Long Run

~ 13 ~

I open my phone and I read Simon's message.

- Hi, how are you? How is your day?

It's simple but my heart skipped a beat. Should I reply now or when I get home? My fingers have a mind of their own and started tipping. I stop myself. I need to get home first. I have so many questions about the Lycans. Iris told me a completely different story about them than my father.

Iris's story makes more sense. Werewolves would not just turn on their own kind and murder without reason. They did not just murder, they whipped out a whole supernatural species. That is unforgivable in my book.

I still have the phone in my hand. I have reread the message maybe ten times already. I knew I have a big smile on my face that I cannot hide. I need to get home and talk to him. I walk outside it's 4 pm. It's so hot, I was going to walk home but that is not possible. I open my Uber app and pin my location. I have a ride close by in 3 minutes. Wow, that was easy.

My ride was fast. I enter my apartment. It's a small studio apartment on the 18 floor, blocks away from the beach with a balcony. I heat up the leftover dinner that Dad and I made yesterday. We had thin sliced red meat. I chopped up some tomatoes, cucumbers, green pepper, and green onions. Mixed it all with olive oil, and topped it off with fresh parsley and feta cheese.

I quickly change into a tank top and cotton shorts. I make myself comfortable on the sofa with my phone and my food in hand. I take a couple of bits. I did not notice I was that hungry. Maybe I need to pack a protein bar for class.

I open my phone and reply to Simon.

- Hi, I am good. My day was busy. First day of school. It was interesting.

I send Dimon a text message and take a big bit of my salad. I hear I received a message. Wow, he replied right away.

~ I am glad you had a good day. Can you tell me about it?

What! He wants to know about my day. Okay...

~ I really like my professor. He is very different from all the teachers I had in high school.

~ Remember Ivy, your teachers back home were werewolves. Your professors in college are humans.

~ I understand that, but there is something else about him and his daughter that makes me drawn to them. I text him.

~ His daughter?

I forgot to tell him that I also meet Iris.

~ When I was in the hallway after class I was not watching where I was walking and accidentally walked into a girl. She also was not watching where she was going because she was carrying books. After our collision, I help her carry the books back to her father's office. One more thing about them. They have white hair, the professor and his daughter.

~ White like yours?

~ Not quit. Their hair is more whiter than mine. His daughter's hair is a little shade of violet. Now when I am thinking about it, it matches her name perfectly.

Okay, how do I ask him about the Lycans? And now that I am thinking about it, what she told me, it's weird. So I continue and ask.

~ Is there anything in our history about dragons? I don't remember anything from the werewolf history class or from my supernatural class.

~ There is nothing in our history books. But I remember reading one of my Dad's books when I was a teenager. The book was written by a werewolf actually a great-grandson of a werewolf. It was all about his adventures in Europe, Brazil, Africa, the Middle East, Asian countries, Anatolia which is now Turkey, Egypt, and many more. He came across many supernatural creatures and one of them was dragons. In my opinion, it was fiction or exaggerated at some level. He had a whole chapter on mermaids in Israel. He wrote they were smart, unattractive, and murderous creatures worst than killer whales. Why are you asking?

I need to read this book and what should I tell Simon now? Why I am asking about dragons? He will think I am crazy.

~ Iris's Dad had an interesting Bansi tree in this office so Iris told me a folklore story about it. It had dragons, magic, and Lycans in it.

~ Lycans?

~ Yes their Lycan story is very different from our Lycan story and how they became extinct.

~ Can you please tell me what she told you?

So I tell Simon what Iris told me.

~ Wow this is interesting. Simon texts.
It's better than any Indian folklore story I read.

I smile at his message. We have been texting back and forth for almost two hours. It feels natural talking to him. So I just ask.

~ So where are you now?

~ I am in my office. It's the beginning of the month so I was doing the budget. We have been having a great year. We were booked all Winter and now we are booked all through this month. I am thinking to make our town more friendly for summer vacations. Do you have any ideas?

What, is he really asking me? My opinion? I think for a moment, if I went on a summer vacation what would I want?

~ I think we should make a resort with family-like suites. Two bedroom or three bedroom with a full kitchen. Where whole families can vacation. The resort would have kids' attractions like a water park, basketball court, miniature golf, and arcades with bumper cars.

~ This is interesting Ivy, thank you. This is a great start. This week we had a very rich businessman call from Spain. He wanted to make a reservation but we were all booked for this month. Benji for some reason did not like him and kept growling my whole phone conversation with him. This tells us that even people like that enjoy a getaway in the mountains.

That evening we texted for another three hours even though it was about expanding our town but it felt nice. I felt Devon at one point got up and her tail was waging from happiness. I did not want to say bye to him but I needed to let him go. He needs to go home and have dinner. Dinner with his girlfriend. My heart rate increased and I felt like I was suffocating just at the thought of that.

We said our goodbyes. I called Dad after because he call me during my text session with Simon and I told him I was busy and I will call him back. It was short and sweet. I did not want to tell him about my professor or Iris because he always overthinks everything when it comes to me.

I got up took my shower and try to go to sleep, but sleep did not come easy. The events of the day kept replaying in my mind, Mr. Balthazar, Iris, dragons, Lycans, and yes my sweet conversation with Simon. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and started counting from 1 to 20 and then again. Then I finally fell asleep.