Chapter 2

Veronica's eyes blinked, could not believe what she had just seen at this moment, continued to stare at the 185 centimetre-tall man who was staring at her while wearing a warm smile that could dazzle anyone's eyes. It was like she was now desperately trying to calm her noisy heart just because she saw the strange man's smile. That smile was strangely, far more dazzling than the smile Bianca always showed to all the women Bianca met.

“Yes?” she said after managed to control herself, controlling her heartbeat, which was no longer as fast as before. “How do you know my name?”

The man reluctantly pulled out the chair before asking permission from all of them, sitting on the chair with his eyes still on Veronica, placing the menu book back on the table. Erna also looked shocked at the presence of that man's figure, because her friend did not say anything at all with her mouth half-open before Erna's eyes were blocked by Bianca's hand which had already cast a sharp gaze at the man.

“Who are you? Don't you know that this is Pedrosa's territory?!”

Erna, who has now managed to control herself, was confused at Bianca's question which she thought was strange, as well as Veronica, did not understand why Bianca mentioned her surname all of a sudden.

“Woah, calm down, calm down! I don't mean to attack your territory. I still have ethics. I'm just here to pick up the person my friend asked me to,” the man said, seemingly undisturbed by Bianca's gaze. The man was now holding her hand, ignoring Bianca and Erna, “I didn’t expect to meet such a beautiful woman."

“Don't ignore me, you jerk!” Bianca grabbed the collar of the man's clothes, immediately catching the attention of the cafe's visitors, who there were not many people at the moment. “Pick up, pick up! Your smell is suspicious enough! Where are you going to take Veronica!? Don’t think that you can easily take my friends from my territory!”

“Suspicious? Me?”

“Is there anyone else but you here, motherfucker!”

“Ah, that's right. I'm too direct, huh?” The man laughed softly, releasing Bianca's grip with ease. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Stephen Laurent. I'm here at the request of my friend, Karl Smith. You received the shoes, right?"

“Shoes?” Veronica glanced at her bag beside her, about to take the shoes out of her bag when the man's hand moved to stop her movements. "No, no. Not now."

Bianca's anger subsided at once upon hearing the reason of a man named Stephen. "Is that the only reason? No more?"

“Yes. I came in a hurry, so I confirmed your family five minutes ago. You can confirm it.”

“I’ll check it.” Bianca reached for her smartphone, busy calling someone, ignoring Erna who still did not understand the situation. Many times Erna looked at her, waiting for an explanation, but she did not understand what was happening. 

“Yes, that's enough for our conversation,” said Stephen after glancing at the watch on his left wrist, displaying the firm bony structure of his hand. “I don't have much time because I still have a lot to take care of. Shall we go now, Miss Veronica Darren?”

She hesitated a little, looking at Bianca who was still talking with someone on the phone. The woman's face was tense at first, then turned relieved, nodding occasionally.

“I understand. See you later.”

Her friend hung up the phone, no longer as curt. “Okay, Laurent. I just confirmed your words earlier. As payment for suddenly coming, let me and Erna meet your friend. We wanted to see what kind of man after our friend.”

“I'll try—no, I'll make him do it. It's mostly his fault, too,” says Stephen, casually, tugging at Veronica's wrist. “We'll go first. It's okay, right?”

“Of course. But take her home after your friend's business is over. You know what the consequences are if you dare to do something wrong in someone else's territory?”

“I know. I'll definitely take her home. You can take my word.”

Reluctantly, she took her bag which was immediately taken over by Stephen, who invited her to walk ahead of him. What a gentleman's attitude. The man walked beside her, opened the cafe door and led her to the black car which was neatly parked in front of the cafe. As soon as they got to the front of the car, Stephen opened the car door, ushering her in with the man's hand resting on Veronica's head, making sure she did not hit the car ceiling. Then after she entered, the man closed the door, jogged to the steering seat and left the cafe.

***

Veronica gripped her skirt tightly, did not dare to look at Stephen who focused on driving. Her eyes kept hanging down, playing with his legs, then grimacing, realizing she had moved her prosthetic leg too much and scratched her knee.

"What!? Where does it hurt?! Do you want to stop first?” Stephen's attention diverted from the wheel, looking at Veronica worriedly. 

“No, nothing big. I just scratched my knee.”

