Disclaimer: This story is fiction. All the characters are fictional with borrowed names to comply with the fan fiction genre. They should not be confused with any person living or dead. I am not now nor have I ever been affiliated with any professional wrestler or wrestling company. No disrespect intended.


New update. Sorry for the time in between. It's just not coming as easily as it did before. :)


Chapter 14

It was an unusually busy day. A derailed train brought droves to the town. They filled every vacancy in the hotel and they had people waiting in line for a table at the restaurant. Mya thrived on the extra work. She didn't seem to give out and that smile never left her face no matter what happened. People ordered so much food that the cook couldn't keep up and she did as much as she could to help.

"What do you need help with Mitch?" She hurried to clip her orders to the board in front of him. She had a moment in between taking orders and her next round of filling glasses.

"Do you have time to prep some onions?" He nodded at the vegetable he hadn't had time to dice sitting on the counter behind him.

"I'll do what I can."

"I can't believe these orders. I'm a big guy, but I swear I've never seen anyone eat as much as this." He shook his head. Most of the travelers had ordered two entrees.

"I think it's a sin to eat for pleasure." Mia clamped her lips shut. That's what all the humans did. They never ate just to survive. Food was a love affair with them. They ate enough in one sitting to feed one or two Ivex for a week. Yet, so many of her kind died of starvation.

"It may be." Mitch cackled as he always did when she said something like she had.

"Are those apple pies cool enough? I got a family of six waiting impatiently."

She rushed out of the kitchen to serve her guests. Smiling at an older couple who came in once a week when they came to town to run their errands. She showed them to a table ahead of many others, who didn't seem to notice, their noses were buried in the menu and it seemed their mouths were watering just speaking the words.

The couple stayed longer than usual. Still sipping coffee even after the crowd had finally dwindled and order had been restored to the restaurant.

"Can I get you anything else?" She said with a smile. Even though she was really ready to retire to her own room in the hotel.

"Just a word with you young lady." The gentleman motioned for her to sit while his wife's eyes scanned her up and down.

"I have a minute I guess." She laughed. She saw no harm. The couple was always nice to her and had always left generous tips. "Was everything okay with your meal?"

"Oh, of course. Just like it always is." He smiled. "My question is a bit personal."

"Um, okay?"

"My wife and I have been sitting her discussing a very important matter. Actually it is a bit pressing because I'm afraid we don't have much time to figure this out." He took a deep breath, looked to his wife who nodded, then closed her eyes as if she was about to cry, then uttered the last words she ever expected to hear. "We have a son." He began. "And he's in some trouble. Or he will be. You see he only has a few days to marry and we have been unlucky in finding him a bride. My wife and I have been eating here for some time and you've been such a hard worker since the day you came to work here that we thought you would be a good match for him."

"Me? Oh, but I'm sure there are many others who would be better for him."

"He's not – I mean my son is a good man." The woman spoke up. "But he's not – we are desperate. No one will accept him and he doesn't deserve to be imprisoned. It is not his fault."

Mia never expected anyone would want her to marry their son. She wasn't beautiful. Not in the way they perceived beauty. And even though her looks and small stature didn't give her many options, she didn't want to be anyone's last resort. Then there were the scars …

"I don't know. I –"

"Please, don't say no. At least humor us and say you'll think about it." The old lady seemed so desperate. They both did. It was obvious that they loved their son very much. "Tomorrow? Give us your answer tomorrow."

Then they paid and left.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"Since when do you come out of your kitchen, Mitch?" She laughed nervously.

"You should've said yes right away." Her female coworkers were laughing when she entered the kitchen. "You're crazy if you think they'll be other offers."

"You're going to say no aren't you?" Mitch asked after all the others had gone home. She always stayed to help Mitch finish while the others ran out as soon as all the dishes were finished.

Mitch's hand touched her shoulder, making her jump. Her shirt was a loose fitting style and it had fallen off her shoulder, something she hadn't expected the new item to do. And it had fallen so low that part of her back was on display.

"I always suspected but I was never sure." His face seemed stern and she trembled.

"Please." She whispered, lowering her eyes modestly, taking up her old ways, unsure if submitting would spare her life for her deception.

"Those women are cruel. But most humans females are." He said, softening his tone. "They laugh because they think it's funny what will happen to you. You have a year Mia. Then you will be taken to jail yourself. And you will stay in a small, cold cell until the government matches you to some other fool that didn't abide by their marriage law. And why? Because you are small? Because you were born this way they will force a marriage between you and the next man to break the law. Many of those men are men who have dodged the law for years. Who decided to become outlaws instead of getting married? And they don't do it because they can't find wives. They do it because they are criminals. The smart kind that never gets caught doing the worst imaginable."

"Nothing could be worse than where I began." She whispered, still terrified of speaking. Her voice was so low she could barely hear herself.

"I will never tell your secret." He assured her. "Because our secrets are the same."

She glanced up at him with big surprised eyes.

"I stole a car. My father's car." He laughed. "I was young and I was stupid. I still can't believe my old man pressed charges, but the man wasn't my real father and I believe he was just waiting for a chance to get rid of me. I spent two years being their animal. But my wife. She didn't do anything wrong. Some rich guy attacked her and then … Well."

"That's what happened to my mother." She sighed. "Do all human males think they can take whatever they want?"

"Just those kind. They'll keep doing it and find a way to get away with it. When they are the ones who are really animals." He smiled. "We ran away one night. And kept going. At first we married so the government would leave us alone. But now. I can't imagine loving anyone more."

"You were lucky. But you don't have scars to hide."

"Tell them that you had an abusive stepmother. Tell them that she beat you for the smallest things and that was why you left home and came here. They will believe it. They have no other reason to believe otherwise. They don't believe and Ivex can pass as one of them." That seemed to tickle Mitch the most. "Marry that man, Mia."

"There's a big difference between you and me, Mitch. You don't have to keep secrets from your wife. And I can't marry someone knowing that I have to keep a secret from him. And I'll have to lie to him. How can I not? It's natural to ask about someone's past and I can only make up lies about that."