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“IT’S been a while.” Palmina sat down and crossed her legs, giving the young woman dressed in plain clothes a snide look. Her autumn-colored suit stood out against the white couch.
“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
“I heard you were sick.”
“Yes, I felt nauseous for a long time. I’m okay now though,” Euphemia answered her honestly. “How did you know?”
“I hated you so much for a time that I was keeping tabs on you. I have friends who work for Biotech… Did you know that while you were confined to City Hall I was sending slanderous emails about you and the Mayor to everyone I knew? To the mayor herself as well,” Palmina confessed, her painted lips curved in a pert smile.
“What kind of slander?” Euphemia asked calmly.
“Oh stuff like she shouldn’t be wasting taxpayer dollars to protect her sister and that she should free Zelaide from his contract. I realized my actions were cowardly, but I felt like I would be crushed by my hatred if I did nothing. It got me nowhere in the end anyway.”
“I see…” Euphemia recalled Erica mentioning something about those emails at one point.
“You’re the reason why Zelaide left this city.”
Euphemia answered her accusation with silence.
“The last email he sent me is dated the day before he left. It contained just two lines: ‘I’m going to get stronger for my mate’ and ‘I want to end our contract.’ I haven’t been able to get in touch with him since.”
All of Euphemia’s emails had also bounced back saying receiver not found. Zelaide had severed everyone’s ability to contact him.
Another message about him wanting to get stronger?
Over the past month, Euphemia had grown to hate the word.
“Looks like you are his mate,” Palmina tossed out with a layer of disgust.
“Yes, I am,” Euphemia said definitively. That was the only crutch she had left to stand on.
“I did enough research to understand how intense a Beast Blood’s love and fixation is for their mate. They are a million times more loyal to their mate than humans are… So I hate you. Even now.”
Euphemia silently held her glare.
“He might have become my man if you hadn’t appeared from the sidelines.”
“I doubt it,” Euphemia shot back.
Disgust twisted Palmina’s perfect smile into something ugly. “…Says you.”
“Sorry, but I know how loyal and honest he is.”
“I do too,” Palmina snipped. “I’ve known him decades longer than you. Loath as I am to admit it, he never once saw me as a woman. I just thought he was too young to realize he could have me, but that’s a Beast Blood for you. They feel nothing for women who aren’t their mates, much less for women they only work with. I know that. I still hate your guts. How dare a naïve, spoiled brat like you steal my man from me like that? I know I’m being immature. But logic tends to lose out to emotions.”
“It certainly does… I think I would have felt the same way in your shoes,” Euphemia agreed.
“Good.”
“But you didn’t just come here to whine about your feelings, did you?”
“Right you are. I came to tell you that I am getting out of this line of work.”
“You’re retiring from being an agent?”
“Yes. Zelaide has already earned me a nice living. I was an agent for several other Beast Bloods, but I terminated our contracts. I’ve wanted to see more of this planet since I arrived here and fortunately for me, a wealthy lady just so happened to be looking for a secretary. She contacted me right away when I sent in my application. She’s a traveler, so we are perfect for each other.”
“You’re leaving Gothic City?”
“Yes. Zelaide is gone and I have nothing to keep me here. I’m going to find happiness on my own. Maybe I’ll even run into Zel during my travels. If I do, I’ll push him down and make him mine without a second thought,” Palmina said, trying to goad her.
Euphemia had no reason to get angry though. Even Palmina understood that Zelaide could no longer belong to another woman or be forced back into human society. He would only come back when he was ready. Waiting was all they could do.
“Are you going to live…in this house?” Palmina looked around the house that used to look unlived in. Now it brimmed with Euphemia’s personal belongings and work equipment.
“I will be here for when he returns.” Euphemia rested her hand on her belly.
“Hmm… How is it possible that you make me hate you more by the minute? Anyway, this is the name and contact information for my new boss. I wrote it down on paper so you can get rid of it if you want to. But, if you have a heart, let me know when Zelaide comes back… Goodbye.” Palmina stuffed a balled up piece of paper into Euphemia’s hand. Then she coldly turned around and strode out of the house.
“…Pal is leaving too?” Euphemia exhaled a small sigh.
Palmina was neither her friend nor someone she enjoyed talking to, but they were both women who had fallen for Zelaide and experienced the same plights over him. Losing the only person she could talk to about him did make her feel a little lonely. She casually glanced down at the piece of paper crinkled in her hand.
“WHAAAT?! Hold on…is this who I think it is…?!”
The name and address written there belonged to someone Euphemia knew well: Marielle Ashencourt.
“She’s going to work for…Mom?!” she cried out.
Honestly, Zelaide, where did you go when I have so much to talk to you about? Please come back soon and give me a big hug. You don’t have to get stronger. You can just be you. I’m scared alone. So scared I could scream. But I won’t run away.
I’m right here. Come back soon. Don’t abandon me, my darling mate.