Eros' Errant Arrows

"Anyway, I won three arrows." I held Marian's hand, and she held mine back, brushing my knuckles with her thumb. I used it to shoot at her, but I missed."

Marian lifted her head. "And I used one to shoot at Ross, and I missed." Then she laid her head back on my shoulder.

My mother raised her hand like she was in school. "I shot an arrow at Robin." She waved her hand a little at Mr. Burch.

Mr. Burch asked the question that I didn't want answered. "Ross, if you missed Marian, where did the arrow go?"

I swallowed hard, and held Marian's hand firmly. "I missed Marian, but hit..." I pointed at Rachel, "...her."

He turned to my mother. "Maria, whom did you hit?"

My mother dug her toes in the sand, but she straightened her shoulders, stuck out her chest and said, "The arrow missed you, Robin, and hit..." she waved at Tony, "...him."

Finally Robin Burch turned to Marian, who was trying to make herself small behind me. "And your missed arrow hit me, right?"

I could feel Marian nodding her head without lifting it from my shoulder.

"Well, this is a dilemma, isn't it?" Mr. Burch had slipped into problem-solving mode. He walked in a circle around the entire group as he made thinking noises, of "Hmm" and "Okay," and "Huh." At one point, when he had moseyed behind me and Marian, I felt her flinch and squeak, and I knew that his mind wasn't entirely on the problem we faced; his hand had found Marian's red-tinged behind too enticing.

"Ross, back me up on this. I know how this magic works. Once you've been hit with one of Cupid's arrows, you become crazed for your love object. Now, Cupid shooting the arrow knows who will be the target and who will be their love interest. It's a game he plays. You think he's bad at poker? Maybe, but look at the matches he came up with!"

I had no experience in this matter, so I deferred to Mr. Burch.

"Once in a while, Cupid is foolish enough, or sly enough, to let mortals shoot the arrow themselves. The target the mortal hits becomes obsessively compelled to possess the shooter. That would not have been a problem if you all could shoot straight."

My mother had a curious look in her eye. "You know all this how, Robin?" she asked.

Mr. Burch seemed to bluster a bit. "Mythology books, right, Ross?"

I shrugged my shoulders. I had never read about this, and in retrospect, wish that the Love God had been clearer on the consequences of misplaced arrows.

My mother stood directly in front of Mr. Burch, halting him in his tracks. "You've used these arrows before, haven't you?"

Mr. Burch harrumphed, but my mother wouldn't let the idea go. "I never had the least bit of interest in you when I first started as your assistant twenty-five years ago. Then one day, zing! I couldn't stop thinking about you. Morning, noon, and night I thought about Robin Burch. It wasn't like me at all." She punched a finger into his chest. "But that kind of dirty trick is just like you, Robin."

Robin Burch gathered his shaky authority, and tried to go on. "We're not looking to solve an old problem. We need to satisfy the demands of a new problem."

My mother crossed her arms, and sat on the beach. Tony tried to get a little closer to comfort her, but Mr. Burch gave him a look and said, "Stand down, soldier." Tony stopped in his tracks.

Burch continued. "My suggestion, in light of the reality of the situation, is very simple. Until we satisfy the urges, the lust, the desires, that have been kindled in our loins, none of the arrow targets will be able to rest. We will follow that person the rest of our lives if necessary, until that one night of sweet passion and deliverance. The tension of anticipating the culmination of love will be unbearable."

Rachel ran her hands along her thighs. "That's so true, Daddy. I just need to fuck him."

"Be quiet, and wrap that shirt around you." He shook his head. "So you see, we have a problem. My suggestion is simple. For one night, we indulge ourselves. Right here, right now, if you like." His eyes devoured Marian. "Or I can arrange a trip on the yacht for all of us, a vacation to your favorite romantic destination, or a secluded hideaway anywhere in the world."

Tony nodded his head. Rachel stood with her legs apart and her hands on her hips. She was ready, no matter who might be watching, even her father. She realized, as we all did, that her father was more interested in bedding Marian than watching his daughter.

One night. Then it would be over. Maybe. What if Marian really started to fall for Mr. Burch? He had all the money in the world and it would be very hard to say no to the things that he could buy for her.

My mother looked at Tony appraisingly. She saw the breadth of his chest and the stoutness of his legs. His arms were strong enough to carry her into the surf, or across the threshold of any hotel room. She turned her nearly-naked body back and forth the way precocious children do before a person they want to charm. I think my mother was sold on the idea.

Rachel wanted to fuck me. No doubt. She licked her lips seductively, and stood with her legs spread. She had proved that she could arouse me, despite my lack of passion for her. She had the skills of a technician fine-tuning vintage car. The engine doesn't have to have any feelings, does it?

Still, I felt nothing for her.

My mother spoke up. "Are you out of your mind, Robin? Do you have any idea how badly you are screwing with these poor children?"

"They are already screwed, Maria. The arrow did that."

She shook her head. "Admit it, Robin. You used one of those arrows on me. I can't believe you. That was so unfair what you did."

"Old news, Maria. Get with the times. Anyway, you made me pay dearly enough for what we had together."

My mother slapped his face, which made him turn his attention from Marian to her. "We both suffered."

I was confused. "What are you talking about?" My mother and Robin Burch had been very close. They worked together. We took "working vacations" , where I got to know both Rachel and Mr. Burch, and my mother spent time with Rachel. I treasured these times, and often wished that my own father could have shared these days. Even Rachel had confided in me that she felt closer to my mother than she ever had with her own mother, whom she could no longer even remember.

