Chapter 4: Dinner

POV AKIRA

Between Alfred and Richard, it's not hard to see their differences.

Richard is so sweet and kind, living up to his honey brown eyes and his darker brown locks like a tree trunk where you rest in search of peace. And his kiss proves to be a calm breeze of this so called summer I never knew. He was my first love while my pure and naive heart did not realize the countless obstacles I would have to face because he was a big city boy. Now seeing him in front of me, smiling at me, awakens feelings that I believed were dormant.

"May I kiss your hand, Akira?" Someone asks.

" Huh?" I'm still dreaming.

" If I can kiss your hand. I asked twice."

Richard says embarrassed and I come to my senses of what is happening.

" My hand? Oh no need. I'm used to being forcibly pulled by Alfred when I throw tantrums."

I tell one of my everyday pranks, but everyone remains serious, which makes me blush. 

 Better keep your mouth shut, Akira.

" In the big city the men are gentlemen and kiss the hands of the ladies" Richard explains.

" Well, I have a lot to learn, don't I?" I smile and offer my hand to him.

He touches my fingers and his eyes search mine. What is supposed to be an electrifying moment, is just a warm tea drunk in the late afternoon. Richard is equally muscular, but that strength seems to evaporate and I feel like a delicate crystal between his fingers. There is no striking look, no wild Alfred gaze that made me shudder a few minutes ago outside.

Is that the feeling cultivated in the big city? Too many conveniences when our instinctive side is what drives our sentimental side?

Now Richard's gaze is full of doubt. Surely he expected from me the same reaction that the city ladies have when they are kissed by him.

"Let's go to dinner, young people. The food is getting cold"  Mr. Jeremy announces, saving me from a moment I wouldn't know what to say next.

I take the opportunity to release my hand from Richard's fingers and keep both hands in my jacket pockets, saving my mind and heart from experiences that don't prove my fantasies about him at all.

" Come Akira, sit next to me" Lilian invites and I gladly accept.

✧✧

We all sit down at the table. The women on one side and the men on the other. Which is very strange to me. In my people, we don't make those kinds of distinctions. The body is just a cocoon where it houses a spirit. Both men and women blend together, each respecting the other's mission before mother nature. A guardian can be either a woman or a man, as long as he reveals the wild spirit within himself during his lifetime, swearing with his blood to fight for the protection of the people.  Then one day he will become an immortal wolf and guide the next wild spirits on earth. A man or woman chosen, becomes magic and has many undiscovered powers. Whether it is true or not, is what my people believe.

" Akira, do you want to learn how to pray?" Asks Mr. Jeremy. It is a rule to keep before meals according to their religion.

" No, thank you. We pray before the hunt, asking mother nature's permission for the life we snatch from her and hunting only what is necessary." I answer, hoping he understands and respects what I am, a Skyfaller.

"Interesting..." 

He says, not being very convinced.

" To this day I can't imagine a little lady hunting. It's something I'd like to see. In London they just take tea, do embroidery, take care of the house, play instruments, sing, dance..."

Richard comments.

"I don't see myself hunting even a rabbit."

Lilian joins in the conversation as well.

"We also drink tea, the women make household utensils, take care of the children, play instruments, and dance in our own way. You are invited to participate in the next party. It's the day after tomorrow."

I speak excitedly.

" I appreciate the invitation, Akira, but only Richard will be able to go. I can't go out at night. "

" We're not in London, a party won't hurt you."

Richard insists to his sister.

"Still, rules are rules" Lord Jeremy puts an end to the argument.

" Then only I will go" Richard promises.

" Now shall we pray?" Lord Jeremy proposes. The three close their eyes and intertwine their fingers to pray.

It lasts five minutes until they open their eyes again and get ready to eat.  Around their plates are various pieces of cutlery and it makes me anxious just to look at them. What surprises me is that next to mine there is only a fork and a knife.

" It gets easier for you, Akira!"

Richard winks at me.

Did he really care about that? My heart melts at the possibility that he is making an effort to please me and I try to do the same:

"So Richard, what did you do during all that time you were away?"

"I devoted to my studies to work with my father's business. It's a lot of responsibilities" He admits, and it's not hard to see that he feels nervous about having to take on this task.

"If I could study, you wouldn't feel so overwhelmed, dear brother.”

Lilian expresses.

"Don't give me that modernity, Lilian. Our fortune is in good hands. Richard is the richest and most promising young man in London. He was born to deal with numbers" 

Praises Mr. Jeremy and honestly those words have no meaning for me.

"Money is something important to your people even though there are other things you might marvel at. I just by imagining them, I am attracted to them but not the money. "

"Without money we are nobody, we have no voice in the big city."

Mr. Jeremy explains and I realize that it would not be so good for me to go there then.

" Then it's better I stay here, where I don't have to have anything to be someone. The big city is not as wonderful as I imagined..."

I am a little disappointed and it is noticeable to them.

" Men only talk about business. It's always boring, Akira. Better to hear the good things about the big city from me", Lilian rushes to eliminate the bad impression she got on me and both Mr. Jeremy and Richard, do the same. It's a huge effort to seduce me and not make another slip that will make me get one foot back about their world. However, I am a hunter and I also know how to seduce a prey in order to hunt it. And for the first time, I think my mother is not so wrong about their intentions....

✧✧

"Don't take my father's conversations too seriously. He is a man with somewhat outdated thoughts, times are different…" 

Richard says now that we are alone.

Dinner has come to an end and along comes the time for the guests to leave. In this case, it is only me who is the guest and I have never felt so happy to have a rule of etiquette even to leave the house of our friends. Not in our people, the evening is the most opportune time to be together and nobody would expel even indirectly a person from their home. Maturity makes us see details that are practically invisible when we are children. And today I saw the reality without the blindfold of illusions I created about the Rockefellers and their big city.

"I thought he was a modern man and would make our city better. But I see he hasn't. We are fine as we are and so are you. The birds fly and the fish swim, that's fine. We don't all have to be the same."

" Akira, he is some things. But, I can do better and will be better. Especially if I have you on my side. Give me a chance to show you there are many interesting things you still need to see" He asks as we walk towards the gate.

"What things? Please don't be long, it is not proper for a lady to be alone in the company of a man at such hours" I joke about the social rules of his town and he laughs.

" It really isn't, but you are different and thank goodness. You are the most special little lady I know!"

He courts and my cheeks should redden, but they don't.

" Where's the surprise?"

 Does that interest me more than his feelings? What is happening to me?

" Turn around and you will see!"

I do as he asks and wait for the men dressed in black to open the gate. Then I spot what is a ...

"Car!" He says.

" Car?" I repeat the sound to learn.

The new people in my small town learn English since childhood, but still some words remain unknown in our vocabulary.

"The new thing in the big city. You can go anywhere you want with it like a horse."

He teaches me.

I move closer to examine Richard's new toy more closely. It is splendid, I cannot deny. 

However, the idea of going everywhere with the car is a bit ambitious.

" Pray also to the guardians that he doesn't have an intense winter, I believe he wouldn't be able to bear to move forward on the road. "

" Don't be so disbelieving. Let's try it, I'll drive you home."

He offers and I'm somewhat tempted to accept, until a strong hand holds my arm and I don't have to look to recognize its owner and the warmth that pings from his skin.

" Akira is not going anywhere with you!"

Alfred, my guard dog...