His crazy heart (MXM)

Chapter 2: Meeting Maria

Upon arriving at the police station, John sat quietly in a chair, gazing out the window with a solemn expression. His gray eyes seemed focused on nothing in particular, yet his mind was far from empty.

He couldn't stop thinking about the boy he'd encountered earlier that day. In all his twenty-five years, John had never felt anything serious for anyone. To him, developing unnecessary feelings for someone had always seemed pointless. All he'd ever wanted was to focus on his work and live his life without caring about anything else.

However, this encounter with the strange boy had changed everything. John found himself wishing he could have the young man by his side every day, just to look at his pretty face. But then a troubling thought crossed his mind - he was a 'boy', wasn't he?

As John pondered these conflicting emotions, he became aware of a continuous and irritating tapping on the desk before him. The sound was so annoying that it disrupted his thoughts, forcing him to look up. To his further irritation, he saw that it was Luke, the notorious chatterbox of the precinct.

"What is it?" John shouted angrily, feeling as if he'd been deprived of something precious. His thoughts at that moment had felt invaluable, and being pulled from them by the well-known office nuisance only fueled his anger.

Luke, hearing the anger in John's voice, quickly tried to think of ways to lighten the atmosphere. "Hey, if you're so angry with the criminals we caught today, what do you suggest we do with them?" he asked, his attempt at levity falling flat.

The word 'criminal' rang in John's ears. His job was to catch criminals, yet he never imagined he would feel something so profound for someone who could be labeled as such if he had been among those arrested.

"Hey! Hey!! Hey!!!" Luke shouted, waving his hand in front of John's face.

"Just do whatever you want with them and stop disturbing me," John hissed before stomping out of the room, thoroughly irritated by Luke's foolishness.

"Yeah... captain," Luke mouthed sarcastically after John left. He wondered why John seemed so annoyed and irritated ever since they'd returned from the market.

"Attention, guys!!!" Luke exclaimed to his other colleagues with an exaggerated air of seriousness.

"What's wrong with this crazy guy this time? What happened?" Pete, one of their colleagues from a different team, asked. He was well aware of Luke's habit of blabbing.

"Haha... you're right, Pete," Shania chuckled. "He's always equipped with so much bullshit to spill from his big mouth."

"No, no, no!!! Listen to me. I'm very serious, and it's something important," Luke assured them, waving his hands dramatically.

"So just say it and stop wasting our time. I have more important things to do," Carl hissed impatiently. Normally, he didn't pay attention to Luke's antics, but hearing him use the word 'serious' made Carl pause what he was doing to give him one last chance.

"Our esteemed colleague John gave the criminals we caught today to me," Luke said, looking proud of himself.

"Ah!" Carl shouted in disappointment. A fool would always be a fool, he thought.

"What do you mean he gave the criminals to you?" Pete asked curiously.

"You fool, you never cease to amuse me. What can you do with them? Can you eat them?" Shania was thoroughly amused, holding her stomach as she laughed.

"Well, I was thinking of releasing them so they could serve me at home," Luke replied shamelessly.

"Huh? How will they serve you?" Shania teased.

"Anyhow I want... ahhhh!" Before Luke could finish his statement, a painful kick landed on his behind. Carl, annoyed with the useless conversation, couldn't handle it anymore.

"That's good for him," Pete commended. "He's got nothing to do apart from vomiting rubbish from his big mouth every day."

"But I think something is really bothering John, considering the way he stomped out, looking so irritated and annoyed," Luke said while massaging his aching backside.

"Maybe he has something on his mind or got a bad call from someone," Shania shrugged as she returned to her work. "And speaking of it, did you guys notice how he stared at that golden-haired boy who escaped today?" she suddenly asked.

Carl naturally didn't answer, merely hissing as he continued with his work.

"Yes, I saw it too. One of his hands was on the boy's hair as they stared at each other," Luke confirmed. He tried to demonstrate by reaching for Carl but got pushed away.