My mother turned next to me. "Ross, put any thoughts of Rachel out of your mind.."

Rachel said, "Ms. Adams! You don't control me. You don't control Ross.."

"Shut up, Rachel," said my mother. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Rachel set her jaw and stepped up to my mother, who was a head taller than she was. "I know what I'm talking about. I see the way you and my father are when you think I'm not watching. I know what those 'work vacations' are about. You and my father, finding time together. And don't deny it." She looked at her father out of the corner of her eye. "Don't you deny it either. At least Ms. Adams is closer to your age than some of the women you let into our house. And Ms. Adams cares for you."

Robin Burch looked abashed. Tony looked like he was about to cry. "I thought you loved me, Maria." She waved her hand as if to erase the misconception.

Rachel tried to snuggle between me and Marian. "And if Ross and I want to be together, we should have the right."

Both Robin Burch and my mother spoke at once. "No!"

"Why?" Rachel asked.

My mother cupped Rachel chin in her hand. "Darling, you should know something. You can't sleep with Ross because...well, because he's your brother."

My jaw dropped. "Ew," I thought. But it did explain a lot of things, like why I just had no interest in the Most Desirable Woman in the World.

Marian started to laugh so heartily that she had to hold her sides. Even Tony was laughing, just not so outrageously.

Rachel looked to her father for confirmation. He nodded "You can't sleep with him. You and Ross are siblings."

Rachel turned red, and stamped her feet. Then she became very quiet. She looked her father in the eye, and said, "So?"

"What?"

"So what? It's just once, and then it will be over." She tried to grab me again, but I dodged her. Suddenly I felt a little ill at the memory of her on top of me, sucking like mad.

"No, darling. You can't. We won't let that happen. Right, Robin?" my mother said.

Robin was watching Marian trying to stop laughing, trying to get back on her feet. She kept slipping, and chuckling.

"Robin!"

He answered. "Yes. Of course."

Well, that was uncomfortable. Rachel finally believed that she had a mother, Maria Adams. I had a father, Robin Burch. They had had their affair when he was just starting up his office, and my mother fell uncontrollably in love. When she found that she was pregnant, he didn't exactly step up to the plate. In disgust, my mother only asked for him to support her and her baby. Neither suspected that she was carrying twins until they were born. At that point, Robin demanded that at least his son, and maybe both children, be with him because of the advantages that he could offer.

She said no. She threatened to expose him to his law firm, and expose the law firm to the bad publicity and hefty damages that could be levied for the sexual harassment and hostile environment lawsuit. The solution they both came up with was not ideal, they realized as the years went by. She would continue to work for him, and be his primary assistant. As he become more successful, she shared in his success, but not as openly as if his wife. If she were bothered by his affairs, she never let on. But she kept his son; Robin kept her daughter — a weird kind of balance.

Our working vacations were a wonderful part of my childhood. Rachel was my best friend growing up on these trips. Yet we never had the desire to explore, experiment or otherwise engage each other. Now I know why.

Robin and Maria reluctantly agreed that she could do more work if she moved to Robin's estate. She could also better protect Marian from Robin's advances. In the meantime, Tony always had an eye out for my mother. I expected Robin to fire him immediately, but it was not to be. Tony knew too many of Robin's secrets.

Whenever my mother and I met for dinner, I asked her whether she felt threatened by Tony's presence.

"Threatened? Why, no, dear. I wouldn't say I felt 'threatened' at all." Then she would give me a sly smile, and I guessed that my mother was getting along satisfactorily with big, burly Tony.

Marian quit her job as Rachel's companion. She couldn't spend any time with her without smirking and giggling. Marian moved in with me, and took a job as a photographer. Her work was very good. Robin promised to get her a show of her work. Her shots were as provocative as the ones she did of Rachel, except that now Marian sometimes posed her own model. The photos captured something extra in her eyes. She had learned a secret that she was eager to share. Everyone who viewed the photos wanted to hear that secret advice and share in the cosmic joke.

Did Robin ever try to jump Marian's bones? I'm sure he did. After all, the arrow's magic was still at work. But Marian had learned from my mother the kind of man that Robin Burch was, and no promises could allay the potential harm that Robin Burch was capable of causing. Did she sleep with him anyway? Who knows? I try not to think about it.

Rachel changed. Her father and mother had lied to her for all of her life. Her mother had been close all the while. Rachel was no longer carefree. She also had a new look in her eyes, that reflected the depravity of the world. I worried about her. I didn't want her to fall into despair, when I knew that she had so much to offer.

We remained friends. In fact, I think you would say we were best friends. When we found time together, we talked about the old vacations, and our lost time with parents, and about the one time when she had tried to fuck me. Then, because I saw that she was in so much pain, I made the sacrifice. I gave in to her. We took her yacht to an island she knew about. We spent the days in seclusion, where she and I felt comfortable in our nudity and sexuality.

I didn't desire her, exactly, but I appreciated her beauty more than before. She was natural, unencumbered, and open to me. We could be naked together and not feel awkward. At night, we cuddled by the campfire. Her dirty blond hair tumbled on my shoulder and chest. Her legs folded up, and rested against mine. We held hands, and counted the sparks flying up to the sky. It wouldn't take long before she began to tease me with her body. I accepted her, submitted, and loved her, for her own well-being.

I often recalled Cupid's devilish smile when he gave up those arrows. Perhaps he knew that every brother should have such a wonderful, winsome, willful sister.