Love and Beasts

Chapter 31

When they got in the car, Ivan told something to his driver and he started the engine. When Izabela finally buckled her seat, Ivan started asking her questions, worried about her current condition. "Iza, are you okay? Does it hurt?" He said, putting his hand on her right cheek. The girl hissed at the gesture, since despite having some makeup on, the bruise started to form and it had a slightly purplish color, which indicated the bruise wasn't light. Right after seeing her reaction, Ivan pulled his hand away and started rummaging through some stuff in one of the shelves of the car's back. He then found a pack of gauze for wounds but didn't know what to do with it, since there weren't any gels or anything that would soothe the pain or stop the bruising. "Can you stop by some supermarket or something?" "What for?" "To buy vinegar." When the men inside the car heard the girl, the driver tried not to laugh loud while Ivan looked at the girl as if she lost her mind. She only shrugged at how he looked at her. "Believe me or not, but it will be more useful for my forming bruise than some gel or medicine." "Are you sure? If you want we can go to the nearest hospital and do some X-ray." "Don't worry. My bones aren't that much delicate, so I don't have to worry about the broken bones on my skull. Besides, if I want to prevent the bruise forming on my face from its further development, I need to buy some vinegar. I'll tell you later why." "Let's say I trust you. But only a little, since it sounds a bit crazy." "Good. At least we are clear about this."

When they finished talking, the driver quickly reached the closest store. After they parked in front of it, the girl got out of the car and told Ivan to wait for her. When she closed the door and went inside the store, the driver couldn't refrain himself and bursted out laughing. Ivan seeing this, looked straight in the rearview mirror from the back of the car with anger. But it didn't faze the driver a single bit. "I see you got yourself an interesting woman." He said in Russian. "I must admit she's really something. I've never in my whole career had an encounter with a person like her." "Shut up, Alosha." "Mr Ivan, admit it yourself. You also were surprised by such demand." "You're right here. But she must be fully aware of what she's doing. You might not know, but she isn't like all those ordinary chicks you have seen me with." "So this is why you chose her? Why not Vasilisa or Milana? They are both beautiful and normal. Also, they come from families with good history." "You might have forgotten, but Vasilisa regardless of her status and looks is a self-centered and rude person. She treats everyone like her servants or worse - like slaves. And Milana is a spoiled brat who has no idea about the world outside her house and only knows how to spend money her father works hard for. I respect their parents but I would be a fool to take any of them as my woman. They are sweet to me when I'm with them, but I had many chances to see and hear what their real intentions are. Money and luxury. Besides, I'm sure they would cheat on me with anyone. And I don't want to have a chance of sharing the same bed with any of them, or worse - raise their kid, that just happens to be a fruit of their romance. Izabela is a total opposite of them. She knows what it means to work hard for one's success. She cares for those she loves most. She's also a good leader in the company. I had many chances to see her and surprisingly, she knows how to handle everyone she works with." "But you can't bet she will be devoted to you, or to anyone." "And here you're wrong. I have once tried to ask her out on a date. But she already said she has someone else. Meaning? She doesn't care about my money. If she did, she would cling to me like that one blondie, whom I saw having an argument with Izabela." "What was it about?" "I don't really know. But among all the stuff she was saying, Izabela openly said she feels nothing towards me and isn't interested in me." "Don't you think you should give up? If you will be too pushy towards her, you might scare her off by pursuing her." "Maybe. But there is more to her." "Ugh, and what would that be?" "I can't tell you now." "Hmm? Could it be you have rummaged through her identity data?" "Yes, I have. And you won't believe it, but I found something interesting, that father was longing to find for years." "Ohh? Now that sounds interesting." "But I won't tell you here about it. Better do it somewhere, where no one might hear us. For now, let's wait for her to enter the car, because I can see she's already exiting the store." "Yes young master Chernit."