"Are you being serious Yurei, you don't know where your mate is at?!" Ned asked in utter disbelief, Yurei was sitting across from him in his hospital office, looking disheveled and paranoid while claiming that he's not able to find Tacito anywhere.
Ned had already had too many surprises in one day, first Muriel's test results and now Yurei.
The whole Spenser family paid the doctor a visit, though they were asking for help on different matters.
"After...Shit *sighing*...sorry I'm a little tired, like I said after you told me that day in the parking lot about Fernando and that he was the one behind everything I tel-!"
Ned cut him off, "I know I Know, you teleported without Tacito because you were angry, Aka YOU left Tacito behind on purpose!
And as far as I know, Tacito can't teleport anywhere he likes like you do, he can only teleport to where his job takes him."
"I know it sounds bad but hear me out! i-i... I left by myself because I wanted to have some time for myself, without him so I can cool off, like you said I was angry.
I needed to wrap my head around everything you said Plus i was too angry, I was scared I might cause more trouble in my relationship with Tacito in the condition that I was in... trouble that I can't handle." Yurei replied.
Yurei felt a bit insecure as he spoke, He came to Ned earlier, asking for help to find Tacito as the last hope he had, since he remembers leaving Tacito with Ned in that parking lot before he teleported.
But Yurei was shocked when Ned told him when he asked, that he himself had no idea where Tacito is.
"So how come Tacito disappeared for a whole week then?! I still don't understand that." Ned asked.
"Usually Taci and I travel together all the time, we never stay in one place for too long.
Out of nowhere, Tacito decided to come to this country and buy a house, it happened after spending so much time in Thailand.
Unlike the usual, I liked the idea of coming here, I thought this meant I'm finally ready to settle down in one place." Yurei replied.
Scoffing, "Settle down? you Yurei settle down? You got bored of traveling? Ha! Now that's a good joke!" Ned said.
"I'm being serious here Ned! I was trying to make life easier for Tacito, our relationship might've been the best thing that happened to me, but I figured my mate wasn't as happy as I was especially with me taking charge of everything.
So I decided to learn to listen to his desires this time." Yurei replied.
"You guys have lots of issues and Couples therapy exists you know? Was it Tacito's desire as well to just disappear so suddenly?"
"That's what I thought at first, the day after the parking lot incident, when I couldn't get a hold on him through the phone, I figured Taci got upset because I left him behind and decided to cut me off for a while, which isn't uncommon for him.
Usually in these situations, Tacito takes his car and disappear for few days whenever I do something stupid like this to upset him...that was my usual punishment for upsetting him."
"You're telling me it's normal behavior for Tacito to take his car and leave for a week? and without a note or at least telling people where he's at? just because he got upset upset with you?! and you brushed it off, Just like that?!" Ned was beyond astonished.
"It is normal for Tacito, and yes, as ignorant as it sounded, I let him be.
This time I just thought he was trying to cool off like me! but I didn't expect it to be a whole week!
It's the longest period he did this for! the longest before that was 4 days! but a week? it never happened before." Yurei replied.
"This is the weirdest love relationship I have ever had insights on, the maximum you should wait before starting to worry about a missing person, is 24 hours yet you waited for Seven days Yurei." Ned said.
"Well you aren't the one who's been dating Tacito for over six decades." Yurei replied.
"True, both of you need separate therapy."
"Believe me, Tacito wouldn't like it, I tried to get him there...fuck, my head hurts, I need to lay down." Yurei said clutching his head.
Sighing, "You're an idiot you know, go take a nap, I'll take it from here." Ned replied.
"I'm too worried to sleep, Ned."
"Not trying to assume the worst, but What else made you start worrying that Tacito's disappearance wasn't normal?"
"This might be unrelated to Tacito, but before I started looking for him, something happened to me.
A while After I left the parking lot, I eventually tried to sleep and I managed to, briefly.
But then I had a nightmare, I can't remember much of what I saw in the nightmare, but it woke me up and I was shocked to a point where I fell off my bed.
Actually what really made me wake up was this sudden unimaginable pain that shot throughout my whole body as I was having my nightmare, it was a hundred times worse type of pain then just the pain of falling off the bed... Almost as if my bones were being Crushed." Yurei explained.
Worried even more, "You don't remember anything about the nightmare?" Ned asked.
"Nothing at all, it could've been the shock or the fall afterwards that made me forgetful."
"Maybe, btw have you asked Garrick if he'd seen Tacito again after that day, or heard from him?"
"Not even Garrick knows where he went."
"This is bad Yurei, our best bet is to track down his car, maybe that'll help us find him."
"I'll give you all the infos you need then, and Ned." Yurei said standing up.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry for not being a good friend." Yurei spoke before walking to the door.
"No need to, I'm glad you're back to some of your senses." Ned replied to him.
