Lola from her trance of watching the woman walk away. She faced the source of the noise and found a short glass filled halfway with pink liquid seemed to smile at her. She looked at the bartender, a musky old man with white hair peppering his beard and crinkles lining his eyes.
"I didn't order this," she spoke slowly.
"Viera did," he said while wiping the glass in his hands clean.
"She didn't say anything," Lola's eyebrows crinkled in confusion.
The bartender's mouth formed a frown, "sweetheart, Viera and her gang own this place. I see her nearly every day," he chuckled, "I've seen her enough times to know what drink she wants by the look in her eyes."
Lola's own eyes widened, "did you say gang?" she leaned forward on her elbows, chin in the soft folds of her palm, "so this really is her seat?" her body curved closer to hear more about the mysterious woman that ordered her the drink that was pink enough to match her hair.
"Oh no," the bartender tossed his rag over his shoulder while placing the cup down, "don't even think about it, little girl." he leaned down to meet Lola's eyes, "that's not something you wanna poke your nose in."
"What if I do?" she bounced in her seat.
"Look," the bartender stood straight, "I get it. But it's dumb. It's cliche, Something straight out of a shojo. But I'm telling you, she's not someone you wanna mess with. Those eyes...they're filled with the intent to kill."
A wicked smile took hold of Lola's face, "Is that so?" she gripped the glass of pink liquid-tightly in her hand. With one flick of her wrist, she knocked the drink back and nearly choked at the taste of sickly sweet flavor gliding down her throat. Her mouth filled with the aftertaste of cherries but her lips tasted danger.
Lola walked arm in arm with a close friend of hers, they spent most of the day chatting about small things such as tea shops and places to visit. Their feet had grown tired of walking and skin aching for shade in the blistering heat. It wasn't long before they sat under the umbrella shade outside a small cafe, sharing finger food and giggling at sweet nothings.
Lola found herself staring across the street at the bar she had mistakenly walked into the week before. Even in the low lit place, she could see Viera sitting down, drinking a pink liquid.
"Lola," her friend snapped her fingers in front of her face, "Earth to Lola."
"I'm sorry," Lola shook her head and focused her attention on her friend, "what were you saying?"
"You know her?" Lola's friend jerked her thumb in the direction of the bar, curiosity lining the space between her eyebrows.
Lola's smile only brightened when Viera's eyes met hers.
Snippet one: The Gorgon and the Nymph
