Part 2: The Platypus Appeared

1

It was a beautiful, sunny day, no different from any other. A clear sky without a single cloud. A deep, vivid blue sky filled his vision. Seeing this, Dane began getting ready for work early.

That bastard will be coming to work today too.

As he checked the mirror to make sure he’d shaved properly, Dane mulled over his plan. If things went south, he would just knock him out and make a run for it. He felt a little bad for his teammates, but there was no helping it. 

He had to protect himself first.

He had never been found out before. After using his pheromones to knock out an Extreme Alpha, they usually couldn’t remember what had happened, and Dane made sure to disappear immediately afterward.

But I used them on that bastard twice.

The realization suddenly surfaced, and he acknowledged it with a dull indifference.

That bastard probably wants to kill me now.

Just in case, Dane pulled out a suitcase and got ready to pack. He needed to be able to grab what he needed and bolt at a moment’s notice.

“I’ll be back, Darling.”

After pressing a kiss to his cat’s head, he stepped out of his house, got into his well-worn car, which was well over ten years old, and drove to work, as usual. 

He felt a slight pang of regret at the thought of leaving California.

* * *

Parking his car in the designated spot, Dane made his way toward the fire station—only to pause when he saw a group of his colleagues standing around, faces twisted in barely restrained anger as they glared in one direction. Following their gazes, he saw Grayson Miller leaning against a firetruck, talking to someone.

“What’s going on?”

He approached his colleagues and asked casually, and one of them spat out through gritted teeth,

“What does it look like? That bastard is hitting on Valentina.”

Valentina was the most popular female staff member at the station. She was beautiful and had a great personality, so many of the staff had a secret crush on her. Some had even mustered the courage to ask her out, only to be gently rejected. As a result, it became an unspoken rule to ‘wait until Valentina chooses someone herself,’ maintaining amicable colleague relationships outwardly while making their presence known, subtly vying for her attention.

And now that bastard, that black sheep, was daring to make a move on their Valentina.

They all watched, their eyes burning with jealousy and rage. 

Reject him, Valentina! Reject him firmly and cruelly, just like you did to us!

Their desperate wish, however, didn’t reach her. The colleagues who were watching felt their hearts sink as they saw Valentina smiling and stroking Grayson’s arm.

“We lost, it’s over for us!”

“No, wait. Valentina is kind. She’s probably trying to soften the blow before rejecting him. I’m sure of it!”

“She didn’t even touch my finger when she rejected me.”

“Give up, man. If she’s touching his arm, it’s over!”

“Shut up! It’s just his arm, not his thigh. You weaklings, giving up so easily!”

Dane sighed at the sight of them getting so worked up over something that had nothing to do with them. He shook his head and headed for the locker room when gasps, groans, and short cries of dismay erupted from behind him. He didn’t even need to look to know what had happened.

“He touched her thigh! He fucking touched her thigh!”

“Wait, he’s just really tall. See? His hand just naturally lands there. Everyone, calm down!”

“He’s stroking it! We’re doomed!”

“No, no! My Valentina wouldn’t fall for a black sheep like him!”

“Who’s your Valentina? Don’t spout that bullshit!”

Leaving behind the continued wailing, Dane stepped inside. He didn’t care about any of that, but seeing Grayson Miller flirting so openly made one thing clear—Grayson had absolutely no interest in him.

He doesn’t remember, after all.

Dane shook off his last bit of worry and opened his locker leisurely. He wouldn’t be needing the luggage he had packed this morning. It was a good thing, as traveling with a blind and deaf cat wouldn’t be easy no matter where he went.

Or perhaps everyone’s assumptions were wrong. Maybe the story about looking for the person who knocked him unconscious was just an excuse, and he had another reason for being here.

Not that it’s any of my business.

He walked out of the locker room with light steps, and his colleagues were still there. He looked around, and Valentina and Grayson Miller were gone.

“They left together.”

Someone muttered blankly, and another colleague said,

“She left us… Valentina fell for a guy like Grayson Miller…”

“Did you see her face just now? I think that’s the first time I’ve seen Valentina smile like that… she’s never smiled like that at any of us.”

“Come on, guys, let’s be rational. They just left together. Maybe they were just going in the same direction!”

His words, clinging to the last shred of hope, were only met with cold stares.

“You’re the least rational one here.”

“You need to face reality. Just going in the same direction? As if!”

“No, he might be right. We’re being too pessimistic! It’s not impossible.”

“Yeah, I’m betting they just happened to be going the same way. Valentina wouldn’t fall for just any guy!”

“That’s right, none of us succeeded, and she fell for Grayson Miller, in less than an hour? That’s unrealistic!”

Their arguments gradually gained momentum. Dane leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and watched the farce unfold. To him, the situation was clear. The flower on the cliff, the fire station’s Madonna, had fallen for Grayson Miller’s charms in less than an hour.

Idiots.

But regardless of Dane’s cold indifference, those arguing the opposite side, upon hearing the persuasive arguments that fueled the hope they hadn’t let go of, began to lose their strength and waver one by one.

“That… could be true.”

While they were looking at each other, someone muttered hesitantly, and as if waiting for the cue, another chimed in,

“Well, Grayson Miller might be a piece of trash, but we all know what kind of person Valentina is, right?”

Nods and murmurs of agreement spread through the group.

“Yeah, Valentina wouldn’t do that.”

“I believe in Valentina!”

“Me too, me too!”

Everyone united under their renewed hope, cheering and pumping their fists. However, a few hours later, they mercilessly crumbled upon seeing Valentina’s dazed expression as she returned, smoothing down her messy hair. 

Because anyone with eyes could see what they had been up to during those couple of hours they were gone. Furthermore, as if to add insult to injury, Valentina initiated a kiss with Grayson.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the fire station, carried by the few staff members who had been outside inspecting the fire trucks. 

The staff in the control room were shocked and forced to abandon the futile hope they had clung to until the end. Among them, there were some who harbored genuine feelings for Valentina, so the atmosphere in the control room was beyond gloomy; it was practically suffocating.

“Valentina was too far out of our league anyway.”

One person spoke up, and the others quickly agreed.

“Yeah, you’re right. Valentina never chose any of us.”

“Maybe Grayson Miller is a better guy than we thought.”

“Anyway, it’s Valentina’s choice, so we should support her, as colleagues.”

“Of course. We’re all risking our lives together.”

The atmosphere remained relatively civil, thanks to the macho firefighters’ pride, refusing to be pathetic losers even in heartbreak. 

Even though they were jealous and pissed, and Grayson was an insufferable asshole, what could they do since things have already come to this? 

As someone had said, Grayson might be a pain in the ass to them, but he might treat Valentina incredibly well. Things weren’t so bad as they suppressed their bitterness, accepted their unrequited feelings, and wished her happiness.

That is, until a few hours later, when they saw Grayson Miller walking off in the same direction he had gone with Valentina, this time with his arm around the waist of another colleague, Liz.