Project Cleopatra

Chapter 7:

Mark Antony.

As Julius and I waited for him in the counsel room, my heart thumped faster.

Cleopatra, calm down!

Apologies. She sounded flustered. I guess there was only one man that truly unravelled her.

My breath hitched as I heard footsteps rustle behind me and Julius cheered, getting up from his seat to greet our latest arrival. Slowly, I turned around allowing my eyes to land on Antony.

He had yet to look over at me because Julius had pulled him into a brotherly hug. As the two men conversed, I could feel Cleopatra humming within me, her thrill at seeing Antony again growing rapidly.

I frowned deeply.

He was less attractive than Julius, with his hair cropped short, presumably to keep him cool on the battlefield. He was, however, sturdier. His muscles were more trained than Julius' and he was blessed in ways which would be inappropriate to voice out loud. Cleopatra provided that last detail. My eyes widened in shock, flashing through memories with Antony and I turned away to cover up the blush.

"Antony, you sly dog! How dare you run off on an adventure without letting me know," Julius scolded, causing my ears to prick up.

"Forgive me, Cae- Julius. It was more of an emergency."

That was strange. Why did he suddenly change what he called Julius halfway through? Furthermore, my intrigue about the emergency heightened when I sensed Cleopatra's annoyance. She was... she was mad at Antony?

What happened to all the excitement? I asked her.

She ignored me but I became increasingly irritated and embarrassed the more Antony ignored me and continued his conversation with Julius.

That's when I saw it. Antony's greyish eyes found my own and in an instant moved away. I scoffed.

He was avoiding me! How dare he–

That's when I remembered what he'd done.

Two nights ago, we had met in his chambers, for our usual drinking festivities, discussing the latest wines we had each collected. He had been acting strange all evening after we had woken from our naps. Toward the latter part of the night, I decided to make a move on Antony. He grew slightly awkward, trying to keep his distance, which confused me. I cupped his warm face, stroking my thumb across his cheek knowing that was a comfort of his. Instead of leaning into it, as he normally would, he tensed up.

"Mark, what is the–" I asked getting close enough to kiss him.

"I-I have to go," he interrupted, getting up and running off.

Oh no, he didn't.

Oh yes, he did. Cleopatra pouted, which reminded me those were not my memories but rather hers.

I tilted my head to the side and bit the tip of my thumbnail. How many times had I forgotten this wasn't my life?

I looked up at Antony again. This time his eyes were on the nail between my teeth and I quickly dropped my hands to my lap. His brows furrowed a bit before Julius caught him by his ear. "You've been gone for two days. What emergency was it?"

"Um, some bandits in the lower city."

I could tell he was lying.

"Well, if it were some petty bandits I don't see why you needed to get involved, especially since I needed you here."

Antony's attention returned to Julius. "What news from Brutus?" he said, sounding much more confident in his approach to Julius than he had been a couple of seconds ago.