“Oh,” The man murmured in relief, refocusing his gaze on the road. Using his free left hand, the man opened the car drawer in front of Veronica, looking for something until he finally found ointment cream.

“Use this to relieve pain in your knee. It must be tough, walking with prosthetic legs all day long.”

Her eyes flickered in surprise, but he still accepted the ointment. “You know?”

“Of course. Just call me Stephen. We don't need to be formal, because shortly we’ll meet each other often.”

“O-oh …” Veronica removed both prosthetic legs, realizing that the man was slowing down the car so that he could give her a chance to rub the cream on her knees. Slowly, she spread the cream.

“You don't mind if I call you Nikki?”

“No.”

“Very nice.” The man smiled with satisfaction. “I've been attracted to you since seeing you at the cafe earlier, but well, my friend attracted to you already and I'm not the type to stab my own best friend in the back, so I stepped back first. For now.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's okay if you don't understand. I'm just making small talk,” said the man again, not trying to explain what he meant earlier.

“Oh,” Veronica nodded, even though she did not understand what the man was saying. “By the way, sorry about earlier.”

“Hm? About what?”

“My friend’s attitude earlier was rude, yelled at you like that. But she’s not a bad guy! Usually, she’s a gentle person. The type who likes to cast charm everywhere she finds a beautiful woman, but not someone who gets angry easily. So I'm sorry, representing my friend earlier.”

“Sorry? For what? It’s natural if your friend was angry with me,” Stephen was surprised to hear what he said. “I entered her territory suddenly without notice. Naturally, she felt cautious. "

“Entering her territory? From earlier I didn't understand your conversation about territory. What exactly do you mean by territory?”

“Territory, like region. The territory of each group that must be protected.” Stephen answered straightforwardly. 

"That's why I asked. What does the territory mean? I don’t understand."

Stephen glances around, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you don't know at all or pretend to not knowing?”

“What do you think?”

“You really don't know, huh? I'll just explain, so it won’t be complicated.” Stephen pulled the car over to a quiet place, then turned off the engine, approaching her. Her nose caught the scent of the perfume the man was wearing, making her feel somehow comfortable. Brings out a feeling of security that she had not felt in a long time. 

“Well. You know the urban legends about vampires, werewolves, warlocks, and dragons, right?”

She nodded, trying to guess the direction of their current conversation.

“They are all real. And wait, I know what you think right now. You may think this is strange, but they are all real. For example, the me who is in front of you right now. I'm a werewolf, and so is Bianca who is a vampire.”

"Wolf? Vampire?”

“Then my friend who you will meet soon is a dragon. He's already eight hundred years old, but that doesn't mean he's a conservative dragon-type like a normal dragon I have to admit, it's annoying.”

Her head suddenly got dizzy at the strange explanation that man had just said. She raised her right hand, asking the man to give her a moment to digest the absurd information she had just received from that man.

“Can we continue? Like I said before. I don't have much time."

“Wait.” Veronica assembled all the pieces of information she just got, then nodded. “Yes, please continue.”

“Very nice. Unlike the urban legends which always say that vampires and werewolves are enemies, vampires and werewolves in real life are not at all hostile. In fact, we are an alliance. The only difference is that vampires are more sensitive to sunlight and like something twisted. The higher their rank, the more their charm will increase. Werewolves, on the other hand, are much more flexible. We really hate the dragons because of their arrogance who can outlast us. Except for my friend who I said earlier. Later you will know after meeting him. At this point, do you understand? "

“Er… yes. Maybe?"

"I’ll take it as yes. Already finished putting the ointment? Then put your prosthetic foot back on and use the shoes my friend gave me earlier. Because it's a sign so you can enter my friend's territory later. Or should I put it on for you?"

“No need! I can wear it myself,” replied Veronica, looking down, hiding her blushing expression at the thought of Stephen putting the shoes on her. 

“Too bad. Even though I want to do it.”

Veronica clenched her fists, mustering up all her courage to realize what she had just imagined. "Th-then, if you don't mind ..."

The man flinched for a moment, looking shocked before he smiled softly at her. "Of course. I don't mind. Absolutely not. I'll put it on when we get to my friend's place."

The atmosphere was suddenly awkward. The man stroked the back of his neck, looking slightly flushed, not daring to look at her. Likewise with her. None of them tried to take the initiative to break the quiet atmosphere they had created themselves. Then the man cleared his throat, started the engine and drove back to leave their place.

***