The Devil Walks Among Us; Book l - Completed 4/21/22

Keep the Wolves Away

'If I meet you at the door will you help me carry this stuff?' She had texted him, although Michael hadn't read it as he turned the stupid phone on silent as he hated the keyboard sounds and whoosh! sounds the game on the phone was playing as he killed time. 'ok' He replied, sighing before turning off the truck, pulling his favorite beanie over his head, keeping his ears warm almost instantly as, he wouldn't admit it, preferred hiding his head as he was insecure about his hair loss.

He met Mia at the front door of the building, his heart swelling as he never got tired of seeing her face, especially now that she had given him his beyond-perfect daughter. She smiled at him, "I have to get some paperwork to take home with me. This'll keep me busy for the next few weeks." She giggled, adjusting Ella's weight before gesturing for Michael to follow her. He hated showing his maskless face in a public setting, but he did it for Mia. She had no cruel intentions with him, but she did want him to become comfortable with having to do normal things, and he did, but on his terms.

One day at a time...

He followed her to an office through the short hallway that led them there, where a cart of boxes filled with paperwork awaited her. He hated that she chose to work when she was supposed to be resting, but he could understand how she felt. She never had to do house chores since Michael had been with her - the most being she would do laundry, but other than that, Michael beat hear to everything.

"Well, no wonder Ella is so perfect! Look at these two, Sondra!" Mia's HR clerk, Molly, smiled. She was more of Michael's age, which instantly made Mia jealous as Molly seemed more than eager to compliment Michael, but she forced herself to think otherwise, hoping Michael wouldn't catch on to Mia's expression, flustered that she thought of him the same way he thought about her.

But oh, he already caught on to how Molly was acting towards him... and he hoped she respected boundaries...

He'd hate to kill a woman other than Karen our Laurie at this point.

"Yes, I know, they are such a beautiful couple." Sondra agreed, her response genuine as she stood beside Mia.

"Absolutely. Look at him, such a handsome man!" Molly smiled, grazing his arm briefly. Michael smirked at Mia's glare, loving how territorial she became of him. He shied his arm away from the gesture, not liking any other woman aside from Mia touch him. She'll tear your head off, lady.

"Alright, so is this all of the paperwork you need me to do?" Mia asked, changing the subject.

"Oh," Molly said, shaking her head and turning towards Mia. "Yes, for now, anyway. I have you in the system for your maternity leave for twelve weeks. Is that enough time?"

"More than enough, actually. I wish I could come back to work in a couple of weeks-"

"-No." Michael said, looking at her, ignoring the gleam in Molly's eyes as she turned her head towards him, clearly attracted to him after hearing his voice.

"Better listen to your fella, Mia," Molly giggled. "I take it he's not a man to get on his bad side."

"Oh, he's not," Mia scoffed. "My husband is quite the character, that's for sure."

"I'm sure," Molly grinned. "When you get finished with these, just bring them back and I'll give you more."

"So pretty much - have all of this done in a week?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll be back next Friday."

"Okay, see you then."

Michael ushered Mia in front of him as he pushed the cart as, compared to Ella, was heavier and too much for her to handle. He couldn't help but chuckle at Mia's expressions, but he knew he would have lost his cool if the roles were reversed. He would've killed a man for saying something out of line to her.