Secrets

Ivaylo sat down at his favorite spot, which lost its magic. He stared blankly out of the window hoping for a miracle. A heavy sigh followed and Ivaylo lowered his eyes. He remembered that exchange of profiles. A slight curiosity filled his body. Should he check out Kay's profile?

Ivaylo took the phone into his hand and opened his social media profile, which was almost empty... as good, as no posts. In contrast to him, Kay's was full of posts and albums. This was a gold mine for him. There were tons of photos of Paetyn from early childhood until the present times.

He felt like he was time-traveling. Seeing her as a small child enjoying ice cream and bike rides together with a puppy Kay and cheeky-looking Marsh. Their childhood was full of adventures, laughter, and celebrations.

He learned, who her Grandmother was, and saw Kay's parents mingling with humans on their farm. Their lives looked so happy and friendly. His childhood was very different, one could say it was the opposite. His family was from a serious background and high-level pedigree with a sense of elite and class.

From early childhood, Ivaylo had to know how to behave, be serious, study hard, and have very limited free time. Jealousy flooded his body over it and even more, as he scrolled to the later albums, which were filled with photos of Paetyn and Kay while in their relationship.

Loving glances and smiles, he never saw, directed only to Kay and not to him. It squeezed his heart tightly and he needed to put the phone away for a little, brushing through his hair with his fingers on both sides. How would his life look, if he would meet them all in the past as children?



The next morning, Ivaylo went to work, so he would drive away his loneliness. Despite the intentions, his mind was wandering and most of the time he looked absent. The chairman had his eyes on him. He heard about the hospital stay. It was another one in a short period of time and was worried, that Ivaylo was on a self-destructive path.

Something peculiar caught his attention. Ivaylo was casually talking to the human staff, something, that he never did even in the Outskirts office. He was secretly watching him from time to time, through the security cameras. Did he have a change of heart?

The chairman needed to come to the root of it. His curiosity was bigger than his professional side. He called Ivaylo into his office. They greeted like always, but he could see the change, he sensed in Ivaylo from a distance. "You look a little absent-minded. Are you still not feeling well? You could take some extra vacation time..."

Ivaylo assured him, that he was feeling fine. "But I can see, that the passion for work is a little lacking. You were such a workaholic, always doing the job at 110% but now it's like 100%." Ivaylo meekly smiled at him. "I must apologize to you, Chairman! I will return to my usual efforts."

Ivaylo was about to leave but the chairman stopped him. "Also, I must praise you... You jumped over your own shadow and now cooperate even with our human coworkers. In your case, it's a huge change and an improvement." Ivaylo was surprised. "Did I? Well, I don't see them that different now..."

The chairman pressed for more. "What changed your mind so drastically? Could you unveil that secret to me?" Ivaylo knew, that the Chairman wasn't really judgmental since he orchestrated and pushed for humans to work among the Beastman. He pondered for a second if he should disclose about his personal life.

"Well, how to say it... I fell in love..." The chairman leaned in to hear better because Ivaylo's voice was getting a little silent to the end. "... she is... human." Ivaylo looked into the chairman's eyes to see the raw reaction he will show him in a second. The chairman rested his chin on his entangled fingers and intensely looked Ivaylo's way. "Come a little closer."

Ivaylo stepped to the desk with some caution. The Chairman turned a picture frame towards Ivaylo. His eyes widen. It pictured the Chairman in an elegant tuxedo next to a human woman in a wedding dress. Ivaylo's eyes darted questioning to the Chairman, who smiled with satisfaction.

"Of course, we can't have an official wedding, since pairing between a Beastman and a Human is not legal. That was just a symbolic ceremony for us, our families, and our friends." He lovingly stroked the frame. "She is the love of my life and I am glad, you could find one, even when it's among the human world."

Ivaylo felt relieved and pulled out his phone. Yesterday night, a downloading demon possessed him and downloaded all the photos on which Paetyn was visible from Kay's profile. He opened the folder and proudly showed it to the Chairman. His boss adjusted his glasses and looked at it. "You have quite a collection of photos. ...So you like them small..."

Flustered Ivaylo just looked away. "I don't care about other females' looks, I have only eyes for her." The chairman chuckled. "Right... Do you plan the future together?" Ivaylo's mood changed. "We lived quite some time together at the Outskirts, but now... She disappeared." A frown appeared on the face of the Beastman. "What happened? Where is she? Is she okay?"

A sigh reverberated through Ivaylo's chest. He couldn't muster a comprehensive sentence to explain everything. "As I got hospitalized and my family saw her and then a crazy Beastwoman claimed to be my girlfriend... I found out, that the wolf Beastwoman drove her away with some lies and threats. I have to find her!"

The chairman gave him an understanding nod. "The relationships between us Beastman and Humans are complicated. I can tell you from experience, how much hardship we had to go through, but now we are happy and even plan to adopt a human cub."

Ivaylo was baffled. "Why adopt? Don't you desire for your own blood? Or... if I am allowed to ask an intimate question. Is your height and size difference the problem? I worry about that the whole time..."

The chairman leaned into his seat. "It's not that. We are not compatible to crossbred with Humans. Did you know that? Before... I didn't. That piece of information brought some sorrow into our happy lives, but we came to terms with it..." Ivaylo shocked asked for more. "But our DNA is part human, so why can't we procreate with humans?!" The saddened Beastman looked out of the window.

"I don't know, what the real reason is, because there is too little research into that matter. You know, technically we are not allowed to be in a relationship in the first place. My friends from the medical field, both human and Beastman explained it as... the eggs and the tiny swimmers refuse to merge..."