As of recently, Rosemary Graylock has fallen in love.
Her heart ripped out by a muscular stud named Alejandro Lopez.
She was at work, paid by the hour, but instead of doing what she was supposed to do, her head was in the clouds.
In her mind's eyes, she saw Alejandro, riding on a white horse. His bulging torso, pridefully glistening under the searing sun.
And in her daydream, she was a princess, swooning as he galloped to her tower.
"Ms. Greylock!"
Oh how handsome he was.
"Ms. Greylock!"
What's that buzzing noise?
"MS. GREYLOCK!"
The shriek of an indignant voice snapped her back to reality. Rosemary whipped her head around immediately and met the owner of the voice.
"Y-yes, Ms. Victoria," she stammered as she stood at attention.
Victoria, a human in her mid 50's, was the head of Human Resources in SPD. She narrowed her eyes at the youngster who was using company time for her personal use.
"What the hell're your daydreaming for, Ms. Greylock?" she said.
"Sorry Ma'am, won't happen again," Rosemary apologized with a bow.
"I don't ban it, young lady," she sighed. "It's just we pay you by the hour so we expect good work. Leave the daydreaming for your breaks."
"Yes Ma'am," she replied.
"Now, wipe the drool off your face and do something for me," Victoria said as she handed Rosemary a piece of paper. "The Captain's throwing a birthday party for his little girl. He's asked you specifically since you've got a reputation for having really good eye for festivities."
"Wait, really?" Rosemary beamed.
People complemented her all the time. When it came to her looks, personality, or work ethic, she always made sure that she excelled in everything. But party-planning was her passion. Her raison d'être. Being complemented for that, and from the Chief nonetheless, made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.
"Yes, you," Victoria chuckled. "Now go. Make sure to bring someone with you since a lot of stuff in that list is heavy."
"Yes, Ma'am, thank you Ma'am," she replied.
Her heart rate was through the roof.
A party? A list?
That meant... a shopping date!
She squealed as she pulled out her phone and immediately pressed the speed dial.
One ring. Two rings. The anticipation was eating her! And then...
"Hello?" Alejandro's voice came through.
Her squeal almost escaped her mouth, but she was quick to catch it. Then, she made sure to calm herself for a few seconds before answering.
"Hey there Alejandro, is this a good time?" she asked.
"Yeah, just finishing up my morning workout," he replied. "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just that one of my bosses asked me to get a bunch of things from the store and gave me a long list. Some if it's too heavy for me to lift."
"Ah, I see," he chuckled. "Well, I'm free today. Andrew's taking the Young Miss and Christina out for some family bonding, you see. She has enough muscle to protect her."
"Really? That's great!" she said. "Meet me at the mall in 30 minutes and then get lunch afterwards?"
"Sure. There's a restaurant I've been meaning to go to. Maybe we can get something from there."
"Great, it's a date! See you then."
"Wait, what did you-"
*Beep*
Finally some progress, she thought. Thank you Victoria! Thank you Chief.
[Meanwhile, in the Rodriguez residence]
"Wait, what did you say?" Alejandro asked with a bit of confusion. "Hello? Hello?"
"Who was that?" Mateo asked from the couch.
"It was Rosemary," he replied. "She asked me to help her get stuff for her boss."
Mateo immediately jumped at the mention of her name.
"Wait, you're not actually going with that bruja are you?" he said.
"Mateo, please..."
"I'm telling you, amigo, that chica's bad news. She'll play you like a fiddle and then leave you broken hearted."
That comment earned him a cup to the face, thrown from across the room.
"Young Miss!" Alejandro exclaimed.
Maria just flipped Mateo off from the kitchen and continued making her smoothies.
"You shouldn't talk about the Young Miss's friends like that," Alejandro sighed.
"But it's true man," Mateo rebutted while nursing his bruised head. "I've met tons of chicas like her."
"Oh, right, because you're always right aren't you?" Alejandro smirked.
"Of course!"
"Ok, what was your favorite planet again?"
"Pluto, why?"
"Pluto's not a planet, pendejo!" Alejandro was quick to correct and gave him a smack to the head. "Now I'm going to get ready and meet Rosemary at the mall. I know you'll stay here the entire day but just in case you leave, don't forget to lock the door."
"Come on, Alejandro, I'm not five," he groaned.
"Says the man who cooked fish in a microwave," Alejandro chuckled as he disappeared into his room.
[Later at the mall]
Mateo Santiago was concerned about his best friend.
Ever since they met, he has been nothing but nice. Too nice, in fact that he was like a flytrap for scammers, gold diggers, and all sorts of opportunists.
So, when an attractive Demonoid lady took a fancy on him, Mateo took it upon himself to run interference.
