A Greek God In Harlem Read online

  Perseus closed his eyes at the sight and on opening them, his reflection was back to normal. He stared at the water for a bit, before hitting into it angrily. This Medusa wench was not going to get the better of him.

  He would kill her and her sea snake thing, all by himself. His mother would regain her health, and Andromeda would...

  Well, he didn't know what Andromeda would do then. She was engaged to someone else after all...

  He jumped out of the water and dried himself off. He had to seek Hercules' advice before leaving. Hercules had done this all before...

  At this moment, the book had fallen out of Tanya's hands and she had fallen asleep in spite of the interesting story. She fell asleep dreaming of gods and mortals, and whether they could truly love each other.

  Outside, the wind blew and ruffled the tree leaves. Somewhere, a gunshot could be heard. Somewhere else, a block party had just begun. Tanya slept soundly on the couch.

  Another night in her home town, Harlem.

  Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Tanya's black heels sounded on the shiny floor as she frantically rushed through the white hallways of Mount Sinai School of The Arts. She couldn't believe it. She had overslept on the couch reading that book Perseus the night before and it was now 10 in the morning. Her lecture was supposed to have begun two hours before.

  Maybe she would find her students silently reading instead of having gone home?

  Huh? Fat chance, she thought as she turned a corner. She held on tight to her folders as she approached her classroom. It was silent for sure.

  She entered the room with a huge apologetic smile on her face and her face dropped.

  They were all gone.

  They hadn't even waited for her. They couldn't wait two hours. Maybe her Greek Philosophy lesson really was that boring. She felt her past insecurities creep back in. Was she really up for this 'teaching' thing?

  She started to make her way to the staffroom before spotting Donyelle come out of the ladies' bathroom.

  Donyelle beamed at her professor, "Hey Tanya. Sorry we didn't stay in the class, we're all in Theatre Hall... waiting for you."

  Tanya gave her student a perplexed look, "Theater Hall? What are you guys doing there?" They both started walking.

  Donyelle dabbed some lip gloss on her fleshy lips, "Errm...it was on your orders teach'. Percy told us."

  The older woman grabbed Donyelle's arm as they both walked towards the Theatre Hall, "Wait what? Percy? Who's Percy?"

  Donyelle rolled her eyes at her beautiful teacher,

  "Only the hottest new teacher ever. Perseus Theodosiou. The Greek guy from yesterday? He's our new Theater Coach."

  Tanya shook her head as they entered the Theatre Hall. What the hell was going on? Don't tell me that guy is a teacher here, she thought to herself.

  Alas, when she entered the Hall, all her students were there, most of them paired up and reciting scripts. They were all into the activity and none of them looked up as she entered the room angrily.

  She headed for the tall figure in the corner of the room, who was currently surrounded by a group of giggling female students.

  She damn near pushed a few girls out of the way as she approached him, tapping him on the shoulder. A surprised Percy turned around. He was clearly enjoying all the attention he was being given. He had a huge smile on his face.

  "We meet again!" He exclaimed. Tanya stood there glaring at him. Her eyes fell down to the name tag on his chest. She read the wording under his handsome photo:

  Perseus Theodosiou

  Theater/Acting Coach

  Mount Sinai School of the Arts, Harlem.

  He smiled when he saw her disbelieving eyes widen. The dark haired, thick eye-browed man held out his hand, "Just call me Percy. I quite enjoyed calling you Andromeda yesterday but Tanya is just as hot." He gave her a mischievous smile.

  Tanya put her hand to her forehead, "Why didn't you tell me you were a new teacher here? Why didn't you show your ID? You were totally freaking us out yesterday!" Her anger was turning to embarrassment at the way she had thrown him out of her class the day before.

  Perseus, or Percy as he liked to be called, shrugged, "I'm an acting coach. I was acting. Yesterday I was role playing as Perseus, the Greek god...and you were supposed to be Andromeda, my queen. Too bad you didn't play along." The corners of his lips lifted slightly.

  Tanya shook her head and looked around the buzzing Theatre Hall. The students were hunched over scripts and seemed to be enjoying it. She looked back at Percy, who was observing her gaze. He answered before she could ask,

  "I figured you wouldn't want them to leave before you got to school. I found them packing their bags and led them here instead... you can have your lesson now."

  She looked at his earnest expression and looked back at the class. She was curious,

  "What script are they reading?"

  Percy reached over and grabbed one of the books she was holding to her chest. As he removed it, his hand brushed against the mound of breast under her sweater. They both blushed. Tanya pretended not to have noticed, although her ears were becoming hot.

  She couldn't help wanting him to do that again. To touch her.

  He cleared his throat and showed her the book, "It's some bits from this book, Perseus. That's why I left it on your desk yesterday. I got it from a bookstore."

  Tanya's eyes widened, "That is such a coincidence. I was reading this same book a few days ago. You must have picked it up after I had returned it to the shelf. The shop owner is Middle Eastern right?"

