Episode 4: First Day of Married Life (Noon)

Maria Rodriguez' day marched on and before long, noon has arrived.

There was little to do in the apartment since they just moved in. She elected to take out the left over boxes, dust the places she couldn't yesterday, and do the laundry they brought from Mexico. After she did those, she ran out of things to do. So by the time noon ticked by, she was bored and hungry.

The fridge was stocked so she had no problem cooking for herself. Today's lunch: rice. beans, and grilled chicken with a Caesar salad on the side. She gleefully prepared everything and the house was once again filled with a delicious scent.

While she hummed to herself, something tugged at her mind. Like she was forgetting something.

After some thought, something clicked. Oh right! Her husband!

He went out of the house in a hurry that she didn't even ask him if he'll be coming home for lunch. It was possible since the office is just a couple of blocks away, but who knew how busy he'd be. She panicked for a bit, but after composing herself, she decided to do the only solution to this problem.

Deliver the food to him!

But she couldn't just show up there normally. After all, the moment they got married, the underworld has put a target on their backs along with the cartel's.

So, after finishing up her preparations, she headed for the other side of the corridor. She stood in front of room 4001 and knocked on the door.

Moments later, the door opened and a disheveled, yawning Orc, peeked through.

"Yes, can I help you?" Mateo asked. His usual mohawk has become a sad droopy mess.

Maria just stood there and eyed him with repulsion. How the mighty have fallen, she thought. The generals were highly regarded for how they usually carried themselves with dignity. But the moment they moved here, it seemed that all manners of discipline were thrown out the window.

A little peeved, she kicked him on the shin, which sent him reeling back.

"Agh! What the fuck?" Mateo exclaimed and was preparing to strike back. But the moment he saw who knocked him down, he immediately drooped lower to the ground. "B-boss?"

"The boss?" Alejandro peeked from one of the rooms. He too was still disheveled and half-awake even though it was already noon.

She sighed and with one finger, she motioned for him to come closer.

Sheepishly, Alejandro complied and sat beside Mateo who was still nursing his bruised shin.

Maria looked around in search for another person.

"Um... Young Miss," Alejandro spoke up. "Rico went back to Mexico on the Boss' orders. He's still a celebrity after all."

She shrugged. It's best that Rico wasn't here anyway, she thought.

[So why're you still half asleep? Didn't father send you to protect us?] she signed.

"Well, your boytoy took a full swing from Rico's axe with one hand you know?" Mateo replied. "I don't understand why we were sent here anyway."

That response earned him a swift kick to the face.

"Agh!" he yelped as he flew backwards.

Maria then turned to Alejandro who immediately backed off.

[Get your asses in gear. We're going out.] she signed.

"To where?" Alejandro asked.

Maria presented the boxed lunch she prepared and pointed to the direction of Andrew's office.

"Ah!" Alejandro exclaimed. "How sweet of you, Young Miss."

Maria growled at him, cheeks slightly red.

After rounding up her men, Maria headed for Andrew's office. The walk there was uneventful. Some attempted kidnappings, sniper shots, and some cops who were trying to shoot her with both bullets and magic. Overall, they were nothing she wasn't used to. Alejandro and Mateo were beside her the entire time so all threats were easily brushed off.

She eventually arrived at a massive building, five stories high, that took up an entire city block. Proudly carved above the entrance were the words, "Supernatural Police Department", and a symbol of a coiled dragon.

She was officially on enemy turf.

"Ey uh... boss?" Mateo called out. "You sure that lunch's worth getting in enemy territory for?"

Alejandro immediately smacked him over the head. "This's why you don't have a girl, pendejo!" he said. "Don't mind him, Young Miss. You go and give that lunch to your hubby."

Maria nodded and entered the doors. It was an archaic building as shown by the worn down stone of the outer walls. But as soon as she entered, an air of Fantasia immediately hit her. Everywhere she looked, there were people from different races. Their uniforms, obviously custom-made to fit their unique physiques. There were also magical flora that decorated everything, probably to accommodate some of the spirits who work here.

Her eyes darted in search for the reception desk. And when she found it, she immediately approached the receptionist.

"Oh hello there young lady," the office lady greeted her with a smile.

She was a beautiful woman. A demonoid as shown by her smooth pinkish skin and four intricately beautiful, gem-like eyes. Just the mere sight of them was enough to send Maria to a trance.

"How may I help you today?" she asked.

Her voice shook Maria out of her trance and she immediately showed her the lunchbox and a note.

[For Andrew]

"Aww how sweet of you to come all the way here for his lunch," she said. "Do you mind if I ask how you're related to him?"

Maria panicked a bit and fiddled the ring on her finger.

"Oh! You're the rumored wife!" she exclaimed. "Oh my, you're so cute! Just give me a sec, I'll check out his status to see if he's in the building. Just have a seat over there."

Maria sighed in relief and followed her instruction. She was a bit worried about meeting Andrew's coworkers, but it seemed that no one could even recognize her here.

"Psst, look at that girl over there," a woman whispered from beyond Maria's eyesight.

"Oh? Is that?" another one replied, this time a bit older-sounding.

"Seems so," another woman chimed in with her high pitched voice.

Were they talking about her? Maria took a peek at the source of the voices and saw three women huddled together beyond the reception desk. One was a tall human woman with black hair, another was an elderly Fairy, and the third was an Elf who dyed her hair a crazy mix of colors and wore her hair in pigtails

"That's Andrew's wife?" the human asked.

"Young men these days," the elder clicked her tongue in disapproval. "They'll just choose anyone huh?"

"I heard she's actually an Orc and she's wearing an artifact to look cutesy like that," the Elf giggled.

"Really?" the human gasped. "I bet she'd look ugly if she removed it."

"Right?" the Elf agreed and chuckled all cutesy.

Maria gripped the chair as hard as she could, hoping that it was enough to hold her back. She wasn't in Mexico anymore. One wrong move and this new life of hers would crumble in an instant. But damn did these three know what buttons to push, she thought.

"Hey you catty bitches!" the demonoid from earlier shouted at the huddled group. "Are y'all gonna chat there or do your damn jobs?"

The group immediately scattered in a panic.

She then turned to Maria and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that," she said. "Gossip's the main source of entertainment for a lot of the girls here. Don't mind them though. They're just jealous because you landed someone they've tried to seduce for years."

Maria grabbed a pen and a small piece of paper that were stocked nearby.

[Thank you], she wrote.

"Aww, Andrew was right. You are a cutey," she squealed.

Maria's cheeks and ears immediately reddened.

"Oops. Wasn't supposed to say that," she chuckled. "In any case, it seems that Andrew's out for the moment. Just leave your lunch here and I'll make sure that he gets it ok?"

Maria nodded and practically shoved the lunchbox onto the receptionist's chest. Then, after a swift bow, she bolted for the door.

"Oh my, Andrew. You really hit the jackpot huh..." she chuckled to herself.

Then out of nowhere, a chair in the waiting area crumbled with an audible crash.