Cupid's Mishap

Orion paced along the top of a curio cabinet in the bustling restaurant. In the thousands of years his family had been cupid, no one had ever missed their target. His father would be incredibly disappointed when he found out about this. But that gave him an idea.

He stopped pacing and ran his fingers through the curly blonde mop on his head. What if he hit the right girl, and shot the woman in the black dress again. Sure, she isn’t supposed to find someone for another couple of years, but who will notice? He pulled back on the bow string, taking extra care to ensure his aim was perfect this time.

His brother took that moment to land on the cabinet.

He jumped and released the arrow from his bow. Orion watching in horror as it ricocheted off the ceiling of the restaurant, hit the floor next to a waiter, pinged off a wall, and finally landed on a plate of oysters. A whooping laugh pulled his attention away from his second mishap of the night. His brother, Hiero, was rolling on the curio cabinet, holding his sides and laughing.

He wanted to kick Hiero in the face, make him look like a cow. Or is that a pig? Wishing to avoid the embarrassment and further humiliation, he sulked off. Of course, his brother followed.

“Father will hear about this.”

Orion rolled his eyes at that. What else is new?

“I’m sure he will.”

“I’m not referring to the oysters you tried to reincarnate with love. You missed the mark.”

He knew there had to be a reason his brother would stumble in immediately after he hit the wrong girl with his arrow. “So he sent you to correct my screw up?”

Hiero nodded solemnly. “The first of many, I‘m afraid. I advised him not to allow you in the field yet. You’re not ready.”

Orion sighed. “Must you be so truculent?”

Attempting to stifle a laugh, Hiero said, “did you just learn that word? I’m not sure you used it in that sentence correctly.”

Glaring at his brother, Orion spoke through gritted teeth, “I don’t need your criticism. I‘m disgusted with myself enough as it is.”

He stalked off, hoping his brother would get the hint and leave. As if the fates were working in overdrive that night, he tripped over his own feet and fell off the cabinet. He landed on his butt, causing his quiver to fly up and over his head. Red glitter, arrows, and little plastic hearts went everywhere. Orion didn’t even bother to pick anything up. He just got up and flew out of the restaurant.

Hiero shook his head, trying to understand how a cupid could get so angry. He looked around the dining area and found the woman in the black dress Orion had shot on accident. He pulled out his bow, slide an arrow into place, and prepared to right a wrong. As he pulled the string back and looked down the line of the arrow to the target below, he saw something that made him pause.

A smile spread across his face. Hiero switched arrows and aimed for the woman who was supposed to have been hit. She was sitting at a table alone, staring out a nearby window. He paused for a fraction of a second, shook his head, and let the arrow fly.

It hit her square in the chest, causing her to wipe a tear from her eye and look toward the entrance of the restaurant. In walked a man dressed in a nice suit wearing wire rimmed glasses. He looked around the room, spoke to the Maitre De, and was ushered to the table next to Hiero’s target. The man looked like he had just left a business meeting, but he was completely alone as he began to look over the menu. He glance at the woman to his left and leaned over to ask her a question, presumably about a recommendation.

The specifics were unimportant to Hiero. He leaned against the wall, a satisfied smile on his face, and enjoyed the view below