  Percy couldn't remember and didn't care. He was staring straight into her dark brown eyes. Eyes that seemed so innocent... it really turned him on. Her whole manner did.

  The way she held onto her folders so tight, as if they were her life.

  The way her dark black hair was braided so simply, yet so intricately. She was very afrocentric-looking.

  He couldn't explain it, but it really turned him on.

  "Errm Percy?" The beautiful, braided black woman interrupted his thoughts. He snapped back and blushed yet again.

  "Sorry I was... a little distracted there..." he said as he looked her over yet again. He had to stop doing this. After all, she was...

  "You're patient." Tanya quipped, looking straight at him.

  Percy panicked, "What did you just say?"

  "I said... you're patient. With these students. How did you get them to concentrate on your script so quickly? I mean, I have to take at least an hour to get their attention, though they're great otherwise."

  Percy smiled with relief, "Oh! Yeah I'm patient I guess. We were all like this at that age." Tanya smiled and nodded. She was slowly warming up to this fellow.

  "Do you wanna' grab a coffee in the teacher's lounge? I didn't have breakfast 'cuz I was rushing so fast." She put forward her request. She dreaded the potential rejection and was ready for it.

  To her surprise, Percy's face lit up, "You know what? That would be great. Lemme leave these girls with the scripts and we're off."

  By 'girls' he probably meant the girls who had been staring at him the whole time during their conversation. They had refused to get into 'script reading' mode like the rest, and had instead resorted to admiring Percy's biceps. Tanya smiled understandably and let him get back to the girls for a few minutes.

  He quickly rushed through the instructions with them and handed them all scripts, much to their disdain. They wanted him, not some damn scripts.

  He escaped their attempts at conversation and rejoined Tanya. She looked up at his sculpted, yet soft face.

  "They really like you. I forgive you for stealing my class away..." she joked as they walked out of the hall and towards the teacher's lounge.

  Percy innocently placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her out the double doors, "They were running away Miss Whitford, I caught them," he whispered into her ear.

  Tanya giggled and tried to concentrate with him walking so close to her. He literally looked like
a Greek god. He was obviously of Greek descent yes... but he looked so much like the picture on the cover of the book Perseus. His full name was Perseus as well.

  Whether coincidence or not, Tanya was more than happy to start sharing her class with this mysterious new teacher.

  And judging by the looks he was giving her, he definitely felt the same way.

  Tanya bit into her ham sandwich and reveled in the taste. She would never miss breakfast again!

  She closed her eyes as the ham and bread went down her throat. On opening them again, an amused Percy was staring at her, before quickly looking down at his own plate of food.

  Tanya chuckled and said in a muffled tone, "Forgive me, but I gotta enjoy this sandwich. Hmm."

  Percy couldn't help but smile. He wanted so badly to lick the dab of mustard from the corner of her lip. To lick it with his own tongue.

  Instead he leaned forward with a tissue and wiped it off her. She giggled and muttered a 'Thank you' before biting into the sandwich again.

  She managed to ask, "So... Percy..."

  He repeated in the same tone, "So... Tanya..." They both smiled at each other. Tanya would not be defeated, "You say you joined Mount Sinai this week? Where from?"

  Percy stared intently at her. What should he tell her?

  "I was teaching in Connecticut...somewhere there," he replied as he recalled his US geography. Tanya didn't seem quite satisfied with his answer.

  "Connecticut? Okay. So what made you decide you wanted to teach here, in Harlem?" she inquired. She was genuinely curious about that fact.

  He rolled his sleeves up his muscular arms and placed them on the table, leaning forward.

  "I dunno really. I guess I wanted a change of environment. Things were getting mundane. I needed to branch out, expand my horizons..."

  "And you chose Harlem?"

  "Yep. Why not? I like to help anywhere in any way I can. I have a passion for what I do, and I want to find other ...passionate people." He said the last two words as his eyes fell down to her lips unashamedly.

  When Tanya saw how his eyes were on her lips, she suddenly had to cross her legs. This man was definitely trouble.

  "So how are we gonna combine our teaching schedules? Since we're gonna be teaching together?" she asked.

  She sat back and watched him explain. He had a habit of licking his lips, which Tanya found extremely distracting

  She barely heard anything he was saying, as she was now taking time to observe his features.

  First of all, he was extremely good looking, with slightly tan skin. He had the most noticeable dark black hair that was slightly wavy but short. His eyes were a similar black, but on looking closer, Tanya could see a hint of blue. A very light blue. The contrast was amazing.

  He had a strong nose, almost royal and his lips. Hmm. They were slightly fleshy but very serious looking. Like they were used to being pursed shut.

  He had long dark eyelashes and thick eyebrows, a feature Tanya had noticed in many Greek men, on television at least. Percy was here, in the flesh, with her. A Greek hunk.