The problem this time, however, was the pest was his boss' friend. And Alejandro, as usual, would take her side no matter what.
Thus, he would need to gather evidence. Incriminating enough that everyone would believe his claims about her. Then, he could finally prove that he was right all along!
Being the Rodriguez family's assassin, melding into the shadows was his specialty. So he donned a simple combination of trench coat and glasses and followed Alejandro to the mall without being noticed.
Upon arriving, he saw the pest make contact with him the moment he arrived. She immediately clung to his arm and started batting her eyelashes. So eager! At that moment, Mateo wanted to jump in, but he had to control himself. He couldn't afford to piss off Alejandro before gathering enough information.
Still in the shadows, he followed the two as they made their rounds in the mall. The toy store, the dollar store, the party store, and finally, the grocery store.
What the hell's this girl buying? Mateo asked himself.
Alejandro, of course, carried everything. Mateo gritted his teeth as he watched her take advantage of his friend's kindness.
Eventually, the two finished shopping and sat down at a nearby restaurant: Ricardo's. It was a steakhouse that he and Alejandro have been talking about going! The betrayal!
Nursing his emotional wounds, he entered the restaurant and placed himself just within earshot of their table. The conversation was mundane. Just them talking about their day. The pest, being quite flirtatious as usual.
The waitress came at his table a couple of times but all he ever had was a soda and the menu that covered his face.
Fortunately, there was a break in their conversation when Alejandro went to the washroom. Now, he could order some food.
However, before he could summon the waitress, a cold breeze went past his neck as Rosemary took the seat that was opposite of him.
"Hey there, detective," she said with her usual flirty voice. "Come here often?"
"Bruja..." he growled. "I didn't tell you to take a seat."
"Why not?" she pouted. "Since you've been following us since Alejandro got here, I thought you wanted some company."
Mateo clicked his tongue and was about to get out of his seat. But as he did, a crowd of waiters and waitresses blocked his exit with their claps and cheers.
"Congratulations! You're our 100th couple this month!" an all too excited human waiter exclaimed.
"To celebrate your love, we'll be giving you a card that will give you a free meal every time you come here together!" an Elven waitress added. "But first, you need to prove that you're a real couple with a kiss."
Mateo's eyes darted. His senses were overwhelmed from the loud noises and the claustrophobia from being surrounded sure didn't help.
"Umm... no, we're not a couple," Mateo protested and the human waitress who served Alejandro and Rosemary's table caught his eyes. "Hey, wait, didn't you serve her table?"
The waitress replied to him with a sly smirk.
Right... she was also the waitress who served him. The same waitress that waited for him to order for more than thirty minutes. This was her revenge!
What a conundrum he found himself in.
"Oh, come on honey, don't be shy," Rosemary said before pulling him back to his seat.
And with that, all of Mateo's escape routes were closed off. The mall had a strict "no magic" rule so he couldn't use [Stealth] even though he really wanted to.
"I'm not kissing you," he whispered harshly.
"It's a year's worth of steak, Mateo," Rosemary whispered back. "I'd rather do this with Alejandro, but unfortunately, you're all I got right now."
"Ummm... is everything ok?" the waiter asked with hesitation.
"Oh yeah, it's ok," Rosemary replied. "He's just shy with PDA."
"I'm not shy," Mateo said through gritted teeth. "I just don't wanna kiss your nasty mouth."
"Come on, honey, pucker up," Rosemary said as she pulled him closer.
"No," Mateo struggled out of her grasp.
At that moment, something inside Rosemary snapped. In all her years, no one has rejected her advances this blatantly. Even if they did resist a little, all of them ended up being putty in her hands. So how dare this man, this mohawk-wearing man who probably never had a girlfriend before, resist her.
Fueled by annoyance and frustration, she grabbed his collar and before he could resist, she planted her lips into his. It was a peck at best though since Mateo somehow instinctively locked his lips in place. But it got the job done.
The staff cheered and clapped. And when Rosemary finally let go, the waiter gave her the card and they were left alone.
"Wooh! A year's worth of steak," Rosemary celebrated. "But too bad I have to bring you here every time though."
Mateo didn't respond. In fact, he was like a statue. His eyes were dead as they stared at a distance.
"Hello? Mateo you ok?" she asked as she waved her hand in front of his face. "Oh come on, what's with that reaction. It's not like this is your first time kissing a girl right?"
No response, but his neck tightened a bit when she asked that last question.
"Wait... really?" Rosemary gasped.
She wanted to pry deeper, but before she could do so, Mateo whispered something under his breath and his body suddenly evaporated into black mist.
Immediately, the mall's alarms blared and the evacuation announcement rang through the speakers.
And Rosemary just sat there, card in hand, contemplating about what just happened. Then she smiled.
"He's a little cute isn't he?" she said to herself.