Zeus complex

In the morning, Grandma Herminia asked for breakfast to be served in the garden, in her favorite corner, next to the roses she grew herself.

"Gia, dear! Come and join me, the coffee is delicious and they've prepared some delicious pancakes that I want you to try."

Gia went out into the garden, after spending the night in a room larger than the ground floor of the house where she lived before, she felt like Alice in Wonderland. The Greco mansion was a completely different world from everything she knew.

"Good morning, Mrs. Herminia," she greeted.

"Nothing of a lady!" Grandma corrected her, calling her to sit next to her. "Just Herminia, or Grandma if you prefer, tell me about yourself while we wait for my grumpy grandson to deign to come down."

Gia had barely sat down when Juno's voice was heard at the door.

“Now I have to meet her at breakfast too?” he growled, glaring at Gia. “Isn’t it enough that she lives here?”

“Good morning to you too, dear grandson,” Grandma replied. “I see you’re still as charming as ever.”

Juno sat as far away from Gia as possible, pointedly ignoring the girl as she poured herself coffee. 

“If she’s going to be your assistant, Grandma, you should at least make sure she’s trained. Can she even read?” she asked mockingly. 

Gia, who was drinking orange juice, nearly choked. 

"For your information," she replied, "I was in my final year of Literature when I had to drop out of college to take care of my mother."

"Oh, Literature!" Juno scoffed. "I suppose that prepared you perfectly for being a maid."

"Assistant," Gia corrected him, her eyes glinting dangerously. "And yes, in fact, Literature teaches you many things, such as how to recognize a Narcissus when you see one."

Grandma Herminia sipped her coffee to hide her laughter.

"Are you calling me a narcissist?" Juno stared at her.

"Oh, no," Gia smiled sweetly. "I was referring to the Greek myth, you know, the young man so in love with himself that he ended up turning into a flower, but if the shoe fits..."

"Ha!" Grandma couldn't contain her laughter. "Looks like you've met your match, dear."

"I also speak three languages," Gia continued, "French, Italian and some German, how many do you speak, besides the language of dirty business?

Juno turned bright red. "I don't have to put up with this," he stood up abruptly, almost knocking over his coffee. "Have a nice day."

"You haven't finished your breakfast!" Grandma said.

"I lost my appetite!" Juno replied, quickly walking away.

Grandma Herminia waited for her grandson to disappear before bursting into laughter.

"Wonderful, my dear! It's been years since I've seen someone put Juno in her place like that."

Juno arrived at his shipping company in a rage, stormed into his office, ignoring his employees' greetings, and sat down in his executive chair while loosening his tie.

"Sandra!" he called over the intercom. "Bring me a whiskey!"

"Mr. Greco, it's barely nine in the morning," his secretary replied worriedly.

"I don't give a damn what time it is! Bring me that whiskey!"

"My, my," an amused voice interrupted him. "Whiskey before lunch? It must be serious."

Tiago Rochester, her best friend and right-hand man at the company, entered the office with his usual carefree air, tall, with blond hair and green eyes, he had the kind of attractiveness that made the secretaries sigh when he passed.

"I'm not in the mood, Tiago," Juno growled, but her friend had already settled comfortably into one of the armchairs.

"I can see that. What happened? Did we lose some million-dollar contract? Did your latest conquest turn out to be married?"

"Worse," Juno accepted the glass of whiskey Sandra brought him. "My grandmother has completely lost her mind."

"The lovely Mrs. Herminia? Impossible, she's the only sane person in your family."

"She's hired a... a..." Juno searched for the right word.

"A what? Stripper? Serial killer? Don't leave me in suspense!"

"An assistant!" Juno burst out. "And not just any assistant! It's the same woman who spilled drinks on me on the yacht!"

Tiago was silent for a moment, processing the information. Then, to Juno's fury, he burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Juno protested.

"It's hilarious!" Tiago wiped away tears of laughter. "Are you telling me that the girl you tried to destroy now lives in your house? Fuck man!"

"It's a nightmare! I have to see her even in the soup! And you know what's worse? She's insolent! This morning she had the nerve to compare me to Narcissus."

"The one from the Greek myth?" Tiago whistled, impressed. "I like her style, I have to meet her."

"Meet her?" Juno looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "She's nobody! Just a starving woman who..."