"Haha..." Pete laughed at the scene.

Meanwhile, in a taxi across town, Greg kept thinking about the officer who had let him go. He couldn't understand why the man had allowed him to escape when he'd had him in his grip. As he pondered this, Greg dozed off in the cab, his light napping gradually turning into a deep sleep.

"Hey! Hey!!!!" A call from the taxi driver woke him up.

"Yes?" Greg replied, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"You've been sleeping ever since you entered this car and asked me to keep driving. It's getting dark already, and I want to go home and rest, so just get out here," the taxi driver complained.

Greg's eyes widened in shock when he looked out the window and saw that it was indeed dark. How long had he been asleep?

He thought of asking the man to take him back but couldn't utter a word upon seeing the driver's angry face. He swallowed whatever he had wanted to say and paid his fare before getting out of the car.

As he stood on the street, Greg shivered. Not only was the whole place dark and scary with nobody around, but the wind was also picking up, chilling him to the bone. He looked up at the sky and nodded in realization. "Oh, it's about to rain."

The most annoying thing was that the taxi driver had taken him to a far-off place without alerting him in time. Greg didn't recognize his surroundings at all. He stood there on the street, wondering what to do next.

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Hey boy, are you here to see someone, or are you lost?"

Greg turned to see the owner of the voice. It was a beautiful lady standing not far from him. She wore a wine-colored pencil skirt and an ash-colored chiffon blouse with a black long coat. The breeze kept messing with her long hair as she held a grocery bag in her hand.

"Are you talking to me?" Greg asked, pointing to himself.

"Of course, it's you. Who else is standing here apart from the two of us?" she replied with a warm smile on her bright face.

"I-I think I'm lost because I can't seem to recognize this place," Greg stammered wearily.

"Oh..." she mouthed with a nod. "How did you manage to get here? Did you fly or get kidnapped?" she teased.

"No, I took a taxi and found myself here when he woke me up from sleep," Greg laughed awkwardly.

"So where is he?" she asked but got only silence from Greg. He just fidgeted slightly with a crestfallen face.

"Whoa... don't tell me he abandoned you here and left?"

Greg just smiled and nodded, rubbing his neck and looking away in embarrassment. "He said that he needed to go home and rest because it's getting dark and this place is far."

"He could have at least taken you back to where he picked you up," she said sympathetically. "By the way, where do you stay?"

"Warwick," Greg replied.

"That's very far from here; it's in a completely different part of the metropolitan area. That taxi driver was really heartless." Do you have any place to stay for tonight?" she asked. "The rain might start any moment now."

"No, I don't have any place to stay, but I'll figure out something," Greg said boldly. However, when he looked around at the dark night, he flinched slightly.

The lady noticed the fear in his eyes. "Don't worry about anything. You can spend the night at my house, and tomorrow you can go back," she offered.

"No, it's okay. I don't want to bother you," Greg politely rejected. "I'll just look for a hotel and check in."

"The nearest hotel is quite far, and I'm sure this rain will soak you before you could make it there. So I suggest you take my kind offer, okay?" she persuaded. "And besides, I'm not going to eat you. My family came to visit me today, so it's not going to be just the two of us in the house. You don't have to be scared," she assured him with a laugh, trying to ease the nervousness in Greg's eyes.

"Okay," Greg finally accepted after hesitating for a moment. After all, it was better to go with her than to start wandering alone in the night looking for a hotel.

"Thanks," he said sincerely.

"Let's go before the rain starts pouring," she said, turning towards what Greg assumed was the direction of her house. He followed behind her.

"By the way, what's your name?" she asked. "I'm Maria."

"I'm Greg."

"Greg," she repeated with a nod. "I love your name."

As they walked together towards Maria's house, the first drops of rain began to fall, and Greg felt a mix of relief and apprehension about the unexpected turn his evening had taken.