Imperious.

Part X: Tom

© 2014 XxNotTonightXx.

All Rights Reserved

Author's Note: Please vote and comment, it helps. 

 Pages: 40 - 42

T O M - 

[Present]     Ever since I was a child, I've had the tendency to get into some big debate, some loud argument, some physical fight and mostly it all came down to my mouth.

I live life by the saying, "The truth shall set you free."

If I had something to say I said it. I never thought about the consequences of speaking my mind - why should I? What could I possibly lose? If someone did something that made me feel some type of way, why would I keep my thoughts to myself when I could tell the person exactly how I feel? It made no sense to me.

If someone was bothering me, I told them, and if I felt that a person and I were getting too familiar with one another, I simply told them to back off; I'm honest and blunt and honestly, that's not changing.  

 I can proudly say, however, that as a man with anger problems and a huge dose of bluntness, I continuously exercise the little patience I have. I've seen those people who are so bitter that they don't have anyone to be with them and I refuse to be that person.

With that being said, I keep my bluntness to a minimum. I'll grind my teeth, consult a therapist, or Google the issue; I will even walk away to try and clear my head. But that was my world before Emilia.

You know, the one where people don't turn into wolves when they get mad or need to defend themselves or simply because they can.

Now, with blood dripping from my nose and my body thundering violently, I watch as Halle circles me predatorily in her wolf form. I don't wait for her to strike first again; this time, I bring my fist back and hit her as hard as I possibly can.

.

.

.

[Before]     It all started with Kevin. He and I were pushing out orders for the diner. It was lunch time then, so orders were ranging from sandwiches with fries to steak with potatoes - in other words we were very busy.

Sweat was already pouring down from my forehead, so I didn't really mind it at that very moment,  but Kevin... well, Kevin was off.

You could tell: the upbeat, chatty guy I met a couple of  hours ago was then silent and bumping into me, eight times too many.

Not that I minded, but when his skin noticeably paled and his eyes started moving from side to side way too fast, I told him it'd be best for everyone if he stepped outside and took a breath of fresh air.

 Not  four minutes later, the yelling started. I tried to ignore it. I tried to exercise my limited amount of patience. I hastily reminded myself that Emilia only presented the idea of me coming here because she thought that it would be good for me to do something I enjoyed doing instead of staying home and doing nothing. But then the yells got louder, and Kevin didn't just sound nervous anymore, but tired and weary.

 "Halle I--" Kevin tried to explain again, his voice tremoring.

"Halle nothing! Get your ass back in my diner and do what I'm paying you to." She commands, her voice shrill and ringing loudly in the air.

"I'm not well." Kevin attempted again with a resigned sigh.

"I give you my condolences." She said mockingly. Then her voice hardened, "I don't care if your wolf was beginning to shift, you get back in the diner or you don't work again."