Hera’s nose scrunched up as she winced in pain while her fingers clutched a handful of hair. They both looked at her long hair to check what caused her distress. Some of her hair got stuck around Hunter’s wristwatch. And some got tangled with the chain and steel medallion pendant he’s wearing around his neck. 

“Shit. How did the chain come out of my shirt?” Hunter muttered cluelessly as his facial muscles pulled down in a frown. Hera tried to pull her hair out of his watch, only to yelp in pain. “Stop pulling it, Goddess. You’re only hurting yourself. Let me help you,” Hunter said in a softer tone. He forgot his anger as soon as he realized that she’s in pain. 

After some struggle, he finally succeeded and freed her hair from his wristwatch. Next, he tried to untangle the strands from his chain.. But the damn thing wouldn’t budge. After his fourth try, he gave up. Hera too couldn’t free it. 

“See, it’s a sign. You’re stuck with me for life, Mrs Hera Hunter,” he stated, attempting to lighten the moment and kissed the tip of her nose. Hera glared, and he chuckled. 

Hunter looked thoughtful for a few seconds, and then he carefully removed his chain from his neck. “Here, take this. Tie it around your hair or do something to keep it there securely. It should do for the time being. We will work on it later,” he suggested, but Hera refused. “No. I don’t want your chain. Just wait for two minutes, I’ll get it out,” she said, trying to free those few strands of hair from the chain but in vain. 

Hunter breathed in irritation. 

“Goddess, you’re running late for your class. You can waste your time standing here, messing with it. Or you keep it tied to your hair for now, unless you want me to write a detention slip for you,” he said. His voice turned harsh in warning at the end. Hera was reluctant but had to agree anyway. “And please keep the chain safe, don’t lose it okay. You know right how precious it is for me?” He asked, and Hera nodded her yes. 

Using the chain along with the medallion as a hair tie, Hera tied it to her hair as Hunter suggested. She picked up her hair tie from the floor and tied it around the chain to secure it safely. 

Though it solved the problem, the solution was temporary, and she knew it would become messier later. Maybe she would need to cut a few strands of her tangled hair to free it from the chain. 

With one last peck on her lips, Hunter let her go. He watched until she disappeared into her class. 

As usual, the school was boring for Hera. And she didn’t see Hunter the whole day. After school, Hera got to know through her friends that he had a soccer match practice today and all her friends went to see the match except Hera who refused to go and went back to her dorm room. 

She thought that it’s better to have some time alone. 

Hera finally cleared the mess of tangles and freed her hair from the chain. But the look reflected in the mirror made her cringe. Her soft hair was no less than a bird’s nest now. 

When she held the chain in her hands, admiring its beauty, slowly, her thoughts drifted into the past. It brought back memories of their first-ever meeting. 

Ten and a half years ago:

Hera was four and a half years old when she visited London for the first time, along with her aunt Liezel. They came to take Danny home. It was his winter holidays. 

Liezel went inside the school to bring Danny. Meanwhile, little Hera was playing near the gate of the school. It was cold as the weather was windy and rainy. Hera heard a whining outside, and she followed the source of that sound. As she expected, it was a cute little puppy. It was trying to climb up from the big hole under the tree. 

“Aw, you are so cute. What are you doing there? Are you hurt?” Hera cooed in her sweet angelic voice. 

The muddy ground was damp and slippery because of the rain. Hera carefully walked near the hole. She concluded that maybe because of the wet mud, the puppy slipped into the hole and was now struggling to come out. She tried to reach the deep end with her little hands to rescue the puppy. 

But sadly she couldn’t reach it. 

She laid on the ground and crawled to reach inside. Her green colour frock was now mud-stained. 

All her attempts to rescue the puppy went in vain. Her lips trembled and eyes watered. 

“Don’t cry, little girl, we’ll get him out. I’ll help you,” a young boy said, and Hera lifted her head to look into the most beautiful eyes. She’d never seen that colour in anyone’s eyes until then. 

It was purple. 

The boy had big, shiny, bright purple eyes. He looked older than her. He was so good to look at that Hera forgot she was crying a few seconds ago. 

“You are so beautiful!” She voiced out her thought unknowingly. She was in awe of his beauty. 

With a lovely smile, he held out his hand for her to take. Hera placed her little palm in his big one. His skin looked fairer than hers. Clad in a white full-sleeved T-shirt with a black fitting trouser, he looked so pretty. Once he lifted her off the ground, the boy helped Hera dust off the dirt from her dress. Hera blushed when he wiped her tears with his fingers. 

He took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the mud from her forearms and her legs. The white piece of cloth now looked brownish with mud-stain. He asked her to hold it for a while and looked at the puppy. It was still whining, trying to get their attention. 

The boy lay down on the ground, and his hand comfortably reached the end of the hole. He pulled the puppy out of the hole without much struggle. He noticed it had a small wound in the right front leg. He gave her the puppy to hold and took the handkerchief from her. 

Little Hera watched in pure admiration while he tied the cloth around its injured leg. 

“He’s the cutest puppy I’ve seen so far. What’s his name?” He asked, and Hera embarrassingly told him that it’s not hers. “Can you help it in finding its home? I can’t keep it. My aunt will scold me,” she sweetly requested him. She was so worried about that little puppy he didn’t want to make her sad. He immediately promised her that he would find its owner. 

A car honked nearby and the boy turned yelling “coming” to someone in the car. 

“Is that yours? It’s so big and beautiful!” Hera said, looking at the car in awe. It was a black Mercedes. She didn’t know then. He proudly announced, “Yes, it’s mine. Do you like it?” He asked, smiling at her wonderstruck face. She nodded her head in excitement. 

“I like everything that shines. And your eyes, I like them too. They’re so big and shining so bright. Very beautiful. The colour looks so nice. And your smile is also very beautiful.” Hera said in pure admiration. 

His smile widened into a grin. He liked that the girl liked his eyes and she actually made him blush. 

He loved her eyes too. 

“Your eyes are beautiful too. I love that green. It looks like a deep green forest I desire to explore,” he said, feeling proud of himself for being so imaginative. 

Little Hera giggled. 

“What is that in your neck?” She asked, pointing her finger at his neck when she saw something black. He lowered his head, looking down under his chin and pulled out a chain from inside his shirt. It was a black steel chain with a steel medallion pendant attached to it. He showed it to her. It had a picture of a bird, and Hera didn’t know what type of bird it was. It had words engraved around it. Her curious gaze compelled him to explain it to her. 

“Here, look at this. It’s a bird called Phoenix. It’s written “Alexander The Conqueror” in here. It’s the Greek language. It was my Mom’s gift to my Dad. He gave it to me. It’s a charm pendant. My Dad said it’ll protect me from every evil. I never take it off,” he said. 

“It’s beautiful and looks nice in your neck,” Hera stated. 

He laughed. “You said beautiful, like five times already,” he said still grinning wide. She blushed again. Her rosy lips and cheeks turned a shade darker. 

A horn honked again, disturbing their peaceful conversation.

“Listen, you just wait here, I’ll come back in a minute, okay,” he said, handing the puppy to her and ran to his car. He came back a minute after like he said. He took the puppy back from her hands and gave her a chocolate bar.