...Meanwhile....
"Coco...coco? talk to me please, I will take you to buy books!"
"Ugh Muriel, I am sorry to do this to you.
But if you don't go apologize to Thorn by the End of today, tomorrow you're going to have my resignation letter on your desk and, it's final."
"But COCO WHYYY?!"
"No coco No shit, you have until midnight! so hurry it up Cinderella, figure out where to drop your glass slippers, and it better be at Thorn's doorsteps." Socorro said standing up from her seat.
"Cooooco please do not resign! I will give you a raise!" Muriel pleaded with her.
"I cannot believe you're a fully grown man?! you can whine all day or promise me money, but it won't affect me!
I am immune to your charms, and I've told you countless times, I will not take your bullshit anymore, this has to stop...you are Allowing the Trauma from your ex-relationship with Leonard Green, to take over your life."
"But coco! Thorn was the one who started it! he took me out on a friendly date few weeks ago, and we I told him let's do it again, he thought we were seriously dating, That Nutter is the one who took everything BLOODY SERIOUSLY."
"You led him on without proper explanation, people on friendly dates do not necessarily end up sleeping together! so something must've happened, and until you admit everything, I am going to consider Thorn as the victim here."
"I do not want to talk about it coco! but you are my assistant you have to take my side!"
"NOPE! because by tomorrow I won't be your assistant anymore! I don't care who is right and who is wrong to you!
All I care about is what my eyes have seen, and my eyes saw that you slapped somebody across the face IN PUBLIC!
You have used violence against someone who didn't deserve it, Muriel!" Socorro said walking towards the door.
"COCO THAT'S RUBBISH! Are you being serious about quitting?! how will I Sort things here without you!" Muriel called after her.
"Yes I'm being serious, and I'm taking Today off by the way, ADIOS BOSS!" she replied before storming out of the office.
No matter how much she pressed him, Muriel refused to tell Socorro everything that happened in details, he only told her bits and pieces about the secret dates between him and Thorn, which made her even more Angrier.
All of this happened right under her nose, and she had no knowledge of it.
Muriel remained seated on his desk chair, hiding his trembling hands that clutched a document from Ned's hospital, the real reason why he was late this morning.
The whole time he argued with Socorro, Muriel was arguing with himself as well, within his thoughts.
He thought, Whether he should tell her or not, he was already lectured by her, he didn't want another lecture.
Muriel felt like he messed up this time, but if he knew anything for certain, it was that Socorro was someone who cared about him honestly.
And she was right, because of the trauma he lived when he was Leonard's boyfriend, he became unable to fully trust others, especially potential lovers.
Disallowing himself the relief of relaying on another person, trusting and loving another living being, Muriel was scared he'd be used again.
"Hell's bloody hell." Muriel murmured underneath his breaths before jumping up from his chair, he left his office in hurry while dialing Socorro's number, trying to catch up to her before she leaves the company's premises.
...Meanwhile...
Lucius and Thorn sat across from each other at a nearby coffee shop, Lucius felt proud he managed to order them both cake and tea without fumbling his words from anxiety.
Thorn who would congratulate him about this on a normal day, was still overwhelmed by his encounter with Muriel, he sat down quietly and didn't touch his food.
"Mmmh! this cheese cake is heavenly made!" Lucius said smiling as he took another bite of his slice, though happy about the cake, Lucius wasn't happy about what happened earlier, but was trying to lift the mood, although he soon realized it was pointless.
Thorn wasn't eating, it was literally the man's favorite thing to do, His red-eyes would sparkle at the sight of anything tasty and edible.
"it is not my Cup of tea to see you gloomy like this boss, where did the full of beans boss of mine go to?" Lucius asked gently.
"Lucius?"
"Yes?"
"Have you ever fell in love before? " Thorn asked him without looking him in the eyes.
Before Lucius could answer his boss's sudden question, the door to the coffee shop opened, a customer entered and got immediately greeted by the shop's owner.
Lucius's inky-black eyes met the customer's Lime-green briefly, " I'm not sure if I ever fell before, but I think I'm in love now." Lucius replied dazed, earning a chuckle from the surprised Thorn.
However it took a few seconds for the bigger Alpha, to realize The smaller Alpha sitting with him wasn't joking to lift his spirit.
When Thorn turned his head to see where Lucius was staring, he saw a very familiar face.
Aroon was chatting with the cashier as they got his order ready to go, so Thorn turned his attention back to Lucius only to find him still staring at Aroon intensely.
"You've gotta be kidding me, Wow!" Thorn whispered underneath his breaths, chuckling more as he watched Lucius's eyes that were still staring at Aroon like he just saw an angel.
Thorn no longer felt so miserable about his previous ordeal with Muriel.
In his mind, something good came out of it at least, he accidentally helped someone else fall in love.