Dionysus walked towards us, wearing a deep maroon suit and the confidence of a man who had been following his dream for most of his life.
"Always good to see you, Poseidon," he said.
"Likewise, Dion.This is Laila."I gestured to the beautiful woman beside me, taking another moment to admire how good she looked.Her dress plunged lower than I expected it to, especially after what she wore the other night.I wasn't complaining, but it was going to make it harder to concentrate than I'd hoped for.
"It's good to meet you," he said to Laila."Welcome to my vineyard."
"Thank you.I've heard good things about your wine.And tried a few thanks to Poseidon."She looked at me with a smile, and I felt everything go a bit fuzzy, even without having a drink.
"I'm surprised he didn't tell you there were better wines out there," Dionysus joked.
"He's been nothing but complimentary," Laila assured the other god.
"Then I look forward to sharing more with you."He gestured to a table that was already set up for the two of us."I'll be back in a moment with your first wine, but why don't you make yourselves comfortable?"
I nodded and guided Laila over to the table.
She took a seat, her skirt falling to the side and revealing a slit, with a perfect, long leg showing through.She lifted the fabric and rearranged it, looking up as she did.From the expression on her face, I had to assume that she was doing it on purpose.
She had an effect on me that was undeniable.
I sat down beside her, doing my best to rearrange myself in a way that didn't make it obvious that a certain part of me was responding very strongly to her.I'd been alive for thousands of years, and yet this woman was somehow making me feel out of control.
"Are you okay?"she asked, putting a hand on my arm.
I cleared my throat."Fine."
"Are you sure?You haven't said anything in a few minutes."
I cleared my throat."You look beautiful."
"Thank you."She flipped her black hair over her shoulder, only drawing attention to her chest.
I looked away.I needed to pull this together, or I was going to mess this up.She probably wasn't doing anything on purpose, and I didn't want to ruin the chances I had of this being something by making her uncomfortable.
Dionysus returned, allowing me to focus on something else.
"We're starting with a Moshofilero," the wine god said, holding out a bottle for us both to see."It's a dry white wine with flavours of peach and lemon, with some floral notes."He uncorked the bottle and poured us both a generous glass before shoving the cork back into the top and placing it in a wine carrier beside us.
Laila picked up her glass and took a sniff."I think I can smell the flowers."
Dionysus nodded."You should be able to."
"And also something nutty," she said.
I picked up my own glass and smelled it so that I could make my own assessment.
"Good catch," Dionysus responded, excitement within his voice."As Moschofilero ages, it develops some almond notes, though some people think it's more hazelnutty.You should also have some flavours of stone fruits coming through, notably apricot and nectarine.Anyway, I shall leave you to enjoy it.I recommend trying it with some of the chilli hummus."He gestured to a dish on the platter between us.
Laila reached out to dip a cucumber into the hummus and tried it."Oh, that's also good."
"Dionysus hired one of my previous head chefs to work here," I said.
She raised an eyebrow."And that didn't cause any disagreements between you?"
I laughed."Two thousand years ago, it might have done, but I was actually the one who suggested Christos for the job.He was ready for a kitchen of his own, and he was never going to get that while working under me."
"I don't see how working under you would be a problem," she responded, drinking her wine a lot slower than it felt like she should, drawing my attention to her lips.
