Love and Beasts

Chapter 45

When Michael entered a subway with Iza on his arms, the couple earned amused looks from the other passengers. The man firstly put the girl down on one of the chairs, while seating himself on the other one, next to hers. "Is there something that I should know?" "Nope. Not that I can think of anything." "Then what happened? I thought that that other bastard was today at your company?" "He was." "Then why didn't he help you?" "Ugh, can we just change the subject? Can we talk about anything and anyone else but Akira?" Michael eyed the girl suspiciously. It was odd to see her like this: down and unwilling to talk about something. "Alright. But at least tell me what the hell did you do with that foot of yours? I don't remember that you've ever had an accident like that before." "Long story short, I slipped on the last of the steps on one of our company's stairs. At one moment I heard a sound similar to crunching and a bit of pain, but brushed it off as a part of my imagination." "Christ, you're imagination is too too wild." The man said, putting his hand to his forehead in resignation. "Relax. It's not like I broke my leg?" After receiving 'that' look from him the girl groaned in annoyance. "Fine. Maybe I broke a bone or two. But it ain't my first time." "What the? Someone used to beat you up?"

"But in what way?" "What?" "In what way?" "What do you mean 'in what way'?" "I mean if you're talking about a child abuse or way of raising a kid?" The man looked at her, at loss for words in this situation. "Didn't you also hit your head?" "Nope, my head is fine." "Jesus Christ. I meant as in child abuse obviously. I wouldn't even consider other options." "Ahh, that makes sense. No, my household was free of any form of domestic violence and terror. But when my mother's parents finally showed up at my 10th birthday, they started training me and schooling to be good in martial arts and other stuff. This sometimes resulted in worse injuries than just some bruises or cuts." "Wait, so this is what you meant by 'way of raising a child'?" "Yeah, that would be it." "..." "..." "You're crazy." "Oh, you flatter me~. But tell me, wouldn't our lives be dull and monotone without a tiny bit of craziness?" After looking at her for a while longer Michael chuckled with his eyes closed and shook his head with a smile on. "Haa. You're probably right. But you should be more careful of your surroundings." "Fiiine, dad." At this they both looked at each other and grinned, while laughing loudly and catching the attention of other passengers on the train.

...

When they finally got to the hospital, the man still carried the girl on his hands which made them stand out quite much. When they were waiting for their turn, Izabela noticed that some nurses ogled Michael from up to down and started to gossip about him. "Wow, did some model just enter our hospital?" "He's so handsome!" "And sexy!" "Do you think that woman next to him could be his girlfriend?" And they looked at Izabela, who only glared at them back in response. "Nah, seems to be too hot tempered for him. And besides, she's quite tall and fat for a woman." "Hahaha! Good one, Gladys!" The other two snickered at this comment and looked back at the girl to see her annoyed. "Hey Iza?" "Hmm?" The girl asked, while turning her head to pay full attention to the man. When she did it, the man suddenly came closer, put his hand on her face and sealed their lips together, in a short but warm kiss. "What's gotten into you?!" She said, embarrassed by the outcome. The man only chuckled and gestured her to look in a certain direction. When she did it, she noticed how these nurses were shocked. Their mouths were wide open and their eyes seemed to come out. When they noticed the couple stare at them, they scurried away, both angry and flustered.

"That was funny to watch." The man said. "Why did you?" The girl wanted to question him, but he interrupted her midsentence. "I myself hate to be stared down and through by people around me. Hell, even somebody wanted to hire me to some model agency as a model candidate." "For real?!" The girl nearly shouted in disbelief, grabbing him by his arms. "Uh, yeah." "Did you accept it?" "No. My answer to it was no." When Michael looked at the girl, she was looking at him wide eyed. "You can't be serious, right?" "I'm always 100% serious." "No you're not. But why though? Is there a certain reason behind it?" Seeing that other people are busy and it seemed that no doctor was coming towards them, the man looked at the girl beside him and smiled. "I just felt like it. Besides, I don't like to be restricted and kept under someone else's control." "What do you mean?" "Whenever I've heard someone speak about them being a model, from their point of view it was a lot of hard work. You have to abide many rules and restrictions that sometimes might drive you faster to your grave. You have to be punctual, always keeping in touch, following some diets or other shit like that. This is why I prefer my current lifestyle: it's simple, not that tiring, and makes me happy. And most importantly, I already have a job and it's not like I'm some beggar asking for a spare change. In my job, I can use my strength and durability in a more practical way. Maybe there are people willing to take the challenge and start their career as a model. But I'm a wolf. And wolves don't allow themselves to be trained by some clown in circus."