"Wait, wait," Tiago leaned forward. "She's pretty?"

"What?!" 

"The girl, I didn't notice her on the yacht, you know I never look at the service staff. But now that she lives in your house... Is she attractive?"

The look Juno gave him was like daggers. "How would I know? She's just a maid!"

"Uhhhh," Tiago raised his hands in a sign of peace, but his eyes sparkled with amusement. "Someone is very sensitive today, we better change the subject before you rip my head off."

He stood up and pulled out some documents from his briefcase. "I need you to look over these contracts. The Portuguese company wants ten luxury yachts to start with, they want to test the quality of our boats."

"I'll look at them later," Juno massaged her temples. "Now I just want to finish this whiskey in peace."

"As you wish," Tiago headed for the door, but paused. "By the way... What time do you usually have dinner at home?"

"Get out!"

Tiago's laughter could be heard in the hallway as he walked away.

When Juno returned to the mansion that night, the sound of laughter coming from the main room made him stop dead in his tracks. He recognized Tiago's booming laughter mixed with his grandmother's soft giggle, and another laugh that gave him a strange tingle in his stomach.

"I can't believe it!" Tiago was saying between laughs. "Did you really tell the doctor that?"

"Of course!" Gia's voice sounded cheerful. "I said, 'Doctor, if you think I'm going to accept your indecent proposal, then medical school fried your brain cells.'"

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Grandma Herminia. "You've got guts, darling, you remind me of myself when I was young."

"Oh, tell me more about that," Gia asked with genuine interest. "What were you like when you were young?"

"You were a terror," Juno's voice rang out, causing everyone to turn. "You still are."

"Juno!" Tiago smiled widely. "Good thing you're here! Your grandmother was telling us fascinating stories."

"Didn't you have work to do?" Juno glared at her friend.

"Oh, I finished early, did you know Gia speaks three languages? Her French is excellent."

"Merci beaucoup," Gia smiled.

"De rien, mademoiselle," Tiago replied.

"If you're going to flirt," Juno interjected, "could you do it somewhere else?"

"Flirt?" Tiago feigned surprise. "We're just having a civilized conversation. You should try it sometime."

"Gia was telling us about her Literature studies," Grandma added. "She has a fascinating thesis on the influence of Greek mythology on modern literature."

"Fascinating," Juno murmured sarcastically.

"Oh yes, in fact, I was explaining to Tiago how many modern executives remind me of mythological characters. For example, some have the Zeus complex..."

"Zeus complex?" Tiago leaned in with interest.

"Yeah, you know... they think they can play with the lives of mortals at will," Gia looked directly at Juno. "Ruining careers, destroying lives... all from their corporate Olympus."

"What an... interesting analysis," Juno's voice dripped with sarcasm. "And what other complexes have you identified in your deep study?"

"Oh, several," Gia smiled. "Midas syndrome is quite common among businessmen. Everything they touch turns to gold, but in the end they discover that they can't eat gold or hug gold..."

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Tiago. "Have you thought about writing a book? 'Mythology for Executives' or something like that."

"Enough!" Juno stepped forward. "Tiago, it's late. Don't you have a house to go back to?"

"Actually," Tiago checked his watch, "Mrs. Herminia invited me to dinner. It's about to be served, right?"

"In five minutes," Grandma confirmed. "They've prepared your favorite dish, Juno. Although in that mood, perhaps you'd prefer to dine in your room."

"Fine," Juno loosened his tie. "I'll stay, but only because it's my house."

"Technically," Grandma chimed in, "it's my house. Your grandfather left it to me."

"This is unbelievable!" Juno threw up her hands in surrender. "Is everyone against me?"

"Don't be dramatic, honey," Grandma said, standing up. "Now, can we go to the dining room like civilized people?"

As they made their way to the dining room, Tiago approached Juno and whispered, 

"By the way, you were right about not wanting to tell me if I was pretty. If I'd known she was that beautiful, I would have come sooner."

"Tiago!"

"What?" his friend smiled innocently. "I'm just saying what I see. And what I see is that the 'simple maid' is driving you crazy... in more ways than one."

"I'm going to...!"

"Kids!" Grandma called from the dining room. "Dinner's getting cold!"

Juno took a deep breath and followed her friend into the dining room, wondering when her once-perfect life had turned into this circus.