The Grand Mistress

Hawk couldn't believe what he was seeing. It felt like his eyes were betraying him and that Simione dancing in front of him was nothing but some sort of hallucination. His eyes fixated on her for minutes, like the whole world stopped and only Simione was the only worthy looking at.

Her copper hair swayed with her body as she danced and her aura blended perfectly at the ambiance of the party—lovely, joyous and very heartwarming. There was always something about the way she moves, she was always graceful like a swan.

"Isn't that Cat?" Elder Susan asked as soon as they noticed Simione's presence. It was really Hawk the old woman was looking at, wondering what captured his attention and when she followed  his eyes, it landed on Simione.

"Oh yes it is!" One of his companions blurted,  very much thrilled by what they saw. "She came this year!"

"Cat! Cat!" Hawk's companions called on her and it only took a minute for Simione to drag her eyes to them. She smiled at the old folks but it faded when her eyes fell on Hawk. She was taken aback for a bit but instantly recovered her expression that one barely saw the awkwardness that she felt. Feeling the need to greet the old folks out of respect, Simione left the dance floor and walked to their table.

"Hello everyone" Simione bowed and greeted them. "How have you been?"

"Oh Cat, you look more beautiful now," Elder Susan forwarded to give Simione a hug which she reciprocated of course.

"Elder Susan, so you are," She returned the compliment and dragged her eyes to the village head, "My greetings to you village head,"

"My greetings to you Cat," The village head replied with a wide smile as if Simione's presence had made his day brighter. "How have you been? When your previous comrades came last year and the other month, they said you might not go and volunteer for a while because brother Don is sick. How was he?"

"He is fine, village head," Simione replied politely but it was obvious her expression faltered a bit at the mention of brother Don's circumstance.

"Is he awake now?" The man continued asking. "They said he had an accident and  he went into coma,"

"He hasn't woken up yet but according to the doctors his health is fine and that maybe sooner or later he will," Simione patiently answered his question as if Hawk wasn't there. She wasn't at all concerned if Hawk was listening because she knew the information she was giving the elders won't bring Hawk nowhere in case he'll have her investigated.

"Aido you old man!" Elder Susan glared at her very own husband, cueing him to stop asking because she had noticed Simione's not so good expression. "Why do you keep bringing up the bad conversation. Cat is here to spend time with the kids and yet you are ruining her vacation by reminding her of brother Don," Then after confronting  her husband, Elder Susan turned back to Simione, "Don't worry dear, couples do undergo some sort of challenges for some reason. This challenge you have right now with brother Don will soon be over. Be strong okay,"

"Yes Elder Susan, thank you,"

Hawk didn't like the flow of the conversation, especially that the name of a man was being mentioned. Who was this brother Don they were talking about?

"Brother Don must be so lucky to have a wife like you, Cat," One of their companions at the table expressed. "It requires great strength to stay with a man who can do nothing for you. Brother Don is sick now, he cannot protect and provide for you and yet you are still by his side,"

'Wife?'

Hawk's surely caught the word. So this brother Don everyone was talking about was her husband? Was she married all this time? Hawk wanted to  grab and asked her then, but in front of the folks, he could not do so.

"Oh c'mon," Another interjected. "That's how love is. Cat and brother Don had been sweethearts  ever since they were young. They love each other so much that was why Cat was staying with him even when he had been coma already,"

'Love?'

What kind of foolishness was he hearing? Hawk's eyes never departed from Simione as he was then studying her expression. Cat however ignored his presence, pretending that she doesn't know him.

"Hawk, sister Cat is very lovely," One of his companions noticed how his eyes were doting on the girl and so he grabbed Hawk by the shoulder and teased. "But unfortunately man, she is already taken. Besides his husband, brother Don was not only handsome, bt She is had brother Don already while you is to become a monk,"

"Mario what foolishness are you talking about," Elder Susan chided the man who just blabbered nonsenely. His words made an awkward moment but before everything sank into a mess, Elder Susan tried to rectify what had been said. "It's only normal for Hawk to look at Cat, afterall she was a very beautiful woman. I just remember the time you first saw Cat, you were drooling disgustingly,"

Everyone laughed at Elder Susan's words that Mario shamefully retreated. "I was trying to tease Hawk a bit because he seemed out of place,"

"By the way, Hawk, this is Cat. She is one of the regular volunteers here in the orphanage," Elder Susan took the initiative to introduce the two to each other. "Cat this Hawk, he's the adoptive son of the village monk. He came here to train with him,"

"Hello," Cat bowed at him as if it was still the first time she had met him. Truth was Cat was shaking inside as she was expecting Hawk would go berserk again and ruined the party just like what he did the last time in Lucy's concert when he got pissed of her and it was a great relief on her part when he didn't. What was he doing here anyway? And what does Elder Susan mean when she said he was training. Training to be a monk?

Hawk only nodded in response, unable to return her greetings. It wasn't intentional thought, for a moment he had just lost the courage to answer for some reasons he could not understand.

It had been three weeks since Hawk didn't appear anywhere in Devon City. After the incident in the concert, he kind of vanished from anyone's sight, not even Lucy could get any information where he went. Who would have thought that Hawk Monsanto was here in Comis village, pretending to be a commoner? 

Although nothing was much said about Hawk, the way the old folks were comfortable with him gave Simione an idea they didn't know who Hawk was. Besides, judging from his very tanned skin, who right then already matched the complexion of the farmers in Comis village, it was easy to guess what he had been doing lately. He must have been planting potatoes with the farmer. This raised some curiosity on Cat's part as she had been visiting Comis village for a long time and yet none of the families here, as she knew, were connected to any big personalities in the city. 

"Village monk you say?" her curiosity was not able to stop her inquiry. "Isn't the village monk from this village? I had been here for a long time and never saw him tending to a son,"

"It was a different monk Cat," One cared to explain to the girl. "The old monk was sent to another country for a new mission. To replace him, they sent another. He had been here since last year but because you didn't come last year, you surely had not met him yet,"

"I see," Cat finally understood. So there's a new village monk and it is Hawk Monsanto's adoptive father. Wow, that's certainly interesting.

"You have been here for a long time?" Hearing her asked questions about him, he felt the need to do the same.

"Oh Cat had been volunteering here since she was young with brother Don," It was Mario who explained it. "They are one great and very kindhearted couple. Perfect for each other,"

Hawk smirked at Mario's words. Good thing was everyone was very focused on Cat and they didn't notice his indifference. Anger rose into his stem about what he just learned but he tried too hard to control his temper as he knew the consequences for breaking lose already. 

Great and kind hearted couple?

  Who are they fooling ? 

If only they knew how Cat came to destroy his relationship with Feather, then they sure will not say that.

Hawk wondered then if the man he almost killed at Singer Lucy's concert and the one being called brother Don was the same man. However, he just heard them all saying he was in coma so the likeness is rather slim. So does his comatose husband know she had gone on flirting with another  man? He had too many questions then, waiting all to be answered. Unfortunately, he might wait until he gets back to the city before he could inquire about it all unless Cat herself will explain it all to him.