  And they were going to spend the next school year in the closest proximity. Tanya gulped. Lord help me keep my legs shut!

  "I love the way it is." He said. Tanya snapped from her thoughts and begged his pardon, "Sorry what?"

  Percy leaned forward, "I love your hair. It looks just as Andromeda's hair was." He was looking at her braids in wonder.

  Tanya flipped her huge braids back and laughed shyly, "Andromeda had braids? How would you know that?"

  His eyes suddenly seemed to glaze over. He looked back down and changed the subject, "I think our students might be waiting for us?"

  A disappointed Tanya nodded and got ready to head back to the class. She had hoped he would pass more compliments about her hair, but alas... it was back to business.

  He stood up first and held his hand out to help her get up. She was amused at the chivalry but gave in to it anyway. At the very moment she held his hand, a tall modelesque Black woman with a 'Halle Berry haircut' passed by, giving the couple an evil eye. Was Tanya flirting with the new guy already?! Typical.

  When Tanya spotted her, she called out to the lady, "Hey Aisha!"

  Aisha Mills exasperatedly stopped in her tracks and turned around to face the couple, her smile as fake as ever.

  "Tanya? Aren't you and Mr. Theodosiou supposed to be holding a class?" she asked coldly.

  Tanya dropped Percy's hand, which she had still been holding for some reason.

  "Errr yeah. We were on a break. Look can we talk about the schedule for,"

  Aisha held out her hand to stop Tanya from continuing. Percy frowned. This pixie-haired chick was hot but quite rude.

  Aisha pulled out her phone to answer a call and walked on, leaving Tanya and Percy standing there. Tanya was visibly upset, Percy could tell.

  He leaned into her as he asked, "And she is..." imploring for her name.

  "Aisha Mills. Her dad is the school principal. She's sort of like a coordinator around here." Percy nodded as he and Tanya walked back to the Theater Hall.

  "I'm assuming she's self-appointed?" he asked. Tanya giggled and refused to gossip about her superior anymore. She only said,

  "Percy. Welcome to MSSA. Where you're either at the top or you're a nobody." Percy took in those words and stared at Aisha walking away, her hips wiggling from side to side.

  He looked back at Tanya saying, "No. MSSA... welcome to Perseus." He had a serious look on his face.

  Tanya found his sudden authoritative nature extremely sexy, amongst other things.

  She kept silent and wondered what he meant by the last sentence. What exactly did he have in store for MSSA? For Harlem? For her? As she stared at his muscular form, she knew couldn't wait to find out.

  Little did she know, the boss' daughter, Aisha Mills was thinking the same thing.

  Chapter Three

  When Percy and Tanya got back to the Theater Hall, all hell had broken loose.

  The floor was covered in scripts and Tanya managed to dodge a flying pen.

  Percy held Tanya's shoulders as his dark blue eyes looked at their previously silent class in disbelief.

  "What the HELL is going on here?!" He asked in a booming voice. Donyelle was standing on one of the desks, screaming down at Morris, who was nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.

  Percy looked at Tanya's equally confused face and decided he had to do something. The whole class seemed to be cheering on the argument taking place between the young couple. A couple of disses and hi-fives were being thrown around.

  The tall Greek took a few strides across the room and at once he was at the desk Donyelle was standing on. In one swoop he managed to lift her lithe body by her denim clad legs and placed her on the floor as she fought him.

  He looked at Morris who was now posturing, looking 'cool' and not affected by his girlfriend's actions.

  Tanya approached the crowd herself after Perseus had done the dirty work.

  "Okay can someone tell me what's going on?" she asked angrily, "Seriously, I need an explanation now students!"

  Percy was now holding Donyelle, who was crying into his chest. Tanya turned to Morris, whom she knew was the culprit.

  Morris sighed, "Look teach'. This is between me and Donyelle... y'all handle your business. I'll handle mine." He said, chewing a piece of gum and looking bored.

  Tanya glared at him, "You made it my business when you decided to bring your drama into the classroom! This is not Jerry Springer." She said this while glancing at Donyelle as well.

  Then she appeared by Morris' side. Julianna. She looked straight at Donyelle and started in rapid English mixed with Spanish,

  "Look chica. Morris can make his own decisions. You're not his wife or anything. Clearly, he prefers to read the script with me, not with you."

  This is when Morris spoke up, "Look guys. I didn't say I preferred to read it with Julianna. I just think... we all need to change it up a bit sometimes."
He said this as he looked guiltily at his sobbing girlfriend. He knew he had already crossed the line when she spotted him stroking Julianna's hair as they rehearsed.

  Donyelle had seen this and flown off the handle. Women. Morris shook his head.

  Donyelle frowned, "Whatever Morris. You just like rubbing it in my face. You like her, I can tell."

  The whole class was awkwardly silent by now. Was the 'IT' couple about to break right there and then? Over Julianna? Damn. They watched intently.